@roop-dhillon.bsky.social
PhD Student | University of Birmingham | Archaea Enjoyer | Microbiomes
Reposted
#NewResearch
A bile acid-bound structure of toxin TcdB revealed the mechanism of inhibition and guided the design of a synthetic bile acid that alleviated C. difficile infection in mice.
#MicroSky 🦠💊
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A bile acid-bound structure of toxin TcdB revealed the mechanism of inhibition and guided the design of a synthetic bile acid that alleviated C. difficile infection in mice.
#MicroSky 🦠💊
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Structure-guided design of a synthetic bile acid that inhibits Clostridioides difficile TcdB toxin - Nature Microbiology
A bile acid-bound structure of toxin TcdB revealed the mechanism of inhibition and guided the design of a synthetic bile acid that alleviated Clostridioides difficile infection in mice.
www.nature.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:07 PM
#NewResearch
A bile acid-bound structure of toxin TcdB revealed the mechanism of inhibition and guided the design of a synthetic bile acid that alleviated C. difficile infection in mice.
#MicroSky 🦠💊
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A bile acid-bound structure of toxin TcdB revealed the mechanism of inhibition and guided the design of a synthetic bile acid that alleviated C. difficile infection in mice.
#MicroSky 🦠💊
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New video on Nested Symbiosis in extreme environments out on my YouTube Channel. Give it a watch if you can, a great paper by @mkrupovic.bsky.social
Original Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
youtu.be/OQR5obtf7-4
Original Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
youtu.be/OQR5obtf7-4
Nested Symbiosis in Extreme Environments
YouTube video by Archaeal Adventures
youtu.be
November 17, 2025 at 4:40 PM
New video on Nested Symbiosis in extreme environments out on my YouTube Channel. Give it a watch if you can, a great paper by @mkrupovic.bsky.social
Original Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
youtu.be/OQR5obtf7-4
Original Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
youtu.be/OQR5obtf7-4
Reposted
Marvellous Minoan clay vessels made by creative potters on the island of Crete during the Aegean Bronze Age around 3,500 years ago! 🤩
Heraklion Archaeological Museum 📷 by me
#Archaeology
Heraklion Archaeological Museum 📷 by me
#Archaeology
October 11, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Marvellous Minoan clay vessels made by creative potters on the island of Crete during the Aegean Bronze Age around 3,500 years ago! 🤩
Heraklion Archaeological Museum 📷 by me
#Archaeology
Heraklion Archaeological Museum 📷 by me
#Archaeology
Reposted
This week, Dr. Laura Weyrich, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the paleo oral microbiome! We will learn if our ancestors had the same kind of resident microbes as we do.
@markowenmartin.bsky.social @lauraweyrich.bsky.social
@markowenmartin.bsky.social @lauraweyrich.bsky.social
Matters Microbial #108: Neanderthal Oral Health, Ancient Bacteria and DNA
YouTube video by MicrobeTV
youtu.be
September 19, 2025 at 2:08 PM
This week, Dr. Laura Weyrich, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the paleo oral microbiome! We will learn if our ancestors had the same kind of resident microbes as we do.
@markowenmartin.bsky.social @lauraweyrich.bsky.social
@markowenmartin.bsky.social @lauraweyrich.bsky.social
Reposted
Would you expect that Bacteria use an archaellum for swimming? We didn't, but we found that some Chloroflexota do! Find the story here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A little thread below 1/n
A little thread below 1/n
Horizontal gene transfer of the functional archaellum machinery to Bacteria
Motility in Archaea is driven by a nanomachinery called the archaellum. So far, archaella have been exclusively described for the archaeal domain; however, a recent study reported the presence of arch...
www.biorxiv.org
February 3, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Would you expect that Bacteria use an archaellum for swimming? We didn't, but we found that some Chloroflexota do! Find the story here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A little thread below 1/n
A little thread below 1/n
Excited to present my work at poster #82 at #EESMicrobiome today! Come round and talk RNA viruses with me
September 18, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Excited to present my work at poster #82 at #EESMicrobiome today! Come round and talk RNA viruses with me
Reposted
☀️ Good morning from Day 3 of #EESMicrobiome 🦠
☕🥨 Fuelled by coffee and pretzels, we’re starting strong with Session 4: Microbiome–host interactions in health and disease.
🎤 'Understanding gut-to-host communication to prevent cardiovascular disease' by @fzmarques.bsky.social (Monash University)
☕🥨 Fuelled by coffee and pretzels, we’re starting strong with Session 4: Microbiome–host interactions in health and disease.
🎤 'Understanding gut-to-host communication to prevent cardiovascular disease' by @fzmarques.bsky.social (Monash University)
September 18, 2025 at 7:40 AM
☀️ Good morning from Day 3 of #EESMicrobiome 🦠
☕🥨 Fuelled by coffee and pretzels, we’re starting strong with Session 4: Microbiome–host interactions in health and disease.
🎤 'Understanding gut-to-host communication to prevent cardiovascular disease' by @fzmarques.bsky.social (Monash University)
☕🥨 Fuelled by coffee and pretzels, we’re starting strong with Session 4: Microbiome–host interactions in health and disease.
🎤 'Understanding gut-to-host communication to prevent cardiovascular disease' by @fzmarques.bsky.social (Monash University)
Reposted
Welcome to the EMBO | EMBL Symposium ‘The human microbiome’ 🦠🙌🏼
With a growing crowd on site, it is time for the opening remarks – #EESMicrobiome Day 1, let’s go! 🤩
With a growing crowd on site, it is time for the opening remarks – #EESMicrobiome Day 1, let’s go! 🤩
September 16, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Welcome to the EMBO | EMBL Symposium ‘The human microbiome’ 🦠🙌🏼
With a growing crowd on site, it is time for the opening remarks – #EESMicrobiome Day 1, let’s go! 🤩
With a growing crowd on site, it is time for the opening remarks – #EESMicrobiome Day 1, let’s go! 🤩
Reposted
Happy to see this paper finally out in @pnas.org!
#phage #microbiology #MicroSky #VirEvol 🦠 🧫 🔬
Gift link: www.pnas.org/eprint/YYDZ9...
#phage #microbiology #MicroSky #VirEvol 🦠 🧫 🔬
Gift link: www.pnas.org/eprint/YYDZ9...
September 8, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Happy to see this paper finally out in @pnas.org!
#phage #microbiology #MicroSky #VirEvol 🦠 🧫 🔬
Gift link: www.pnas.org/eprint/YYDZ9...
#phage #microbiology #MicroSky #VirEvol 🦠 🧫 🔬
Gift link: www.pnas.org/eprint/YYDZ9...
Reposted
Reposted
Interesting paper.
Authors ruled out contamination; are not claiming 'blood microbiome', but rather 'DNA remnants'
'Blood-borne immune cells carry low biomass DNA remnants of microbes in patients with colorectal cancer or inflammatory bowel disease'
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Authors ruled out contamination; are not claiming 'blood microbiome', but rather 'DNA remnants'
'Blood-borne immune cells carry low biomass DNA remnants of microbes in patients with colorectal cancer or inflammatory bowel disease'
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Blood-borne immune cells carry low biomass DNA remnants of microbes in patients with colorectal cancer or inflammatory bowel disease
The involvement of the intestinal microbiome in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC), is well-established. Bacteria interact with immune cells at sites o...
www.tandfonline.com
July 21, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Interesting paper.
Authors ruled out contamination; are not claiming 'blood microbiome', but rather 'DNA remnants'
'Blood-borne immune cells carry low biomass DNA remnants of microbes in patients with colorectal cancer or inflammatory bowel disease'
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Authors ruled out contamination; are not claiming 'blood microbiome', but rather 'DNA remnants'
'Blood-borne immune cells carry low biomass DNA remnants of microbes in patients with colorectal cancer or inflammatory bowel disease'
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted
New BBC article on fungal infections in which we are quoted:
www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
Our body is a mosaic of fungi. Some scientists think they could be influencing our brain
The fungi within our bodies may have a much greater effect on our health than we've long given them credit for.
www.bbc.co.uk
July 22, 2025 at 6:44 AM
New BBC article on fungal infections in which we are quoted:
www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
Reposted
In a couple of days, my grad student Stavros Trimmer will present his new Asgard archaea culture at the GRC Archaea. He named it Skadiarchaeum after Skadi, the Norse goddess of skiing and hunting. Cartoon of Skadi based on cryoET, which was performed together with with @florianwollweber.bsky.social
July 19, 2025 at 4:16 PM
In a couple of days, my grad student Stavros Trimmer will present his new Asgard archaea culture at the GRC Archaea. He named it Skadiarchaeum after Skadi, the Norse goddess of skiing and hunting. Cartoon of Skadi based on cryoET, which was performed together with with @florianwollweber.bsky.social
Reposted
Meanwhile the news.
To learn more about antibiotic-resistant superbugs visit our educational website or come to our pop-up shop in Cardiff.
To learn more about antibiotic-resistant superbugs visit our educational website or come to our pop-up shop in Cardiff.
Superbugs could kill millions more and cost $2tn a year by 2050, models show
Exclusive: Research on burden of antibiotic resistance for 122 countries predicts dire economic and health outcomes
www.theguardian.com
July 21, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Meanwhile the news.
To learn more about antibiotic-resistant superbugs visit our educational website or come to our pop-up shop in Cardiff.
To learn more about antibiotic-resistant superbugs visit our educational website or come to our pop-up shop in Cardiff.
Reposted
💥 Excited to introduce Bacformer 🦠 - the first foundation model for bacterial genomics. Bacformer represents genomes as sequences of ordered proteins, learning the “grammar” of how genes are arranged, interact and evolve.
Preprint 📝: biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 1/n
Preprint 📝: biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 1/n
July 21, 2025 at 9:56 AM
💥 Excited to introduce Bacformer 🦠 - the first foundation model for bacterial genomics. Bacformer represents genomes as sequences of ordered proteins, learning the “grammar” of how genes are arranged, interact and evolve.
Preprint 📝: biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 1/n
Preprint 📝: biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 1/n
Reposted
New online! Experimental evolution in an era of molecular manipulation
Experimental evolution in an era of molecular manipulation
Nature Reviews Genetics, Published online: 21 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41576-025-00867-6In this Review, Ascensao and Desai discuss how methodological advances in genotype and phenotype manipulation are transforming experimental evolution approaches and providing new insights into the underlying genetics and forces that shape phenotypic evolution.
www.nature.com
July 21, 2025 at 2:45 PM
New online! Experimental evolution in an era of molecular manipulation
Reposted
“GlycoCaging” uses gut bacteria to activate drugs for inflammatory bowel disease.
Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective: scim.ag/4ltfMk8
Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective: scim.ag/4ltfMk8
A caged drug enables precision delivery
“GlycoCaging” uses gut bacteria to activate drugs for inflammatory bowel disease
scim.ag
July 7, 2025 at 1:31 PM
“GlycoCaging” uses gut bacteria to activate drugs for inflammatory bowel disease.
Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective: scim.ag/4ltfMk8
Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective: scim.ag/4ltfMk8
Reposted
Leveraging longitudinal data from 194 infants across the first 18 months of life, researchers show that microbial genes encoding neuroactive compounds are associated with visual cortical neurodevelopment. Read the article in #mBio: asm.social/2uo
July 7, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Leveraging longitudinal data from 194 infants across the first 18 months of life, researchers show that microbial genes encoding neuroactive compounds are associated with visual cortical neurodevelopment. Read the article in #mBio: asm.social/2uo
Reposted
#MicrobiologyMonday: Pseudomonas aeruginosa releases a surfactant that displaces Klebsiella pneumoniae from solid surfaces. By pushing K. pneumoniae away, the detergent allows P. aeruginosa to better compete for limited iron. Learn more in #mBio: asm.social/2sH
June 16, 2025 at 5:57 PM
#MicrobiologyMonday: Pseudomonas aeruginosa releases a surfactant that displaces Klebsiella pneumoniae from solid surfaces. By pushing K. pneumoniae away, the detergent allows P. aeruginosa to better compete for limited iron. Learn more in #mBio: asm.social/2sH
Reposted
Half way through the IMI Summer school 2025 starts with a fantastic Q&A panel with our own UoB students and Postdocs and @wvschaik.bsky.social giving a great talk on AMR & Phages 🦠🦠
July 2, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Half way through the IMI Summer school 2025 starts with a fantastic Q&A panel with our own UoB students and Postdocs and @wvschaik.bsky.social giving a great talk on AMR & Phages 🦠🦠
Reposted
How does your diet impact the microbiome? Let's find out...🦠🦠
July 2, 2025 at 2:05 PM
How does your diet impact the microbiome? Let's find out...🦠🦠
Reposted
Some exciting results from the IMI Summer school experiments 🧪🧫🔬
July 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Some exciting results from the IMI Summer school experiments 🧪🧫🔬
Reposted
Excited to announce the EMBO Conference: Molecular Biology of Archaea (MBoA) 2026!
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated entirely to Archaea.
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated entirely to Archaea.
April 22, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Excited to announce the EMBO Conference: Molecular Biology of Archaea (MBoA) 2026!
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated entirely to Archaea.
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated entirely to Archaea.
Reposted
A 1.0 release for Sandpiper. 700,000 microbial community profiles (3x the last version, 4.7 Pbp metaG), searchable via the @ace-gtdb.bsky.social R226 taxonomy that just dropped. MetaGs are going exponential, but we are still nowhere near a MAG for all species. sandpiper.qut.edu.au #microsky 🧬🖥️ 1/2
April 17, 2025 at 11:06 AM
A 1.0 release for Sandpiper. 700,000 microbial community profiles (3x the last version, 4.7 Pbp metaG), searchable via the @ace-gtdb.bsky.social R226 taxonomy that just dropped. MetaGs are going exponential, but we are still nowhere near a MAG for all species. sandpiper.qut.edu.au #microsky 🧬🖥️ 1/2