Ian Lidbury

Multisubmit enzyme from the family of B12-dépendent methyltransferses www.pnas.org/cms/10.1073/...

In case you missed it. For any microbial ecologists, we recently published our long-standing study on identifying the major genes/molecular markers for glycine betaine degradation in environmental bacteria www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Hypoxia Induces Phenotypic and Metabolic Shifts in Endophytic Flavobacterium sp. 98 Abstract. Oxygen plays a crucial role in shaping microbial physiology, functions, and behavior. Endophytic bacteria, residing within plant tissues, inhabit

academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc... Endophytic adaptation in Flavobacterium sp. 98 @xinyapan.bsky.social @vcarryon.bsky.social @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social ✌🏽 lysoPE story could be cool

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... New paper on glycerol 1-phosphate transporter in marine bacteria

Dated gene duplications elucidate the evolutionary assembly of eukaryotes - Nature Analysis of eukaryotic gene sequences using a relaxed molecular clock methodology indicate that eukaryotes emerged 3.0–2.25 billion years ago as a result of mitochondrial endosymbiosis with complex ar...

www.nature.com/articles/s41... INtrsting paper on the evolution of eukaryotes. Archeon what the driver of eukaryogenesis. Can we not find any evidence of this in nature currently?

Temporal and spatial coordination of DNA segregation and cell division in an archaeon | PNAS Cells must coordinate DNA segregation with cytokinesis to ensure that each daughter cell inherits a complete genome. Here, we explore how DNA segre...

Temporal and spatial coordination of DNA segregation and cell division in an archaeon www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... #jcampubs

Still time to register for MMEG but book fast to avoid disappointment!

@jcolab.bsky.social

@robfagan.bsky.social

The pre print of my PhD research is out! 📣 Check it out for some cool results on high-throuhput microbial isolation, #SynComs and #Tree #Microbiome 🌳🧫
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#PhDone 💯

Specialized shuttle proteins recognize Type IX secretion signals and target effectors to their final destinations in Flavobacterium johnsoniae Communications Biology - Bacteroidota use the Type IX secretion system to secrete proteins with a conserved C-terminal domain (CTD) secretion signal domain. Type B CTDs require specific shuttle...

Happy to share the last paper form the lab:
Specialized shuttle proteins recognize
T9SS signals and target
effectors to their final destinations. Great work by @maellepllt.bsky.social, led by @thicoz.bsky.social in collaboration with @audebertstephane.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Interesting abstract that one. A lot to unpack…. Rhizo bacteria produce RNA inhibiting leaf pathogens? Do the bacteria end up on leaves?

Impressive work.

First page of Opinion piece: "Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism"

The link between the gut #microbiome and autism is not backed by science, researchers say.

Read the full opinion piece in @cp-neuron.bsky.social: spkl.io/63322AbxpA

@wiringthebrain.bsky.social, @statsepi.bsky.social, & @deevybee.bsky.social

Very proud of @alex-connolly.bsky.social for winning the best poster prize at #PMS25 and congratulations @courtneyherms.bsky.social for your prize also. @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social

Excellent week in Malaga for the #PMS25 top science and top social programmes @carmen-agro.bsky.social

My booming voice appeared to break the mic! Haha

I expect a few different ones interact to demethylate a range of substrates. Someone with more time should investigate which ones are synthesised in co culture or the ocean

Sounds like you need to do some deep soil metaproteomics and identify which are switched on. If only it was that simple….

Fungi? Protists? Other strep? What’s the alternative explanation? I’m intrigued now 😁

Ahh haa, but there are a lot of different bacteria to kill and in many different conditions too.

'cause they're such slow growers they need to kill or be out-competed! 😂

We are happy to announce 2 more keynote speakers for #PMS2025!

We’re excited to welcome:

🔬 @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social – @unileiden.bsky.social
🦠 @iandealidbury.bsky.social – @sheffielduni.bsky.social

Join us at in Malaga on 3-7 November!
Register now: 6thplantmicrobiomesymposium2025.com

Our latest paper on the identification of a key GBT demethylase present in aerobic environmental bacteria. Multi-domain enzyme linking methionine synthesis and osmolyte consumption. @michiamausz.bsky.social @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social @warwicklifesci.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

A major trade-off between growth and defense in Arabidopsis thaliana can vanish in field conditions by Derek S. Lundberg, Sonja Kersten, Ezgi Mehmetoğlu Boz, Pratchaya Pramoj Na Ayutthaya, Wangsheng Zhu, Karin Poersch, Wei Yuan, Sophia Swartz, David Müller, Ilja Bezrukov, HARVEST TEAM , Detlef Weigel When wild plants defend themselves from pathogens, this often comes with a trade-off: the same genes that protect a plant from disease can also reduce its growth and fecundity in the absence of pathogens. One protein implicated in a major growth-defense trade-off is ACCELERATED CELL DEATH 6 (ACD6), an ion channel that modulates salicylic acid (SA) synthesis to potentiate a wide range of defenses. Wild Arabidopsis thaliana populations maintain significant functional variation at the ACD6 locus, with some alleles making the protein hyperactive. In the greenhouse, plants with hyperactive ACD6 alleles are resistant to diverse pathogens, yet they are of smaller stature, their leaves senesce earlier, and they set fewer seeds compared to plants with the standard allele. We hypothesized that ACD6 hyperactivity would not only affect the growth of microbial pathogens but also more generally change leaf microbiome assembly. To test this in an ecologically meaningful context, we compared plants with hyperactive, standard, and defective ACD6 alleles in the same field-collected soil, both outdoors and in naturally lit and climate-controlled indoor conditions, taking advantage of near-isogenic lines as well as a natural accession and a CRISPR-edited derivative. We surveyed visual phenotypes, gene expression, hormone levels, seed production, and the microbiome in each environment. The genetic precision of CRISPR-edited plants allowed us to conclude that ACD6 genotype had no effect on mature field plants in our setting, despite reproducibly dramatic effects on greenhouse plants. We conclude that additional abiotic and/or microbial signals present outdoors—but not in the greenhouse—greatly modulate ACD6 activity. This raises the possibility that the fitness costs of other commonly studied immune system genes may be grossly misjudged without field studies.

A major trade-off between growth and defense in Arabidopsis thaliana can vanish in field conditions @PLOSBiology.org

Inspiring closing of @Rhizosphere6 by @jeffinerca.bsky.social thank you!

Cash

Zero 😜

@molmicrosheffield.bsky.social the school of bioscience is looking great today! #sheffielduni

What a gorgeous thank you card on my desk from a masters student! Nice thing to greet my return to the office. If anyone is looking for a superstar microbial/soil ecologist to do a PhD, ask me for details 😎