New preprint – “Slimy vs. Stabby”

Out now on bioRxiv – we looked at how bacteria use slime (EPS) to protect themselves against attacks by bacterial “spearguns” (the type 6 secretion system). Inspired by a video game! Collective protection against the type VI secretion system in bacteria (preprint)

BBSRC Fellowship

Great news: I have been awarded a BBSRC Discovery Fellowship to work on the role of horizontal gene transfer in bacterial warfare at the University of Oxford. Exciting times ahead!

New paper in Current Biology

Out now: we show that Escherichia coli bacteria undergo mass cell suicide to release toxins during competitions, and that this behavior is restricted to cells that are going to die from the competitor’s attack. The Evolution of Mass Cell Suicide in Bacterial Warfare (Open Access) Watch a video summary of the paper: