Lars Dietrich
I love bacteria.
Biofilm metabolism & antibiotic tolerance dietrichlab.com
Biological Sciences, Columbia University
(a yawn is a silent scream for coffee)
- Reposted by Lars Dietricha daring approach: looking at LUCA's ancestors, i.e. pre-darwinian evolution. but not surprising it's coming from @kacarlab.bsky.social 👏 glad to see Iwabe et al. (1989) among the references (blew my mind when it came out >30 y ago)
- What happened before the last universal common ancestor? Pre-LUCA evolution is hard to study. In our new Cell Genomics Perspective we spotlight how paralogous proteins open a window onto the deepest chapters of evolution. 🧬🌍 Out today! --> www.cell.com/cell-genomic... @cellpress.bsky.social
- Reposted by Lars DietrichSeema Mattoo on Bordetella pertussis and whooping cough! Matters Microbial, @mattoolab.bsky.social @markowenmartin.bsky.social #MicroSky
- Reposted by Lars Dietrich@poojag96.bsky.social work on the bioenergetics of spore germination is now published- Pooja had a really nice summary that I've put below but essentially we think the role of bioenergetics in spore germination has been completely overlooked! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichFriends, please help spread the word about our microbiology REU program at Montana State University. www.montana.edu/mbi/reu/ Each student receives a stipend ($7000 for 10 wks). Travel compensation, room, and board are also provided. Details in the attached pic--Feb 14 deadline 🧫🧪🦠#microsky
- Reposted by Lars DietrichMetabolite toxicity as a driver of bacterial metabolite externalization www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #jcampubs
- Reposted by Lars DietrichMetabolic diversity of microorganisms toward atypical sugar enantiomers biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
- Reposted by Lars DietrichRegistration to GRC Microbial Stress Response is open! Can't wait!👍 @stallingslab.bsky.social @fredbarras.bsky.social & @anjbadri.bsky.social @laahrs.bsky.social
- Registration is open for the 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Stress Response to be held on July 19-24 2026!! Submit your abstract by February 15th to be considered for a short talk. Apply now before it fills up!! Hope to see you there!! www.grc.org/microbial-st...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichValuable data sets are often overlooked because they are difficult to locate. The NIAID Data Ecosystem Discovery Portal provides a centralized, searchable interface that empowers users with varying technical expertise to find and reuse data. #mSystems: asm.social/2Lo
- Reposted by Lars DietrichWhy does life explore so few of the forms it could possibly take? Using fractal descriptors, this #scienceadvances paper shows that Earth’s biosphere clusters around simple shapes, reflecting deep evolutionary constraints. @artemyte.bsky.social @manlius.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichPete Greenberg's view in #JBacteriol: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, my model for research on quorum sensing, biofilms, and opportunistic infections journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichSome of the longest-lived organisms on Earth aren’t whales, trees or corals, but microbes buried deep in the earth. This eye-opening essay examines the slowest lives on Earth, asking what such lives mean for how we define life itself @karenlloyd.bsky.social
- Reposted by Lars Dietrich“A process which led from the amoeba to man appeared to the philosophers to be obviously a progress - though whether the amoeba would agree with this opinion is not known" - Bertrand Russell, 1976. Time-lapse video of Vampyrella lateritia eating Spirogyra algae from Science Source/Oliver Skibbe. 🦠
- Reposted by Lars DietrichCan’t wait!! My bacterial cell bio friends, you’re gonna want to go to this GRC and GRS.
- Reposted by Lars DietrichAbsolutely stoked to have this published in @plosbiology.org We looked at the metabolism of #Klebsiella pneumoniae 🦠🧫. We not only demonstrated lineage-specific #metabolism, but that lineages can cross-feed and support each other. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... #MicroSky #microbiology 🧬 🧪 💊
- Reposted by Lars DietrichThe diderm cell envelope is not a stack of layers but a unified scaffold of Inner Membrane–Peptidoglycan–Outer Membrane. We discuss how tethering the OM to the PG in E. coli preserves integrity — and extend the concept across diderm bacteria. Curr Opin Microbiol: doi.org/10.1016/j.mi... #microsky 🔬
- Reposted by Lars DietrichI am recruiting graduate students for Fall 2026! The Microbial Ecosystems Lab @hot-mes-asu.bsky.social at ASU studies microbial interactions, spatial ecology, and imaging-driven microbiome science. If you love microbes, microfluidics, or single-cell analysis, let’s talk! www.microbialeco.systems
- Reposted by Lars DietrichEssential reading if you care about the health of scientific inquiry in the US www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichEach such discovery is a game changer for our understanding of eukaryote evolution, and this paper is no exception. Meet Solarion, which displays yet again novel types of subcellular structures. Congrats to all authors on a fascinating story. #protistsonsky www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichIntroducing ** Incendiamoeba **, a eukaryote that can live at temperatures well beyond what we thought possible. 63C!! Read @hbrappap.bsky.social thread to see what we’ve already started to learn from this amazing organism! doi.org/10.1101/2025... #MicroSky #protistsonsky 🧪 #evobio
- So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth! #protistsonsky 🧵
- Reposted by Lars DietrichVery happy to share our work on lipopolysaccharide assembly by the Lpt complex, published today in @natcomms.nature.com Fantastic collaboration with @raffaeleieva.bsky.social l and t @pstansfeld.bsky.social Congrats to all authors, especially Haoxiang, Axel & Violette 🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s414...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichNew release of the TrackMate single particle tracking plugin for ImageJ by @jytinevez.bsky.social looks amazing! forum.image.sc/t/trackmate-... Loads of new features, most excitingly to me deep learning segmentation algorithms including Omnipose (for cells), and Spotiflow (for spots) #bioimaging
- Reposted by Lars DietrichWeird word of the day: "kleptosquamy." The testate amoeba Awerintzewia cyclostoma steals scales from other amoeboid organisms to build its own shell. This one has robbed Quadrulella, Netzelia, various euglyphids, and even an Acanthocystis. Kleptosquamy! #amoebae #ProtistsOnSky #biology #nature
- Fluorescein-based dyes are not valid reporters of oxidative stress in bacteria, and conclusions based on their use must be reconsidered | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichResolution limits attmepts to deconvolute spatial transcriptomics & estimate cellular composition. This study presents Cell2Spatial, which maps #scRNAseq data to #SpatialTranscriptomics spots, facilitating precise reconstruction of tissue architecture @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/47MhTvl
- Reposted by Lars DietrichPrashant Singh in the lab of Tina Iverson at Vanderbilt published this image of the bacterial 🦠flagellar motor, a detailed molecular model made possibly by CryoEM 🔬. The similarity to mechanical motors are strong enough we can use terms like stator, rotor, rod & gearing to describe it.
- Reposted by Lars DietrichHappy to share our latest T6SS review: nature.com/articles/s41... Thank you, Jan, Danny (@dannyjamesward.bsky.social), Joana (@joanampereira.bsky.social), as well as reviewers and editors @natrevmicro.nature.com!
- Reposted by Lars DietrichIn muddy sediments all over the world, tiny bacteria eat and grow by building electrically conducting wires into the muck. Now, researchers say they have discovered how these miniature electricians, known as cable bacteria, do it. scim.ag/4i2s2Yu
- Reposted by Lars DietrichWe're just 6 months away from @keystoneSymposia.bsky.social Beyond #Antibiotics : Emerging Strategies Combating #BacterialInfection, May 2026 in Breckenridge! 👉Scholarship and short talk abstract deadlines are Jan 7! 🧐 keysym.us/KSBeyondAntibiotics26 #KSBeyondAntibiotics26
- Reposted by Lars DietrichRay: Just a note to say STC is officially back up and running!! You can view our new home via smallthingsconsidered.blog
- Reposted by Lars Dietrich“Cellular Olympics” our catalog of freeky ultra fast cellular superhero’s is freely available “Ann Rev of microbiology” www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... This is a compilation of world’s fastest single cell organisms - enjoy this buffet of rare delightful protists with mind bending speeds. 🧪
- Reposted by Lars DietrichHoly moly
- Direct single-molecule detection and super-resolution imaging with a low-cost portable smartphone-based microscope www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs
- Reposted by Lars DietrichJob alert ‼️ UChicago Micro is hiring! Open to tenured/tenure track faculty at all levels in any area of microbiology. Come join our amazing and growing department. apply.interfolio.com/174404
- Reposted by Lars DietrichNew in JB: Déraspe, Roy et al. perform a comparative genomics study of the PA7-clade of P. aeruginosa - now recognized as a distinct species, Pseudomonas paraeruginosa. This analysis revealed 2 sub-clades, the lack of T3SS & multiresistance. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology
- Reposted by Lars DietrichDYK most P. aeruginosa carry filamentous phage(s) that don't need to kill the cell to reproduce? We 👉🏻@nanamikubota.bsky.social show that these Pf phages can go ROGUE. "Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness" 🔗 authors.elsevier.com/c/1lt5I3QW8S...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichMetabolic response of a chemolithoautotrophic archaeon to carbon limitation journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.... #jcampubs
- Reposted by Lars DietrichView from the lab now. Did I mention that we are recruiting faculty microbiologists? www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichNew in JB: In this minireview, Rotaru, Kotoky et al. explore the Kotoky review the surface biology of Methanosarcina, an archaeon, with respect to their EET strategies, and biogeochemical and industrial roles. Some cool biology! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology
- Reposted by Lars DietrichThere seems to quite a few new faces lately, so if I haven’t already added you, but you’d like added please let me know and for anyone interested in following more microbial natural products folks, then our starter pack is now 100 strong go.bsky.app/72NeGsTat://did:plc:zl6z2nwgmztiuskttnfn3jmg/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3l6vdidqh4f2j
- Reposted by Lars DietrichPhD fellowship in biofilm-phage interactions - with Mette Burmølle at University of Copenhagen 🇩🇰 deadline 1 October 2025 employment.ku.dk/faculty?show... #phagesky #microsky
- Reposted by Lars DietrichMicrobiologist Paula Welander studies fossils, but not dinosaur bones or ammonite imprints. Instead, she looks for microscopic clues left behind by microbes that lived millions of years ago.
- Reposted by Lars Dietrich🚨 Microbiologists! We are recruiting Assistant / Associate Professors in 3 collaborative areas of our U. Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro 2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute 3) Center for Vaccine Research 🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichA molecular-resolution look into the near-native architecture of the spinach chloroplast🌱. This one was a long time in the oven, but we're happy to finally share our "version of record". What long-standing debates did we settle? Check back for a short thread🧵 on Monday. #TeamTomo #PlantScience 🧪🧶🧬🔬🌾
- Reposted by Lars Dietrich"Sleep, like aging, may be an inescapable consequence of aerobic metabolism." Really enjoyed this thought-provoking paper 🧠💤🪰 - congrats to @rafsarnataro.bsky.social and team on this impressive work! No wonder the Krebs cycle always put me to sleep 😅 #neuroskyence
- Nature research paper: Mitochondrial origins of the pressure to sleep go.nature.com/40oC7Y4
- Reposted by Lars DietrichmGem: Revisiting bacterial overflow metabolism | in mBio 🫴 journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @mbio.bsky.social
- Reposted by Lars Dietrich
- Reposted by Lars DietrichWe are hiring! The Dept of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics is looking for faculty at the Assistant or Associate professor level (tenure track). Please consider joining our vibrant microbiology and immunology community at the University of Pittsburgh School of medicine
- Reposted by Lars Dietrich🚨 Imagine a bacterium that refuses to follow the textbook: It grows as tangled filaments, divides unevenly, reshapes its own membranes… and even builds grappling hooks. Meet Litorilinea aerophila — and here’s why it blew our minds.
- Who would have thought I would ever publish an article about a bacterium? But here it is, but of course only because Litorilinea aerophilum actually has an archaellum! Here is what we learned about its cell structure and other surface appendages: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichJust published the first chapter of my thesis! 🥰 E. coli regulates the levels of a translation release factor (RF2) via a *purposeful* frameshift during translation. We found that most other bacteria do this too and it's likely an ancient mechanism! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
- Reposted by Lars DietrichLatest from the lab! Analysis of everyone’s favorite regulatory mechanism in bacteria — the RF2 programmed frameshift! Likely present in the ancestor of bacteria, use of this mechanism is influenced by stop codon usage! Big congrats to @cassidyprints.bsky.social journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
- Reposted by Lars Dietrich1/ Excited to share the first preprint from my lab! 🎉 My postdoc Paz asked how cholera toxin (CT) helps Vibrio cholerae thrive in the gut. Turns out, CT rewires epithelial metabolism toward L-lactate production—fueling pathogen growth in the small intestine during disease
- Reposted by Lars Dietrich#MicrobiologyMonday: First discovered in dried cow dung, Myxococcus xanthus is a premier model system for studying diverse fields of bacteriology. Learn about the milestones in development of M. xanthus as a multicellular model bacterium: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... #JBacteriology
