Luke Hillary
Viral ecology of "brown stuff" 🏞️💩😷. Interested in how viruses impact their hosts in soils, sludge and stool. Particularly fascinated in RNA viruses. Postdoc at UC Davis working on the impacts of wildfire on soil virus communities.
- Reposted by Luke HillaryOur paper "Ecosystem health shapes viral ecology in peatland soils" is out in Nature Microbiology! We show that peatland health strongly structures viral communities, shaping virus–host networks, and carbon and nutrient cycling. Please share. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #phagesky #Microsky
- Reposted by Luke HillaryThe Metagenome Stability Diagram uses gene markers across ecosystems to understand how environmental conditions constrain metabolic activity in microbiomes. 🖥️🧬🦠 jgi.doe.gov/user-science/scienc…
- Reposted by Luke HillarySoil viruses are important regulators of ecosystem function, but what are their roles in environments that face long-term degradation and restoration? In our paper published today in Nature Micro, we asked how soil viruses influence peatland recovery, and vice versa. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- 📢 New preprint is out on bioRxiv 📢: How much does virome prep influence our view of the human gut virome? Short answer: a lot. Long answer: doi.org/10.1101/2025... Different methods lead to distinct community structures, richness, and major virus-host abundance patterns. 🧵 1/5
- Firing up the MDA kit? We got STRONG compositional distortions and reduced richness. Whilst this effect is generally known, MDA continues to be used. Filtering out ssDNA viruses partially compensated for this, but at a cost in downstream data analyses. 🧵 2/5
- DNase treating your viromes? Unlike soil viromes, this looks like it might not have as big an effect in stool (at least in our study). 🧵 3/5
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View full threadHuge thanks to co-authors Trina Knotts, Sean Adams, Mohammed Ali, @mattolm.bsky.social, and to my PI, Joanne Emerson, who handled all of the wet-lab sample processing. 🧵 5/5
- Reposted by Luke HillaryPhD opportunity with me at University of Edinburgh linked with Forest Research, funded by E5 DTP. On the microbial mechanisms of soil carbon cycling in tree-planted upland soils. Apply before 14th Dec. Please share with your network. Pic: one of our Scottish sites. e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
- Reposted by Luke HillaryWe're hiring for several positions (a post-bac researcher in #transcriptomics, a #phage #postdoc, a senior researcher (broad topics) and a graduate student to work on #ciliates) - find info here: www.marine.usf.edu/genomics/app...
- Love this new paper from @gtrubl.bsky.social and @alexjprobst.bsky.social on the importance of accurate use of terminology in microbial ecology. I’ve seen a lot of use of lysogenic instead of temperate recently so it’s nice to see that distinction being made. doi.org/10.1111/1462...
- Also, as always, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing != metagenomics
- 🎉Woot woot 🎉Finished a 2 week writing challenge with sending a manuscript off to co-authors/ submitting data to NCBI. Onto the next one 😁
- Reposted by Luke HillaryLearn more about EcoFABs in this episode of our #GenomeInsider podcast ⬇️ 🖥️🧬
- Comparing EcoFab 2.0 results from 5 labs on 3 continents‼️ Breaking the reproducibility barrier with standardized protocols for plant–microbiome research @plosbiology.org by Vlastimil Novak et al from Trent Northen @jgi.doe.gov journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
- Fitting that Google has DNA in today’s doodle,the same day Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoc fellowship proposals are due in 😁🧬
- Reposted by Luke Hillary📢 We are thrilled to announce the International Soil Virus Conference 2026 in conjunction with the Saint Loup Research Institute. 🗓️ June 16 – 18, 2026 📍 Château de Saint Loup sur Thouet, France 👇 RSVP by October 31st, 2025 #virus #phage #ISVC2026
- Reposted by Luke HillaryThe Department of Biology at Colorado State University is hiring an Assistant Professor in the area of plant-microbe interactions! Please spread the word! jobs.colostate.edu/postings/165...
- Reposted by Luke Hillary#Perspective A discussion on virus-encoded auxiliary metabolic genes and a framework for the biological interpretation of these genes. #MicroSky 🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Awesome looking review on RNA phage discovery 😁
- Reposted by Luke HillaryA new theme issue of #PhilTransB examines the evolutionary history of bacterial immune systems, their modes of action, and the patterns how different bacterial immune systems are distributed across different ecosystems. Read: buff.ly/Z4qdxY1
- Reposted by Luke Hillary🚨 New preprint! 🧬 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞-𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬 (𝐏-𝐏𝐬) are fascinating elements: both 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 and 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬 ➡️ tricky to detect. We present 𝐭𝐲𝐏𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐠 — the first 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥 🛠️designed specifically for P-Ps: ✅ Accurate ✅ Sensitive ✅ Easy to use 📖 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Luke Hillary🌎👩🔬 For 15+ years biology has accumulated petabytes (million gigabytes) of🧬DNA sequencing data🧬 from the far reaches of our planet.🦠🍄🌵 Logan now democratizes efficient access to the world’s most comprehensive genetics dataset. Free and open. doi.org/10.1101/2024...
- It’s life @jgi.doe.gov 🖖 but not as we know it. This symposium looks fascinating! (couldn’t resist making the Trek reference)
- Abstracts are due Oct. 19 for the 2025 New Lineages of Life Symposium — 80 slots available! See speakers below. More info: jgi.doe.gov/work-with-us... Full Agenda: jgi.doe.gov/work-with-us... @axelvisel.bsky.social 🖥️🧬
- Reposted by Luke HillaryBLOG - Seven ingredients for a Neuroinclusive research organisation In our latest #JICNeurodiversity blog, we reflect on the remarkable impact and success of our BBSRC @ukri.org funded “Understanding, Valuing and Celebrating Neurodiversity” project 🌈🧠 Watch full video: youtu.be/bwUEJju9XQ4?...
- Reposted by Luke HillarySave the Date: #MMEG2025 is coming to Birmingham! Join us on 15–16 December 2025 for the 31st edition of MMEG. This year's event is your chance to: 🔬 Share your research 🤝 Connect with peers 🦠 Discover the latest in molecular microbial ecology Register now: appliedmicrobiology.org/ems-event-ca...
- Reposted by Luke HillaryHighly accurate prophage island detection with PIDE | Genome Biology | Full Text genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s1…
- Reposted by Luke HillaryThe microbial composition of metagenomes is identified in seconds by profiling against large databases go.nature.com/3BBVqDC rdcu.be/eCbj4
- Reposted by Luke HillarySoil is the most diverse microbial ecosystem, which makes microbiome studies with shotgun sequencing extremely tricky! In our last paper @imetascience.bsky.social, we show that co-assembly increases gene and genome recovery tinyurl.com/59t4z8fh #soilmicrobiome #metagenomics
- Reposted by Luke Hillary🍄 UGA Plant Pathology is hiring TT faculty in Mycology/Fungal Biology/Fungal Ecology at the Asst/Assc level! Please pass along this opportunity to anyone you know who may be interested. I'm on the search committee and happy to answer questions. 🍄 www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/445...
- Reposted by Luke Hillary
- Reposted by Luke HillaryDo you love phage? I have an opening for a postdoc in my lab at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science (@cmarinescience.bsky.social) looking at interactions between marine phage and iron, which is an important limiting trace metal in the oceans (1/5) 🧵#phagesky 🦠🌊
- Reposted by Luke Hillary🧪 New research confirms climate change is a primary driver of worsening forest fires. The likelihood of extreme fire weather has doubled since the preindustrial era, contributing to a dramatic increase in burned forest area globally. #Climate #Fires
- A really great review written by @simrouxvirus.bsky.social and Clement Coclet on the state of the field of viromics and viral ecology. Well worth a look, and provides a solid reading list for those entering the field wanting more background on how it has developed and what tools are available.
- Reposted by Luke HillaryExciting news: over £59m announced to support the Government’s new compute roadmap. Our investment will support the career development of researchers and innovators, enabling UK-wide capability and access to digital infrastructure. More: www.ukri.org/news/governm... or ⬇️🧵1/
- What a fantastic conference! Great to present my work on soil viral responses to simulated wildfire at #FEMS2025 So many interesting talks and posters.
- Reposted by Luke HillaryProphages block cell surface receptors to preserve their viral progeny @nature.com from @themaxwelllab.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- First swag of #FEMS2025 from @novogene-europe.bsky.social 😁
- See what happens to soil viruses when you set their habitat on fire! #FEMS2025 Super excited to be presenting my work on DNA/ RNA viruses and how they respond to wildfire. Talk is 13:00 on Thursday, Brown 1&2 Massive thanks to @femsmicro.org for supporting my attendance!
- Reposted by Luke HillaryAI slows down experienced developers (against their expectations) in a randomized controlled trial of AI coding effectiveness. metr.org/Early_2025_A...
- Reposted by Luke Hillary🧬 New tool alert: Vclust helps researchers rapidly sort through millions of viral genomes—even fragmented ones. @bedutilh.bsky.social co-developed Vclust, a tool for ultrafast clustering of viral genomes. It's open-source, web-accessible, and just published. 📄 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
- Absolutely love the commitment from @rdrpsummit.bsky.social to the hybrid format. Makes a huge difference to widening access to conferences. Huge thanks for the invite to talk about this work on updating the MIUViG reporting standards. More developments on this soon.
- @lukehillary.bsky.social is joining us remotely to enlighten us on best practices in annotating viral genomes - MIUViG2 #RdRpSummit2025
- Reposted by Luke HillaryStoked to have Luke Hillary (@lukehillary.bsky.social) joining us to talk about adapting MIUViG for RNA viruses—huge step for making sense of uncultivated RNA viromes!😍 #RdRpSummit2025 in 3 days!
- Reposted by Luke HillaryOur perspective on soil virus ecology research is out! Fantastic collab with @christinahazard.bsky.social @karthik-a.bsky.social @lukehillary.bsky.social @urineri.bsky.social @simrouxvirus.bsky.social @gtrubl.bsky.social @KurtWilliams @jeffinerca.bsky.social @graemenicol.bsky.social @JoanneEmerson
- Reposted by Luke HillaryThe latest from the StatDivLab -- guidance for your #microbiome data analysis with a focus on the #statistics. Planning, deciding, modeling, justifying, communicating, visualizing... "Papers Need Friends" blog post coming shortly.
- A must-read for any microbiome researcher 🦠📐and a new addition to our #bestpractices series Planning and describing a microbiome data analysis by @amydwillis.bsky.social and @davidandacat.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Luke Hillary🚨🚨🚨Updates are coming for the MIUViG standards/checklist 🚨🚨🚨 If you work with uncultivated virus genomes (i.e. from metaG, metaT, etc), have tried to submit these genomes to a database and found some issues/suggestions, or tried to use these data and have comments/thoughts, please share them !!
- We're looking for suggestions on how to update and adapt the Minimum Information about an Uncultured Viral Genome (MIUVIG) reporting standard. What works? What needs updating? Check out the survey forms.gle/DPHvMFe8Gsdj... 🧵
- We're looking for suggestions on how to update and adapt the Minimum Information about an Uncultured Viral Genome (MIUVIG) reporting standard. What works? What needs updating? Check out the survey forms.gle/DPHvMFe8Gsdj... 🧵
- We're especially interested in getting as broad a range of views from the scientific community as possible. The initial survey will be open until March 15th and we welcome contributions from anyone working on uncultured viruses (metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, vSAGs...
- ...host associated, aquatic, terrestrial, etc etc) Once we've collated all the responses and people who are interested in contributing/ want to stay updated, we'll reach out again. Also happy to answer questions here. Huge thanks from myself, @simrouxvirus.bsky.social and others helping coordinate
- Reposted by Luke HillaryOut now, a comprehensive guide to metagenomics -- from sample collection to data analysis. This primer covers best practices, challenges, and applications in health, agriculture & environment. A roadmap for studying microbial communities 👇 www.nature.com/articles/s43...
- Reposted by Luke HillaryWe developed a microscopy-based technique🔬 to measure attachment of viruses #phages to host cells. 🦠 The paper was posted online today: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #phagesky #microsky
- Reposted by Luke HillaryHad a great time with the team at #MMEG2024 and catching up with lab alumnus @lukehillary.bsky.social @marccamb.bsky.social @alejandra1909.bsky.social @sophie-e-powell.bsky.social @alexanderwoodley.bsky.social @g-thomas.bsky.social
- Another great outcome for @jamesemcdonald.bsky.social's group with prizes for best talk and best poster with @alejandra1909.bsky.social 🥳🥳. Plus the next MMEG to be held in Birmingham! #MMEG2024
- Reposted by Luke HillaryOut in NAR, AntiDefenseFinder & our "systematic" analysis of inhibitors of antiphage systems wt Bondy-Denomy lab led by @ftesson.bsky.social and E. Huiting. Not so "systematic" as very few known, fun stuff on MGE, antidefense islands and cool phages exaptations! academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
- Reposted by Luke HillaryIt's so nice being back at #MMEG2024 in Southampton finally presenting the results of our study in insect-bacteria interactions @jamesemcdonald.bsky.social @gathomas12.bsky.social
- MMEG has always been a favourite conference of mine to go to since the first year of my PhD. Great to present some results from my current postdoc on viral community responses to wildfire this year #MMEG2024
- Reposted by Luke HillaryWhite paper and perspective published on "Running a queer- and trans-inclusive faculty hiring process"!! Advice for job searches that are better for everyone: writing job adverts + agendas, improving interviews, supporting faculty. Graphics by Callie R. Chappell. sueishaqlab.org/2024/11/22/w...
- Reposted by Luke HillaryHere are some free/open-source sites for the preparation of scientific illustrations, including icon libraries: bioicons.com, scidraw.io, bioart.niaid.nih.gov, inkscape.org, biogdp.com, reactome.org/icon-lib
- Reposted by Luke HillaryI made a quick Starter Pack for scientists working on virus discovery - please reply if you’d like me to add you to the pack (or remove you) or to recommend anyone! #scisky go.bsky.app/HK1wxRbat://did:plc:rh3zoap4hutmnep6l77vzdf6/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lb3dfcdknq2g
- Reposted by Luke HillaryStarting the afternoon with the challenging world of soil RNA viruses (but made a bit less challenging by a little DMSO !) with Luke Hillary from the Emerson Lab #VEGA24
- Reposted by Luke HillaryHave a look at our paper on a new group of pleomorphic viruses infecting marine hyperthermophilic #archaea of the class Archaeoglobi. The virus coexists in a stable relationship with its host. Congrats to Diana Baquero and Eduardo Bignon. @ISMEJ doi.org/10.1093/isme...
- Reposted by Luke HillaryHey folks! Not entirely sure how to use this app yet, but... I am working with the LTER network to increase field site accessibility and transparency to get more disabled folks in the field! What kinds of things would you want to know when choosing a field site or before going somewhere?
