Tiffany Taylor

littlestories.co.ukLittle Changesan introduction to evolution Click on the image below, to read the story. Meet the Rinkidinks. They live together in one large happy family, carefree and untroubled by the rest of the world. Until …

12 Feb

Happy #DarwinDay 🧬🌿! To celebrate, why not share a story about #evolution with a #FutureScientist? My book, Little Changes, is a fun bedtime story for young readers to explore how small changes shape the living world. littlestories.co.uk/little-chang... #ScienceForKids #STEMBooks

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Zamin Iqbal

@zaminiqbal.bsky.social

9 Sept

A chance to do a PhD on plasmid copy number with the excellent @wtmatlock.bsky.social , highly recommended! Combines genomics and experimental evolution with Tiff Taylor (whose bsky id I can't seem to find, apols) gw4biomed.ac.uk/turning-up-t...

gw4biomed.ac.ukTurning up the volume: plasmid copy number and gene duplications as drivers of antimicrobial resistance evolution - GW4 BioMed MRC DTPProject Code IIAR27Ba Matlock Project Type Wet lab Research Theme Infection, Immunity, and Antimicrobial Resistance Project Summary Download Summary Plasmids are important drivers of antimicrobial res...

Tiffany Taylor reposted

EvoNerdette

@bethmorillo-hall.bsky.social

22 July

Does evolution take millions of years?Nope! Our SSR article with @taylorlabgroup.bsky.social @adamrutherford.bsky.social introduces an experimental classroom approach that lets students observe evolutionary change in just 48 hours.Very cool! www.ase.org.uk/resources/sc... #Evolution#ScienceEducation

ase.org.ukIssue 397With climate change increasingly at the forefront of our thinking, June’s record-breaking temperatures across the UK and parts of Europe offered a lived example of the science that students are learni...

15 June

Thank you for having me! I had a fantastic day chatting to everyone there and hearing about the incredible science going on.

MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)@mermanchester.bsky.social

Last week we kicked off the ecology & evolution seminar series with a fantastic talk by @taylorlabgroup.bsky.social 🧬 A great start to a diverse series of talks organised by @bexlowrypalms.bsky.social & @matthewjshepherd.bsky.social Come and join us for the next one on 25th June!

bbc.co.ukArchive on 4 - The Evolution of The Naked Ape - BBC SoundsElla Al-Shamahi revisits Desmond Morris’s controversial book The Naked Ape, six decades on

20 Apr

Can a book be scientifically flawed & still transform how we see ourselves? The Naked Ape is proof that connecting with your audience matters, even when it ruffles academic feathers. Loved joining @ellaalshamahi.bsky.social & fellow guests to unpack this on BBC Radio 4 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

telegraph.co.ukDesmond Morris, zoologist behind bestselling studies of human behaviour from The Naked Ape to ManwatchingCalling man a ‘risen ape’ rather than a ‘fallen angel’, and declaring religion ‘a confidence trick’, he enraged Christians in the 1960s

20 Apr

Gosh, I didn't know when recording this that it would become one of the last reflections on Desmond Morris's work during his lifetime. He passed away the day after it aired. The Naked Ape changed the conversation. What a legacy to leave. www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2...

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Vaughn Cooper

@vscooper.micropopbio.org

30 Mar

Now out in AEM @asm.org! 🎉🧪 *High school student-isolated mutants 👉🏻 novel genetic causes of biofilm-associated adaptations *We learn how diversity arises quickly and is maintained *EvolvingSTEM enables scalable research in classrooms & promotes scientific literacy journals.asm.org/eprint/FBU9M...

journals.asm.orgGenetic diversification of Pseudomonas fluorescens maintained by multi-niche selection within biofilms | Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyBacterial biofilms dominate microbial life; however, their evolutionary genetics remain incompletely understood. Extensive replication of biofilm selection experiments by secondary school students can...

Vaughn Cooper@vscooper.micropopbio.org

Sharing the most significant work from my group, led by the @evolvingstem.bsky.social team. Come for the discoveries of how Pseudomonas adapts in biofilms, stay for the story of how they were discovered by thousands of young scientists in grades 9-12. 🧪🧫🧬🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.orgStudent-led experimental evolution reveals novel biofilm regulatory networks underlying adaptations to multiple nichesWe established a research-education partnership known as EvolvingSTEM that provides secondary school students the opportunity to conduct authentic research experiments centered on microbial evolution....

findaphd.com(CODE M) Losing your head: how do bacterial viruses evolve into anti-competitor weapons? at The University of Manchester on FindAPhD.comPhD Project - (CODE M) Losing your head: how do bacterial viruses evolve into anti-competitor weapons? at The University of Manchester, listed on FindAPhD.com

27 Mar

Was in Oxford today examining a D Phil viva and I couldn't help but take a peek at the new @biology.ox.ac.uk building. Looking a bit fancier than the old Tinbergen building!

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Will Smith

@willpjsmith.bsky.social

9 Feb

🚨 PhD Studentship available! 🚨 We're hiring a UK student to start in Oct '26 via the BBSRC CODEM scheme. Full studentship plus £10k top-up PA. Study the mysterious ZOMBIE PHAGES 🧟 🦠 with our fabulous @mermanchester.bsky.social and @uommib.bsky.social communities! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.comTranscription Factor Promiscuity Drives Regulatory Rewiring and Evolvability in Gene Networks in BacteriaThis special issue marking the University of Bath's 60th anniversary offers an opportunity to reflect on nearly a decade of research into the evolution of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from members...

New Perspective out in Advanced Science 🎉 in collaboration with @alanrice.ie for @uniofbath.bsky.social 60th anniversary special issue. advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... We review nearly a decade of work asking: how do gene regulatory networks rewire during evolution? 🧫🧵

The same principles likely extend beyond bacteria. Across life, regulatory novelty often arises by redeploying existing network components - not by inventing new ones. Evolution tinkers with what is already there.

If you’re interested in: • gene regulatory network evolution • transcription factor promiscuity • predictability of adaptation • or why evolution so often repeats itself give the paper a read and let me know your thoughts.

Importantly, TF recruitment is not well predicted by: ✗ sequence similarity alone ✗ structural similarity alone ✗ DNA-binding domain similarity alone Context matters more than identity.

These findings help reframe crosstalk. Rather than asking “why is crosstalk tolerated?” we should ask: how does crosstalk shape evolvability?

That third point is key. Low-level, non-cognate binding (aka crosstalk) provides the raw material for innovation. Selection doesn’t invent new interactions from scratch. It amplifies ones that already exist weakly.

In our system, evolution often proceeds in two steps: 1. mutations increase TF activity/expression 2. subsequent mutations refine binding towards new promoters And which TF is rewired is predictable based on the path of least resistance: the most mutationally accessible route.

Only a small subset of transcription factors can take over the lost function. And they do so in a clear hierarchy of accessibility: some regulators are evolutionary “first responders”.

Why these TFs and not others? Our work shows three properties matter most: • ability to reach high activity • ability to reach high expression • some pre-existing low-level affinity for new targets

Using experimental evolution in Pseudomonas fluorescens, we can watch regulatory rewiring happen in real time. Delete a master regulator → apply selection → observe evolutionary rescue.

When the flagellar master regulator (FleQ) is deleted, bacteria repeatedly evolve motility back - but not randomly. They follow highly predictable evolutionary routes.

Gene regulation is often described as neat and deterministic, with each transcription factor (TF) controlling its own specific targets. Reality is messier: They make mistakes; They engage in crosstalk/promiscuous binding

MERMan Research Group (University of Manchester)

This “promiscuous” binding is usually viewed as noise and costly misregulation that cells have evolved to suppress (and that is true for locally adapted organisms!). But what if those mistakes can also matter for evolution? And is it possible to define it's role?

Tiffany Taylor reposted

@mermanchester.bsky.social

26 Nov 2025

If you’re interested in antibiotic resistance evolution in Pseudomonas, come to @flanagella.bsky.social’s poster (number 11) 💊 #MicroEvo25

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Multi-Defence

@multidefence.bsky.social

14 Nov 2025

🔬 Interested in bacterial immune systems & AMR, or how antibiotics affect phage infectivity? Three SWBio DTP PhD project opportunities linked to the MultiDefence consortium are now open (1/4) #PhD #DoctoralTraining #ResearchCarrers #LifeSciences #phagesky #AMR #microsky #PhDPositions

Tiffany Taylor reposted

EvoNerdette

@bethmorillo-hall.bsky.social

6 Nov 2025

The 2025 Curriculum Review is great news for STEM ✅ Depth over breadth ✅ Hands-on science ✅ Digital literacy ✅ Equity & progression. My FREE Evolution Project brings these STEM priorities to life through engaging, hands-on learning. www.bath.ac.uk/campaigns/di... #STEM #CurriculumReview

bath.ac.ukDiscover Evoscope: an educational package that’s transforming how we learn evolutionEvoscope is a free educational resource pack that helps you bring evolution to life and assess understanding and acceptance of evolutionary concepts.

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Tom Williams

@tweethinking.bsky.social

9 Oct 2025

There's a PhD position now available with me in Bath, on the evolution of symbiosis. www.findaphd.com/phds/project.... The supervisory team also includes @anja1.bsky.social @phil-donoghue.bsky.social and others. NB, this is open both to UK-based students *and* to international students :)

findaphd.comThe genomic basis of symbiotic integration at University of Bath on FindAPhD.comPhD Project - The genomic basis of symbiotic integration at University of Bath, listed on FindAPhD.com

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Eduardo Rocha

@epcrocha.bsky.social

8 Sept 2025

Willing to join us @pasteur.fr for a PhD for a project on how interactions between mobile genetic elements shape bacterial adaptation? Subject to be tailored to candidates with keen interest in evolution, genomics, computational biology, microbiology. Check www.pasteur.fr/en/education...

pasteur.frPasteur-Paris University International doctoral program (PPU)OverviewIn 2009, the Institut Pasteur, the world leading biomedical research institute founded by Louis Pasteur in 1887, inaugurated the Pasteur Paris-University (PPU) international doctoral program i...

Institut Pasteur | 130 years of biomedical research@pasteur.fr

🎓 Applications for Institut Pasteur's PhD programs open Sept 1-Oct 20, 2025 for October 2026 entry. Apply to up to 4 projects across 6 programs: PPU, PPU-IMAGINE @institutimagine.bsky.social, PPU-@ox.ac.uk, PPU-EID @upcite.bsky.social & more 🧬 Register now ✍️ www.pasteur.fr/en/education...

doi.orgPhage susceptibility to a minimal, modular synthetic CRISPR-Cas system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is nutrient dependent | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological SciencesCRISPR-Cas systems can provide adaptive, heritable immunity to their prokaryotic hosts against invading genetic material such as phages. It is clear that the importance of acquiring CRISPR-Cas immunit...

4 Sept 2025

Excited to share brilliant work @josie-e.bsky.social. She built a minimal type I-F CRISPR-Cas system where parts (like spacers) can be easily swapped. Against a panel of phages it gave full protection in most cases—though for some, immunity was stronger in low-nutrient growth. Check out her 🧵 below!

Josie Elliott@josie-e.bsky.social

Can CRISPR-Cas systems target any phage? Yes, no, it depends? What does it depend on? The second paper from my PhD came out today in a special issue of Phil Trans B on the ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

Tiffany Taylor reposted

David Sünderhauf

@davvi36.bsky.social

2 Sept 2025

PhD opportunity, please share: We are looking for a prospective PhD student to start in October 2026 who is excited about bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae), how they interact, and how they exchange DNA. All details can be found on the funder website 👉 gw4biomed.ac.uk/developing-c...

gw4biomed.ac.ukDeveloping CRISPR-Cas antimicrobials to tackle antibiotic resistance spread in Klebsiella pneumoniae - GW4 BioMed MRC DTPProject Code MRCIIAR26Ex van Houte Project Type Wet lab Research Theme Infection, Immunity, Antimicrobial Resistance and Repair Project Summary Download Summary Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a ...

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Julia Sero

@cellmorphosero.bsky.social

2 Sept 2025

What are your "good hands" training tips? @baym.lol and others? - Slow down - Pay attention - Visualise doing the whole protocol. What do you need to have labelled when? Where are you standing? What are you doing during the incubation? Etc. - Start new methods with 2-3 small low-stakes experiments.

Michael Baym@baym.lol

Every few months the "good lab hands" thing comes up and it misses a key point: you can learn to have good hands. Training matters. Good hands aren't some magic gift from the PCR gods, you have to develop them through directed repetitive practice, like any other skill

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Rowan Green

@rowancallumg.bsky.social

18 Aug 2025

New paper out @molbioevol.bsky.social on antimutator Ecoli, mutational spectra and the distribution of fitness effects of antibiotic resistance with @knightjar.bsky.social @rokkrasovec.bsky.social and others @mermanchester.bsky.social doi.org/pzfm Read🧵for highlights and fun stats (1/13)

doi.orgAntimutator and Mutational Spectrum Effects Can Combine to Reduce Evolutionary Potential in Escherichia coli ΔnudJAbstract. The rate of spontaneous mutation is a key factor in determining the capacity of a population to adapt to a novel environment, for example, a bact

jgi.doe.govJGI announces 2025 Functional Genomics awardees | Joint Genome InstituteThis year's project goals range from engineering drought-tolerant woody bioenergy crops through transcriptional network mapping, developing microbial systems to convert renewable feedstocks into advan...

19 Aug 2025

Thanks @jgi.doe.gov! I'm excited to learn more about how molecular mechanisms link ecological and evolutionary flexibility in P. fluorescens using DAP-seq. In collab with @robjacksoncomics.bsky.social @catriona1392.bsky.social @cjlush.bsky.social & Jacob Malone 🦠🌱

Axel Visel@axelvisel.bsky.social

Congratulations to @jgi.doe.gov's 2025 Functional Genomics awardees: @ostratodd.bsky.social @philmuslab.bsky.social @aaronrashotte.bsky.social @taylorlabgroup.bsky.social Hao Chen, Matthew Cope-Arguello, Olufemi Isimikalu, Paul Scesa, K. Scott, S. Wakao, B. Woolston jgi.doe.gov/user-science...

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Vaughn Cooper

@vscooper.micropopbio.org

17 Aug 2025

What shapes the moment when you say, this is who I want to be? Could one classroom research experience be that catalyst? Could a summer camp for teachers help them make students become scientists? 🧪🧫🧬🔬 YES. This is EvolvingSTEM. So proud of this team. youtu.be/sv3tcwRs2PE?...

youtu.beEvolvingSTEM Summer of Transformation 2025YouTube video by Evolving STEM

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Vivek Mutalik

@vivekmutalik.bsky.social

16 Aug 2025

😳 #phage #phagesky #microsky Pseudomonads coordinate innate defense against viruses and bacteria with a single regulatory system: www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

cell.comPseudomonads coordinate innate defense against viruses and bacteria with a single regulatory systemBrinkley et al. describe a general immune response strategy in Pseudomonas species, termed GUARD, that protects against both bacterial and viral threats. This program, controlled by the Gac/Rsm global...

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Molecular Biology and Evolution

@molbioevol.bsky.social

14 Aug 2025

Horton, Cherry, @gretelwaugh.bsky.social @taylorlabgroup.bsky.social et al. combine experimental evolution and bioinformatics in bacteria to characterize a ≥8 bp motif that can increase T:A→G:C mutation rates >1000-fold than the baseline rate. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf183 #evobio #molbio

doi.orgGnT Motifs Can Increase T:A→G:C Mutation Rates Over 1000-fold in BacteriaAbstract. Nucleotides across a genome do not mutate at equal frequencies. Instead, specific nucleotide positions can exhibit much higher mutation rates tha

🦠 New paper led by James Horton (feat. J Cherry & @gretelwaugh.bsky.social) reveals GnT DNA motif can boost T→A mutation rates up to 1000×, & how tweaking nearby bases can fine-tune its potency. General across bacteria + potential in synbio. 📄 academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-ar… 🔗 James’s thread ⬇️

Dammit. Edit to first post, T > G.

Finally, the GnT motif mutation rates determined for Pseudomonas closely match those determined for Salmonella, so we're confident that our calculated rates for GnT motifs can be used to both find and quantify T:A→G:C mutation hotspots in many other species of bacteria. (8/8)

A big thank you to my co-authors: Joshua Cherry, @gretelwaugh.bsky.social Also thank you to @peteralind.bsky.social for his helpful feedback on the manuscript and for pointing out that GnT motifs bias experimental evolution surprisingly often!

We also demonstrated that GnT motifs can be used to increase the rate and predictability of evolution. If you synonymously convert the neighbouring nucleotides around adaptive T:A positions into GnT motifs, adaptive evolution can happen significantly faster. (6/8)

GnT motifs are very short (≥8bp depending on G tract length), which means these hotspots are very common elements in bacterial genomes! For example, Pseudomonas fluorescens has hotspot GnT motifs that can cause a non-synonymous mutation in ~20% of reading frames. (7/8)

We created T:A→G:C mutational hotspots by synonymously altering: (a) the length of the GnT sequence, (b) the dinucleotide 5’ to the homopolymer G tract, and (c) the nucleotide 3’ to the T. Together, the flanking nucleotides change the mutation rate by orders of magnitude. (4/8)

For example, if a G4T sequence (i.e. GGGGT) is flanked by a 5’ AC and a 3’ A, there’s almost no hotspot (the T:A→G:C mutation rate is ~5-fold higher than baseline). But if a G4T sequence is flanked by a 5’ GA and 3’ C, the T:A→G:C rate is ∼1100-fold higher than baseline. (5/8)

academic.oup.comT Residues Preceded by Runs of G Are Hotspots of T→G Mutation in BacteriaAbstract. The rate of mutation varies among positions in a genome. Local sequence context can affect the rate and has different effects on different types

In a recent paper analysing Salmonella and others, Cherry 2023 found that homopolymeric tracts of G (≥3) with a 3’ T frequently mutate so that the T is substituted with another G: I.e. GGGT→GGGG. This rate increases the longer the G tract (GnT). academic.oup.com/gbe/article/... (2/8)

In this work, we create mutational hotspots in the Pseudomonas fluorescens genome using synonymous nucleotide changes to alter the GnT sequence and its neighbours. We show that GnT hotspots are determined by a GnT sequence and the nucleotides immediately flanking it. (3/8)

academic.oup.comGnT Motifs Can Increase T:A→G:C Mutation Rates Over 1000-fold in BacteriaAbstract. Nucleotides across a genome do not mutate at equal frequencies. Instead, specific nucleotide positions can exhibit much higher mutation rates tha

Our latest paper is now out in @molbioevol.bsky.social! In this work we show that T:A→G:C mutational hotspots in bacteria are created by short nucleotide sequences (≥8bp), which we call GnT motifs. academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... A 🧵from James (not on Bluesky) 1/8 #microsky

Tiffany Taylor reposted

Ellinor Alseth

@ellinoralseth.bsky.social

8 Aug 2025

Feels surreal to say but: I'm hiring! If you are or know anyone interested in looking at the evolution of phage resistance using A. baumannii and natural transformation, then this might be for you www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

jobbnorge.noResearch position in Microbial Pharmacology and Population Biology (282139) | UiT The Arctic University of NorwayJob title: Research position in Microbial Pharmacology and Population Biology (282139), Employer: UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Deadline: Wednesday, August 27, 2025