Gabriel Birzu
@gbirzu.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Physics at University of Florida. Interested in the evolution and spatial dynamics of microbial communities.
Pinned
Hybridization breaks species barriers in long-term coevolution of a cyanobacterial population
Analysis of hundreds of single-cell genomes from Yellowstone National Park shows bacterial species are less cohesive than previously thought.
doi.org
Happy that our work on the evolution of Yellowstone cyanobacteria is now published in @elife.bsky.social: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...! Did a lot of work in revision—many thanks to the anonymous reviewers for great suggestions! Also see the eLife digest for a summary: elifesciences.org/digests/9084...
Reposted by Gabriel Birzu
Here, we find that many Genomic islands have origins of transfer (oriT) mobilisable by conjugation, incl. known Pathogenicity & defense islands. iOriT use only an oriT for transfer by hitching on conjugative elements: they make abundant, diverse, ancient families of mobile genetic elements. See🧵
Bacteria chromosomes contain Genomic Islands that provide virulence, antibiotic resistance, MGE-defence,... They transfer between cells, but the mechanism of most remains elusive.
Here we explore the conjugative capacity of these mysterious Genomic Islands.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Here we explore the conjugative capacity of these mysterious Genomic Islands.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 14, 2026 at 11:26 AM
Here, we find that many Genomic islands have origins of transfer (oriT) mobilisable by conjugation, incl. known Pathogenicity & defense islands. iOriT use only an oriT for transfer by hitching on conjugative elements: they make abundant, diverse, ancient families of mobile genetic elements. See🧵
Reposted by Gabriel Birzu
Bacteria swap DNA far more than we thought. This study shows recombination between species can blur genetic boundaries, with up to 95% of diversity coming from hybrid DNA in some microbes.
Remixing the gene pool
Microbes might behave less like distinct species and more like constantly interbreeding communities.
buff.ly
January 4, 2026 at 9:21 AM
Bacteria swap DNA far more than we thought. This study shows recombination between species can blur genetic boundaries, with up to 95% of diversity coming from hybrid DNA in some microbes.
Happy that our work on the evolution of Yellowstone cyanobacteria is now published in @elife.bsky.social: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...! Did a lot of work in revision—many thanks to the anonymous reviewers for great suggestions! Also see the eLife digest for a summary: elifesciences.org/digests/9084...
Hybridization breaks species barriers in long-term coevolution of a cyanobacterial population
Analysis of hundreds of single-cell genomes from Yellowstone National Park shows bacterial species are less cohesive than previously thought.
doi.org
December 31, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Happy that our work on the evolution of Yellowstone cyanobacteria is now published in @elife.bsky.social: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...! Did a lot of work in revision—many thanks to the anonymous reviewers for great suggestions! Also see the eLife digest for a summary: elifesciences.org/digests/9084...
New preprint to close out the year! Led by Alana Papula and together with Daniel Fisher, we used single-cell genomes to infer the evolution of Prochlorococcus—one of the most abundant and genetically diverse bacteria on Earth. Check it out here: doi.org/10.64898/202...
Extensive recombination, selection, and asexual blooms shape the diversity of the dominant clade of Prochlorococcus
The tiny and enormously abundant marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus marinus contains many levels of population structure, with sequenced isolates spanning four orders of magnitude of diversity. It ...
doi.org
December 31, 2025 at 8:49 PM
New preprint to close out the year! Led by Alana Papula and together with Daniel Fisher, we used single-cell genomes to infer the evolution of Prochlorococcus—one of the most abundant and genetically diverse bacteria on Earth. Check it out here: doi.org/10.64898/202...