Matthew Shepherd

@[email protected]
120 Followers
84 Following
22 Posts
Postdoc with Brockhurst Lab at University of Manchester. Studying how and why evolvability to resist antimicrobials varies in clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa 🦠🧬🔬 he/him
Joined6 Nov 2022
PositionPostdoctoral Research Associate
LocationUniversity of Manchester, UK
ExpertiseMicrobiology, Experimental evolution, Antimicrobial resistance
Matthew ShepherdJan 9, 2023
Are you an Undergrad interested in the evolution of bacterial AMR and virulence, or know someone who is?
Project available with @BrockhurstLab and myself at the University of Manchester. Part of the MRC Research Experience Placements. Deadline 3rd Feb, Pls RT. Details:
https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/study/research/mrc-dtp/placements/
Undergraduate summer placements | University of Manchester

Matthew ShepherdJan 2, 2023
Mike BlazaninJan 2, 2023

Great thread by @MJShepherd on the bird site in response to some (unsurprisingly) bad takes by that selfish gene guy.

Reproduced here bc I think it's a well-written opportunity to reflect on #ableism in #evolution #EvolutionaryBiology

"Disappointing (although predictable) from Dawkins. Linked blog makes a poor attempt to dismiss an important discussion around how evolutionary biology has been used to prop up scientific racism/ableism and what we should do about it 1/7"

Matthew ShepherdDec 15, 2022
Richard SeverDec 14, 2022

50 papers by Didier Raoult have been flagged with expressions of concern by PLOS. in an ongoing investigation into >100 articles.

Seems to be the latest in a series of accusations relating to data integrity, conflicts of interest, and other ethical issues.

Feels like wherever you see the word hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin, dodgy data is not far away... https://retractionwatch.com/2022/12/13/plos-flags-nearly-50-papers-by-controversial-french-covid-researcher-for-ethics-concerns/

PLOS flags nearly 50 papers by controversial French COVID researcher for ethics concerns

Didier Raoult The publisher PLOS is marking nearly 50 articles by Didier Raoult, the French scientist who became controversial for promoting hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19, with expressio…

Retraction Watch
Matthew ShepherdNov 23, 2022
Anna DewarNov 21, 2022

#Introduction

I’m a Post-doc at the University of Oxford, working on the evolution of bacterial genomes and pangenomes. I’m interested in bacterial cooperation and ecology, and how these might interact with horizontal gene transfer.

I’m on the train to Manchester for the #MicroEvo22 meeting, where I’ll be presenting a poster (no. 17). Looking forward to seeing lots of you there!

#Bacteria #SocialEvolution #Plasmids #HorizontalGeneTransfer #Pangenomes #ComparativeGenomics

Matthew ShepherdNov 21, 2022
Looking forward to #MicroEvo22 starting tomorrow! I'm co-chairing the Predicting Microbial Evolution session which has a really exciting talk line-up, and I'll be presenting a poster (no.30) on my PhD work around transcription factor and regulatory network evolution! Looks forward to chatting to as many of those attending as I can!
Matthew ShepherdNov 20, 2022
Ellinor AlsethNov 11, 2022

While I'm very happy I made the decision to swap from #Pseudomonas to #Acinetobacter for my #Ecology and #experimentalEvolution study system and #research, trying to set everything up from scratch is such a pain.

Turns out you take a lot for granted when working on P. aeruginosa... So any advice or resources people have for studying #microbiology using A. baumannii would be much appreciated 🦠

Matthew ShepherdNov 18, 2022
Akos T KovacsNov 18, 2022

Efflux-linked accelerated evolution of antibiotic resistance at a population edge

-in @MolecularCell by @necrosignaling et al from @sci_rasika

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1097276522010243

Matthew ShepherdNov 18, 2022
Akos T KovacsNov 18, 2022

Effects of Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens as the soil amendment

-in @HeliyonJournal

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022029620?via%3Dihub

Matthew ShepherdNov 18, 2022
Sarah WinnickiNov 18, 2022

Seems increasingly likely the other site will be going down soon!

Don’t forget there’s a tool you can use to find the Mastodon profiles of folks you interacted with on the bird site! It can generate a csv of all the Mastodon handles in the profiles of those who you follow, share lists with, or are followed by! You can import it to Mastodon, easy peasy, though it needs the bird site to be live, may not be forever unfortunately! Check it out here: https://fedifinder.glitch.me/

Fedifinder

Fediverse accounts of your X/Twitter followings

Matthew ShepherdNov 18, 2022
Akos T KovacsNov 17, 2022

Spatial self-segregation of pioneer cyanobacterial species drives microbiome organization in biocrusts

-in @ISMEComms from @FerranPichel

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43705-022-00199-0

Spatial self-segregation of pioneer cyanobacterial species drives microbiome organization in biocrusts - ISME Communications

Microbial communities are typically characterized by some degree of self-organization. In biological soil crust (biocrust) communities, vertical organization of resident populations at the mm scale is driven by organismal adaptations to physicochemical microniches. However, the extent of horizontal organization and its driving processes are unknown. Using a combination of observational and genetic mapping, we provide evidence for a highly defined, horizontal self-organization (patchiness) at the mm to cm scale in a successionally early biocrust community dominated by the pioneer cyanobacteria, Microcoleus vaginatus (Microcoleaceae) and Parifilum sp. (Coleofasciculaceae). Experiments with representative isolates of each species demonstrate that the phenomenon is driven by active spatial segregation based on cross-species sensing through the exometabolome acted upon with motility responses. Further, we show that both species share the ability to enrich for specialized cyanospheres of heterotrophic bacteria at smaller scales, and that these cyanospheres are characterized by compositional host-specificity, thus expanding the reach of spatial patchiness beyond primary producers. Our results highlight the importance of specific microbial interactions in the emergence of microbiome compositional architecture and the enhancement of microbial diversity.

Nature