Caro Kobras 🐍

ICYMI: New online! Epistasis and co-adaptation in bacterial genome evolution

Today is the start of the 5th Analysing Microbial Genomic Data course at @unibirmingham.bsky.social #AMGDMar26 - in the last three years we’ve trained nearly 80 attendees from six countries and multiple UK universities

Human serum triglycerides promote Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation and antibiotic tolerance https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.05.709992v1

Epistasis and co-adaptation in bacterial genome evolution Nature Reviews Genetics - Bacterial genome evolution is shaped by epistasis, which can constrain or promote specific evolutionary paths. The authors review how integrating the effects of epistatic...

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past two years thinking about genome evolution and how recent research revealing complex gene-gene interactions has complicated traditional ‘gene-centric’ genomic approaches to evolution. So here is a review that consolidates these thoughts!

rdcu.be/e6pHY

Prevalence and mechanisms of high-level carbapenem antibiotic tolerance in clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae Author summary Bacteria can survive exposure to antibiotics by constantly repairing cellular damage induced by the drug. This “antibiotic tolerance” enables diverse bacteria to survive long enough to ...

First paper of my PhD @doerrlab.bsky.social is up! We characterized meropenem tolerance in Enterobacterales species, and then further dissected tolerance mechanisms in Klebsiella pneumoniae. journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

Less than one week to apply to this 2.5 yr PDRA!

If you're passionate about biophysics #AFM #Microscopy applied to bacteria and #antimicrobial research this will be a great opportunity in the beautiful city of Sheffield. 😀

jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research...

What is better than one? Two connected papers!

#NewResearch

S protein of Streptococcus pneumoniae activates PBP1a and coordinates with a wider GpsB-associated multi-protein complex to regulate peptidoglycan remodelling and cell division.

#MicroSky 🦠

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Metabolic control of porin permeability influences antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli - Nature Microbiology The permeability of bacterial porins is dynamically regulated by periplasmic proton and potassium concentrations, altering antibiotic resistance.

#NewResearch

The permeability of bacterial porins is dynamically regulated by periplasmic proton and potassium concentrations, altering antibiotic resistance.

#MicroSky #AMR 🦠 @andresfloto.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Now properly published at @natcomms.nature.com with few additional experiments incl. demonstration of Daptomycin's ability to depolarise non-growing cells.
See the original preprint-thread for a summary of our findings.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#microsky

MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resensitisation of antibiotic-tolerant Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resensitisation of antibiotic-tolerant Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com

Looking for an AMR-themed PhD project? Join us to investigate antibiotic tolerance in Staphylococcus aureus through a fully funded MRC DTP PhD studentship starting in September 2026.

This project is close collaboration with @kateduncan.bsky.social and @mycobacterium-ncl.bsky.social.

Come and join our group in the new Life and Mind Building (lifeandmind.web.ox.ac.uk/home). POSTDOC: Bioinformatics/(meta)genomics :
tinyurl.com/2uhvvpn6

@ineosoxford.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk

New review - thanks to Markus Weingarth for the invitation! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Ha! And they say romance is dead ❤️🌹

Now published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Very nice collaboration with Hoogenboom ( @ucl.ac.uk ) and Bonev ( @uniofnottingham.bsky.social ) labs.

Happy to share the inaugural paper from the lab. We describe a molecular mechanism for the activation of outer dynein arm motors that power the vital motion of cilia.

Open access link below:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Here's a cool animated summary

Dr Manuel Banzhaf

The Banzhaf group uses high-throughput methods to dissect the life style of bacterial pathogens and how to use this knowledge to optimize antimicrobial treatments.

Follow @banzhaflab.bsky.social for more updates

Molecular basis for the activation of outer dynein arms in cilia Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Published online: 29 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41594-025-01680-9Issa et al. show that the ciliary small guanosine triphosphatase Arl3 displaces the inhibitory regulator Shulin/DNAAF9 from the outer dynein arm, leading to motor activation.

New online: Molecular basis for the activation of outer dynein arms in cilia

Decoding the functional role of the calcium ATPase YloB in microbially induced calcite precipitation and sporulation in Solibacillus silvestris Calcium homeostasis is essential for bacterial physiology, yet its regulation and role in specialized processes such as microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) and sporulation remain poorly u...

New preprint out from the team! Master‘s student extraordinaire Julia Bauer stumbled across a Ca transporter needed for endospore maturation in Solibacillus 🧫🔬 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We're hiring (again)!

We are looking for an associate professor in cell and molecular biology, with a particular focus on immunology (defined broadly)

If you have a great record and exciting plans, consider joining our thriving and welcoming department

www.path.ox.ac.uk/vacancy/asso...

The Dunn School PhD programme is live! 🎉

Two projects in our labs:
1) How the motor protein giant dynein-2 works
2) How signalling-essential membrane proteins get into cilia

Cryo-EM/ET, single mol & live-cell fluor microscopy, CRISPR-based genetic tools & more!

www.path.ox.ac.uk/study-with-u...

Monitoring single cell bioenergetic status and cell lysis in dense and differentiating Bacillus subtilis cultures Bacillus subtilis is a major model organism for studying population heterogeneity in clonal bacterial cultures due to its high genetic tractability and ability to differentiate into subpopulations wit...

A new methods paper from us, this time with a focus on reliable monitoring membrane potential and cell lysis at different growth stages and cell densities. Also, note the surprisingly high level of background lysis in seemingly healthy B. subtilis cultures.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A novel two-component system controls vancomycin resistance in epidemic Clostridioides difficile The glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin is the frontline treatment for C. difficile infection in the UK. There have been only sporadic reports of resistance in the clinic but testing is rare so the tru...

New preprint from us! The latest part of our C. difficile vancomycin resistance story. We identified a new two-component system (VnrRS) that can control expression of the vanG pathway - just needs one amino acid change

@buddlejess.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @claireyt.bsky.social

🦠 A fan of bacteria?
We're hiring a Research Technician to join our team at the @warwicklifesci.bsky.social @uni-of-warwick.bsky.social

Positive, organised, skills in molecular biology and protein purification?

Apply here 👉 warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/appcentre...

Please share! 🔬

PIRT-Seq: a high-resolution whole-genome assay to identify protein-coding genes Abstract. The advent of high-density mutagenesis and data-mining studies suggest the existence of further coding potential within bacterial genomes. Small

Out yesterday. Using a translation reporter on a mini-tn5 transposon, and high freq. mutagenesis, we looked at translation on whole genome scale independently of genome annotation. academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

How falling vaccination rates are fuelling the antibiotic resistance crisis Measles is a viral infection, so antibiotics don’t treat it directly. But it weakens the immune system, leading to bacterial infections like pneumonia or ear infections, which do require antibiotics.

Sinkende #Impfquoten verschärfen auch die Antibiotikaresistenz-Krise: Denn virale Infektionen wie #Masern können nicht selten zu bakteriellen Folgeerkrankungen führen - oft behandelt mit #Antibiotika. @ca.theconversation.com berichtet. #AMR theconversation.com/how-falling-...

Microbial metal physiology: ions to ecosystems Nature Reviews Microbiology - Metal ions are required for all cells, and their homeostasis relies on ancient mechanisms that facilitate their import, distribution and storage. In this Review,...

Metal ions are universally required for life, and many of the foundational principles of metal homeostasis have emerged from studies of microbial systems. In this review, I provide a introductory overview targeted to those new to the field.
#MicroSky #Metals

rdcu.be/eycU2

Genome co-adaptation and the evolution of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacterial pathogens is a major threat to global health, rendering standard treatments ineffective and increasing the risk of severe infection or death. Re...

🚨New pre-print 🚨
We introduce our new tool GOLD-GWAS and demonstrate its use by digging into the evolution of MRSA facilitated by SCCmec

This work was led by talented PhD student @seungwonko.bsky.social who did most of the computational heavylifting 1/n

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Within-host competition causes pathogen molecular evolution and perpetual microbiota dysbiosis Abstract. Pathogens newly invading a host must compete with resident microbiota. This within-host microbial warfare could lead to more severe disease outco

I'm very pleased to share the latest paper from my post doc with @kayla-king.bsky.social. We looked at how host microbiota can influence pathogen virulence evolution in a C. elegans model of infection: academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

Thank you so much @melissawebby.bsky.social 😌 🥰 - biggest cheerleader and a super successful scientist herself!! 👩‍🔬

Just @carokobras.bsky.social doing amazing stuff! She is a fantastic scientist and wonderful person. If you don't already follow her you should because she has some really exciting science on the way!