Bob Leung

Aerobic syngas conversion: opportunities, challenges, and solutions
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Eukaryogenesis in light of an expanded catalogue of Asgard genomes. a, Simplified, scaled timeline spanning from before the Last Asgard archaea Common Ancestor (LAsCA) to today. Thin bands mark predicted time ranges of relevant events (for example, GOE), thicker bands represent processes (for example, eukaryogenesis), and brackets indicate the period shown in b. The timeline further highlights milestones, including potential early eukaryotic fossils60 and the modern-day co-occurrence of Heimdallarchaeia and Alphaproteobacteria observed in this study (interaction likely originated earlier).

Fig. 1 | Expanded genomic diversity of Asgard archaea. a, Maximum-likelihood phylogeny based on 47 non-ribosomal markers (NM47)using the WAG + C10 + R4 model with 100 nonparametric bootstrap pseudoreplicates, including 869 Asgardarchaeota MAGs and 309 outgroup genomes. The blue branches (lower right) indicate the new Asgardarchaeota classes, Ranarchaeia, and the recently proposed Asgardarchaeia4. The concentric rings denote (in to out): the predicted genome size, metabolic guilds based on Pfam clustering, sampling locations, and black stars on the outside mark MAGs added by this study. Asgard, Asgardarchaeia; Atabey, Atabeyarchaeia; Baldr, Baldrarchaeia; Frey/Jord, Frey/Jordarchaeia; Gerd, Gerdarchaeales; Heimdall, Heimdallarchaeaceae; Hel, Helarchaeales; Hermod, Hermodarchaeia; Hod, Hodarchaeales; Kari, Kariarchaeaceae; Loki, Lokiarchaeales; Njord, Njordarchaeales; Odin, Odinarchaeia; Ran, Ranarchaeia; Sif, Sifarchaeia; Thor, Thorarchaeia; Wukong, Wukongarchaeia. b, SR4-recoded phylogeny of the same genome set inferred with the model GTR + C60 + G and 100 nonparametric bootstrap pseudoreplicates (Methods). This updated catalogue constitutes a large increase in the medium- to high-quality publicly available genomes (completeness >50% and contamination and redundancy <10%) with 65.3% from the Guaymas Basin and 34.7% from the Bohai Sea. The encircled numbers represent MAGS added by this study. The scale bars in bothsubpanels represent the average number of substitutions per site.Map created in BioRender; Appler, K. https://biorender.com/147ieoc(2025).

Our work is published today: ‘Oxygen metabolism in descendants of the archaeal-eukaryotic ancestor’. This was a huge effort lead by @katyappler.bsky.social. Extremely grateful to have been a part of this amazing project! 😊🦠🧬

Links: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Love it, thanks for bringing this up Andrea! I used to be a regular reader of New Scientist during high school, never thought one day my work would be highlighted there 😆

The hidden energy cost of cellular dormancy Many organisms survive harsh environments by switching into special survival modes. Some bacteria do this by forming spores—dormant, highly resilient cells that can persist for years or even centuries...

www.growkudos.com/publications...

New work with @ckarakoc.bsky.social and @shoestrapped.bsky.social in @pnas.org

Tree bark microbiota in climate-active gas cycling Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 23 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41579-026-01281-3This study reports that the tree bark microbial community actively modulates fluxes of climate-active gases and volatile organic compounds, and may mediate global atmospheric gas cycling.

New online! Tree bark microbiota in climate-active gas cycling

Fibroblastic reticular cells direct the initiation of T cell responses via CD44 - Nature CD44 expressed by fibroblastic reticular cells in secondary lymphoid organs regulates trafficking of dendritic cells, and thus has an essential role in the priming of T cells and the adaptive immune r...

Fantastic new paper from @the-de-lab.bsky.social showing how the CMV m11 protein drives immune evasion by blocking CD44-dependent, FRC-mediated DC migration in the spleen, ultimately dampening antiviral CD8⁺ T cell priming @monashuniversity.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Metabolically flexible microorganisms rapidly establish glacial foreland ecosystems - Nature Communications An enduring question in ecology is how new ecosystems form. Studying retreating glaciers, this study shows that life’s first foothold in these new environments is not established by photosynthetic org...

How do new soils develop after glaciers vanish? ❄️🧬🦠🏔️

The first microbial colonisers use flexible chemoautotrophic strategies to overcome nutrient scarcity, including scavenging H2, CO and CH4 from the air! ⛅

Led by Francesco Ricci, Sean Bay @greening.bsky.social

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

📢 DSMZ is hiring!
We are looking for a Scientific Lead for the SILVA Database, a key tool for understanding microbes and biodiversity.
Learn more and apply: tinyurl.com/y973v547

#HiringNow #ScienceJobs #Microbiology #ResearchCareers
@dsmzd3.bsky.social

Transcriptional and metabolic stasis define desiccation-induced dormancy in the soil bacterium Arthrobacter sp. AZCC_0090 until water vapor initiates resuscitation Microbes inhabiting soils experience periodic water deprivation. The effects of desiccation on DNA, protein, and membrane integrity are well-described. However, the effects of drying and rehydration o...

Our revised manuscript is up on BioRxiv and is coming soon to an ASM journal in your neighborhood.

We show that metabolome & transcriptome profiles are frozen in desiccated Arthrobacter and that water vapor induces resuscitation.

Happy to answer any Qs.

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

(1/8) 🚨Thrilled to share our new research, now published on the cover of @science.org ! 🌳🦠
We discovered that tree #Bark — largely regarded as inert — hosts vast #Microbial communities that actively interact with the atmosphere. 🧵👇 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The ARC’s processes are back to being farcical, @jasonclaremp.bsky.social

You advocated for a streamlined, efficient, faster ARC, but all that progress has been undone.

How can they claim to fund “innovation” with more than a year between initial proposal & outcomes? It should be 6 months, not 16!

Black text on white background. Screenshot of ARC’s Network Message regarding delays to grant announcements because of new security arrangements.

⁉️The ARC has delayed outcomes of ALL grants 1–4 months & increased scheduled outcome windows from 2 weeks to 3 months!

This reverses 4 years of progress in providing greater certainty & ability to plan for researchers, their families & unis.

Their excuse? Security checks under new ARC legislation👇

We discovered microbes in bark ‘eat’ climate gases. This will change the way we think about trees - Southern Cross University Tree bark microbes quietly “eat” climate‑warming gases, revealing a hidden way trees clean the air and reshaping how we think about forests.

Turns out, each tree hosts trillions of bacteria in its bark, and these bacteria 'eat' certain gases right out of the air: methane, carbon monoxide, and especially hydrogen.

This is important info because hydrogen helps methane persist longer in the atmosphere.

theconversation.com/we-discovere...

Thanks George! Yep, it was at the GRC AEM 2023, the first occasion that I talked about bark microbes

Delighted to hear, thanks Nate!

Bark microbiota modulate climate-active gas fluxes in Australian forests Recent studies suggest that microbes inhabit tree bark, yet little is known about their identities, functions, and environmental roles. Here we reveal, through gene-centric and genome-resolved metagen...

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

This photograph, taken at the ephemeral wetland study site in Bogangar, Australia, shows a paperbark tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia)—a hardy, iconic Australian wetland species that is recognized by its layered, papery bark.

New research reveals that paperbarks, among other trees, host abundant, specialized, and metabolically active bark-dwelling microbial communities that modulate climatically relevant gases, including methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide.

Learn more this week in Science: https://scim.ag/4bp9hgl

Bark microbiota modulate climate-active gas fluxes in Australian forests Recent studies suggest that microbes inhabit tree bark, yet little is known about their identities, functions, and environmental roles. Here we reveal, through gene-centric and genome-resolved metagen...

In this week’s @science.org cover article, we discover tree bark is a hidden habitat for abundant, diverse, and specialized microbial life that actively regulate our climate 🦠. Bark isn't just an inert armor of tree but an active interface for climate and biodiversity
www.science.org/eprint/7H9PX...

Isolation of Crenothrix bacteria reveals the distinct ecophysiologies of filamentous methanotrophs and adaptations to redox stress At the dawn of modern microbiology, Cohn observed abundant filamentous bacteria in drinking water wells that he named Crenothrix polyspora. Subsequent research has revealed the methanotrophic metaboli...

A quick microbio present before the holidays 🎁 >150 years after their first description, filamentous "Crenothrix bacteria" are now in stable laboratory culture! In our pre-print, we probe the unique physiology & ecology of the "lacustrine" group of these enigmatic methane-oxidizing microbes... 1/2

Cultivation of Methanonezhaarchaeia, the third class of methanogens within the phylum Thermoproteota The cultivation of a group of methanogens illuminates their metabolic diversity and the evolution of archaea.

“Cultivation of Methanonezhaarchaeia, the third class of methanogens within the phylum Thermoproteota” by @kohtzarchaeota.bsky.social, Sylvia Nupp, and myself is out in Science Advances. 90% enriched culture of a methyl-dismutating thermoproteotal methanogen. #Microsky 🧪 tinyurl.com/bdcc3uzs

New #PrePrint by #PhD @jodittmann.bsky.social open for discussion on @egubg.bsky.social investigating the question: 'Are #GhostForests a substantial source of #Methane from #Reservoirs?' 👻🪵
👇
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...

Soil trace gas oxidizers divergently respond to short- and long-term warming The upland soil microbiome is dominated by aerobic bacteria that oxidize atmospheric trace gases, including CO, H2, and CH4. As a result, soils are the largest biological sink for these climate-active...

📢 Extra, extra: our collaborative study on trace gas oxidizers in a warmer soil is out as a preprint

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

Big thanks to @thanh0109.bsky.social @bobpmleung.bsky.social @wutkowska.bsky.social @andreasrichter.bsky.social @mathildebio.bsky.social @greening.bsky.social

...

A diagram showing the environmental distribution of methyl coenzyme M reductase encoding Thermoproteota.

New preprint: Methyl co-enzme M reductase encoding (potentially methanogenic) Thermoproteota are widespread and transcriptionally active in diverse anoxic ecosystems! @dr-zj.bsky.social, Matthew Kollom & @emileyeloe-fadrosh.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... Funded by the DOE BER program.

Isolation, engineering and ecology of temperate phages from the human gut - Nature Human host-associated cellular products may act as induction agents for bacteriophages.

Very excited to share the latest work from our lab, which was published today in Nature!
nature.com/articles/s41...

PhD graduate and now post-doc Sofia Dahlman, along with co-senior author Sam Forster from The Hudson and other researchers from our lab and others.

A Protein Antibiotic Inhibits the BAM Complex to Kill Without Cell Entry Many antibiotics are ineffective against Gram-negative pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa because they cannot penetrate the bacterial outer membrane. Here, we show that protein antibiotics calle...

The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria blocks many antibiotics. Our latest work reveals that L-type pyocins bypass this barrier by inactivating the BAM complex, killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa without entering the cell, providing a new blueprint for beating antibiotic resistance.

Carbon monoxide metabolism in freshwater anaerobic methanotrophic archaea https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.16.676500v1

📢 PLEASE RT!
❄️ M2 Masters Internship: Metagenomic analysis of microbial cold adaptation in the cryosphere
🧬 Compile & curate ice nucleation & cold-adaptation protein database
🖥️ Build HMM profiles
🦠 Analyze existing metagenomic data using HMMs

☀️ Marseille, France
Apply by 15 Oct

2 Postdoc vacancies: Microbial dormancy in the cryosphere
@erc.europa.eu #ERC_SIESTA
📢 PLEASE RT

Experimental:
🧬 Single cell microbial activity measurements, flow cytometry, omics, biogeochem

Modelling:
🖥️ Bioenergetics, thermodynamics, ecological, biogeochem

☀️ Marseille, France
‼️ Apply by 30 Sept

Elio (1928-2025) by The STC Team — Losing a close friend always saddens one deeply, regardless of age. Losing a person who has so immensely influenced our worldview through his guidance and example makes the sadness e...

schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2...
#MicroSky

🧪 🥼 🥽 Looking for tools to answer questions related to energy and infrastructure security? Now's your chance to apply for an investigator role at Berkeley Lab's @jgi.doe.gov.

Apply today! ⬇️
Deadline: September 9
Please share!