Pradeep

Most bacteria remain uncultured and don’t grow in the lab.. to address this am excited to share EDEN - an enhanced domestication method to grow uncultured bacteria & new diversity. Using EDEN we isolate a new species active against MDR pathogens.. doi.org/10.1093/ismeco…

Excited to share that our latest paper is published @ScienceMagazine We show that HGT via natural competence drives diversification of chromosomal integrons in V. cholerae. Thanks to Laurie, Sandrine, Loriane & Alexandre for their help with this study🥳 science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

Our new paper in @cellhostmicrobe include 1. a global atlas of human bacterial pathogens in soils 2. Soil biodiversity negatively linked with human pathogens 3. Many pathogens to increase in future climates 4. Positive link between pathogens & mortality authors.elsevier.com/a/1msNK6t8JEyQ…

A global soil plasmidome resource unveils functional and ecological roles of plasmids in soil microbiomes doi.org/10.1038/s41467…

In a new paper in @NatureComms we 1. provide first global map of dominant bacterial plant pathogens 2. show microbial diversity, SOC, some Streptomyces, AM fungi linked to low pathogen prevalence 3. Many pathogens to increase under future climates #peer-review" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">nature.com/articles/s4146…

Yayun Wang, Minoru Moriyama, Ryuichi Koga and colleagues' fantastic work, uncovering that disruption of a single enzyme gene, tnaA encoding tryptophanase, makes E. coli and other bacteria mutualistic to stinkbugs, just comes out in Nature Microbiology! doi.org/10.1038/s41564…

Bacteria deliver a microtubule-binding protein into mammalian cells to promote colonization. science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

Meloidogyne nematodes reprogram rhizosphere metabolism to suppress antagonistic microbiota and enable bacterial pathogen co-infection. cell.com/cell-reports/f…

Drosophila was once thought to have no #phylosymbiosis, but evidence is starting to turn that around to a more nuanced view. academic.oup.com/jinsectscience…

The Microbiome Within a Microbe: Rethinking Blastocystis Biology…as a holobiont! pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12…

Can plant pathogens boost vector fitness? Together with @HassanSalem, we review how phytopathogens can spread further by moonlighting as insect symbionts 🪲 More on this nifty lifestyle in @AnnualReviews! annualreviews.org/content/journa…

Ecological, Functional, and Phylogenetic Determinants of Cyanobacterial Biomineralisation …icro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/17…

New paper from lab- Leaf microbiome assembly is linked to plant phylogeny in @plantandsoil led by Dr Pankaj Singh Results advances fundamental knowledge of plant–microbe interactions and their co-evolutionary relationships. link.springer.com/article/10.100…

Effector–host interactome map links type III secretion systems in healthy gut microbiomes to immune modulation | Nature Microbiology nature.com/articles/s4156…

Bacteriophages mobilize bacterial defense systems via lateral transduction science.org/doi/full/10.11…

Bark microbiota modulate climate-active gas fluxes in Australian forests | Science science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

There's a bacteriophage that turns bacteria into “liquid crystals.” Specifically, Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria make Pf phages, which are rod-shaped, negatively-charged, and measure about 2 micrometers in length (roughly the length of an E. coli cell). These phages leave the cells and enter their surroundings. There, they mix with polymers, also secreted by the cells, to form a crystalline matrix. Surprisingly, this is good for the cells. Although the phages kill some of them, it also makes their biofilms stickier and able to withstand certain antibiotics. These bacteria + phages are prevalent in cystic fibrosis patients; they've formed a sort of symbiotic relationship. The Pf phages are made from thousands of repeating copies of a coat protein, called CoaB, which wraps around a single-stranded, circular DNA genome. These genes are integrated directly on the bacterial chromosome. The bacteria “turn on” these phage genes when placed in a viscous environment with low oxygen levels. This is like a trigger to start forming a biofilm. And the cells make a lot of phages; about 100 billion per milliliter. These liquid crystals form because of a physics principle called “depletion attraction.” If you just mix a bunch of loose or flexible polymers together (such as long carbon chains) they will not form a liquid crystal. But if you mix stiff rods (the phages) with loose polymers at a high enough concentration, the polymers will force the phages close together to create a material that flows like a liquid despite being ordered like a crystal. See the video below. These liquid crystal biofilms are hard to get rid of. The negatively-charged phages block many antibiotics (like aminoglycosides, which are positively-charged) from entering cells. Liquid crystals also retain water, so these biofilms can survive on drier surfaces. I first heard about this from Malmesbury’s excellent newsletter, called “Telescopic Turnip.”

Our new publication in @ISMEJournal describes how Bacillus and Trichoderma works together to fight against the plant pathogen Fusarium, a superb collaboration with @ZhihuiXu2 at Nanjing Agricultural University, including the experiments by @JiyuXie_ at @LeidenBiology 1/7👇

The tomato seed microbiome is mainly shaped by host genotype and production site | mSystems journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/ms…

Xanthomonas coordinates type III–type II effector synergy by activating fruit-ripening pathway | Science science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…