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Amelia Barber

@ameliabarberphd.bsky.social
1.7K followers 697 following 91 posts

Group leader at @fzborstel.bsky.social and professor at @uni-kiel.de. CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar Fungal pathoecology, antimicrobial resistance, and genome stuff. Always up for an adventure or bike ride. barber-lab.com

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Reposted by Amelia Barber
MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is it. This is what everyone is enabling by humoring genAI: you spend months writing something that took you years to get at, for an opaque algorithm that a few control to spit a number and cut you off right there and then. This is what we're up against 🧪
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Team Thomma @teamthomma.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
📣...and now for something completely different: no plant pathogens, no Verticillium, but lichens! Driven by our lichen king🤴@ciarankelly.bsky.social with help of a.o. @hroevenich.bsky.social @usadellab.bsky.social @vivienrosenthal.bsky.social Watch for more in future! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Decoupled evolution of antimicrobial repertoires in lichen-forming fungi
Lichens are stable multipartite symbioses in which a fungal mycobiont associates with one or more photosynthetic partners while hosting complex microbiomes. Secreted antimicrobial proteins (AMPs) have...
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
If I was eligibile, I would love to do a second PhD with @danielcroll.bsky.social!
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Leibniz-Gemeinschaft @leibniz-gemeinschaft.de · 02/09/2026
🍄‍🟫Morchel, Pfifferling, Steinpilz; nicht nur in unseren Wäldern sprießt es jetzt. Pilze sind überall, in Luft, Wasser, auf und in unserem Körper. Am @leibniz-hki.de werden sie genau unter die Lupe genommen. Warum Pilze für uns gefährlich und unverzichtbar sind?👉 www.leibniz-magazin.de/alle-artikel...
Illustration in Türkis und Schwarz zum Thema Pilze. Verschiedene Pilzformen bilden eine fantasievolle Landschaft, in der kleine Wissenschaftler:innen und Sammler:innen unterwegs sind. Zu sehen sind außerdem Mikroorganismen, Insekten und weitere Pilzstrukturen. In der Mitte steht in weißer Schrift „Im Reich der Pilze“, darunter das Logo „Leibniz“.
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Congrats!! Hoping you continue to investigate these questions in fungi! 🍄
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Open science should be rewarded, not taken advantage of by bad actors!!
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Reposted by Amelia Barber
Josie Bryant @josiebryant.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Very proud of this preprint out of my lab, our first (of hopefully many) host-microbe spatial transcriptomics paper. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Amazing insights into P. aeruginosa biology and chronic airway disease @cysticfibrosis.org.uk @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @asthmaandlung.org.uk
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Forschungszentrum Borstel, Leibniz Lungenzentrum @fzborstel.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Neue Forschungsgruppe stärkt die funktionelle Mikrobiomforschung am @fzborstel.bsky.social: Prof. Dr. Amelia Barber übernimmt die W3-Professur für „Funktionelle Mikrobiomforschung chronischer Lungenerkrankungen“ und baut am FZB eine neue Forschungsgruppe auf: fz-borstel.de/de/aktuelles...
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Thanks Remco! Happy that I get to move to a place with a strong fungal community 🍄
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I'm told there is still hiking (and biking) in the North, just that you need to find a lookout tower to appreciate the view 😅 And thanks for the well wishes!
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Thanks Sandra! Hope to catch you at a conference in the coming year!
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Thanks Daniel!! Excited to be tenured and for the opportunity to keep unraveling the mysteries of fungal genomes! 🍄
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Thanks Nicole! Looking forward to the next adventure 😃
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Thanks Michael!
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Finally, I am recruiting a bioinformatic engineer/technician, a lab technician, and a postdoc to help establish the group at @fzborstel.bsky.social (~20km outside Hamburg). More info at: fz-borstel.de/en/education....
fz-borstel.de
Jobs - Forschungszentrum Borstel, Leibniz Lungenzentrum
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Thanks to @microverse.bsky.social for the support of my junior group and to all those that made my time in Jena so enjoyable and successful. Looking forward to forging new connections in Northern Germany's vibrant infection and eco/evo communities!
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Exciting news! After a wonderful four years at @uni-jena.de, I'm excited to announce the next chapter as a group leader at @fzborstel.bsky.social and professor at @uni-kiel.de.
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Team Thomma @teamthomma.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
📣Last week another @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social dropped: "A fungal pathogen effector that shapes host plant microbiota kills bacteria through lipoteichoic acid binding and membrane disruption" a joint effort by @nicksnelders.bsky.social & @gabriellapetti.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
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Laura Fabre @laurafabre.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Especially happy to be finishing this project, it taught me so much. doi.org/10.64898/202... Thanks for the journey, @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social and @kellerlab.bsky.social!
doi.org
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Additional shoutout to our great collaborators in the @kellerlab.bsky.social for characterizing the novel modulator of aflatoxin biosynthesis.
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
I am so proud of first author @laurafabre.bsky.social. Laura was the first postdoc to join my group and I'm so proud of what she's done over the last three years. ❤️
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Together, these findings establish lncRNAs as integral components of fungal biology with broad implications for controlling fungal threats to food safety and human health.
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
When we deleted this species-specific lncRNA ("aflalinc"), aflatoxin B1 production dropped dramatically, making it a promising target for interventions reducing aflatoxin contamination of food crops!
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Using co-expression networks, we identified a previously unknown lncRNA in Aspergillus flavus tightly associated with the aflatoxin biosynthetic gene cluster.
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
We found that transposable elements and subtelomeric regions are major hotspots for lncRNA innovation in Aspergillus, linking genome evolution to the emergence of new regulatory RNAs.
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Most lncRNAs were species-specific, in line with roles in adaptation to new environments, but conserved ones are more strongly expressed and implicated in central fungal biology.
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
New preprint day!! @laurafabre.bsky.social took 1k RNAseq samples and built an atlas of lncRNAs across four Aspergillus species, expanding the gene content of each by up to 20% and discovering a novel modulator of aflatoxin production. w/ @kellerlab.bsky.social.
doi.org
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Teresa O'Meara @teresaomeara.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
New preprint alert! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... from my lab and Evan Snitkin's lab Defining the Candidozyma auris pan-genome and essentiality
biorxiv.org
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Toby Baril @tobybarilbio.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
🎉 EarlGrey ParTEA v0.1.6 is here! Huge thanks to everyone who's tried the pipeline and shared feedback — your suggestions directly shaped these new features. 🍵 #TEworldwide #transposableelements #bioinformatics #genomics
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Marie-Claire Harrison @marie-clairehar.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
The long-awaited FLASH manuscript is finally out--check out some interesting results on predicting drug resistance in C. tropicalis, C. auris and other yeasts using a unique k-mer based model! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Ilan Schwartz @germhuntermd.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Exciting session at #fungal26 in Asilomar on Emerging and are-emerging Fungal Pathogens First talk is from award winning scientist, @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social on Candida parapsilosis #MedMycoSky
Woman at a lectern
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Neil Gow @neil-gow.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Do consider coming to this premium fungal AMR conference in Bangkok in November. @youngecmm.bsky.social @youngisham.bsky.social @ishamycology.bsky.social @mrccmm.bsky.social @bsmm-meeting.bsky.social
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AspGRPC @aspgrpc.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
With just two weeks to go until the 33rd Fungal Genetics Conference at Asilomar starts, we're happy to reveal the programme for Asperfest, running 16th-17th March: aspgrpc.com/asperfest/ Will we see you at Asperfest and/or FGC?
aspgrpc.com
Asperfest
Next event Asperfest 22 22nd International Aspergillus Meeting March 2026 Asilomar, California, USA 22nd International Aspergillus Meeting Merrill Hall Monday 16th March 19:00 – 22:00 Poster …
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Bas E. Dutilh @bedutilh.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
The VEO Group at @uni-jena.de @microverse.bsky.social has an open position for a Bioinformatics Technician until the end of 2032! Join us to unlock the secrets of the Microverse from big datasets: jobs.uni-jena.de/jobposting/0...
jobs.uni-jena.de
Bioinformatics technician
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Grant Nickles @grantnickles.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Do you work with the Aspergillus fumigatus model isolates Af293 or CEA10? If so, we want to collaborate with you! In return for your lab's participation we will sequence your strain for free and provide co-authorship on the final paper. Learn more here: asp-fumi-seq-project-2025.vercel.app
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Eva Stukenbrock @estukenbrock.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
What enables a fungus to invade a mammal host? @marco-guerreiro.bsky.social unravels signatures of translation adaptation among pathogenic and non-pathogenic species of Trichosporonales. See more: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Genomic and physiological signatures of adaptation in pathogenic fungi - Nature Communications
Emerging fungal pathogens have detrimental impacts on crops, animals, and humans, however little is known about their transition to a pathogenic lifestyle. This study demonstrates that the transition ...
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John Lovell @jotlovell.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
This article is now published! academic.oup.com/nargab/artic... We’ve added a few new analyses. First off, we show that, while gene presence absence variation (PAV) scales with evolutionary distance in both plants and animals, the base level and rate of accrual are both twice as high in plants.
academic.oup.com
Evolutionary and methodological considerations when interpreting gene presence–absence variation in pangenomes
Abstract. While graph-based pangenomes have become a standard and interoperable foundation for comparisons across multiple reference genomes, integrating p
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Asiya Gusa @asiya-gusa.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Sharing our lab’s first publication! Probing clinical isolates of Cryptococcus, a disease-causing fungus of the lungs and brain, we found multiple heat-mobile elements that ‘jump’ in the genome at body temperature (!) with the ability to drive adaptive changes. journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Looking forward to bringing the 🍄 perspective to this exciting meeting on AMR and microbial genomics!
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Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
We've got ISSUES. Literally. We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do? arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563 A 🧵 1/n
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Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
⚡️Fully funded #PhD position in my lab at Stockholm University / SciLifeLab! If you’re interested in #lichens, #symbiosis, fungal biology, or meta-omics, please apply. Deadline Feb 1. Read more here: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Black field with a macro image of a bright orange lichen Xanthoria in one of the corner. Little diagrams showing a structure of a lichen thallus with different layers in grey and green, a phylogenetic tree, and an alphafold generated structure of a protein. White text says "PhD position in Stockholm University / SciLifeLab. 
Lichen Biology, Symbiosis, Microbial Ecology & Evolution,Meta-omics
Fully funded for 4 years. Start Apr-Sep 2026. Deadline for application: Feb 1st."
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Balance of the Microverse @microverse.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Zoom in, look closer! Our Microverse Wimmelbild hides the faces, ideas & discoveries that made 2025 unforgettable. Can you spot them all? Season’s greetings & here’s to a curious, collaborative 2026! Illustration: Hannes Naumann
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Marion Perrier @marionperrier.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Anyone looking for roommates for #Fungal26 in Asilomar? I will participate and I am looking for someone to share a room for the week! I'm a female PhD student, looking to share a room with another female. Please DM me if you'd like to team up with me 😄 Reposts appreciated!
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Third lab retreat in the books! We once again headed to the city of Eisenach for two days of project presentations, soft skills workshops, and science discussions. We also played the beautiful Mycology board game!
Six smiling people stand in two rows in a seminar room. Each is holding a large piece of paper with drawing summarising the presentations of another group member.  Six smiling people are standing together outside, dressed in winter coats and hats. In the background is the Wartburg Castle.Six smiling people sit around a table playing the board game Mycology
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Amelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Third lab retreat in the books! We once again headed to the city of Eisenach for two days of project presentations, soft skills workshops, and science discussions. We also played the beautiful Mycology board game!
Six smiling people stand in two rows in a seminar room. Each is holding a large piece of paper with drawing summarising the presentations of another group member.  Six smiling people are standing together outside, dressed in winter coats and hats. In the background is the Wartburg Castle.Six smiling people sit around a table playing the board game Mycology
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Aaron Vogan @fungage-lab.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
We're looking for a PhD student! If you're interested in #fungal #genomics & #TEs, meiotic drive, or pathogens, please consider applying. The project is about toxin/antidote genes in the human fungal pathogen A. fumigatus. uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Image of yeast spotted on an agar plate. Some grow well, others are dying.
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Toby Baril @tobybarilbio.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
TEs aren’t just genomic parasites, they’re also engines of genomic novelty. Our new study with ~2,000 Z. tritici genomes shows repeated TE mobilization waves during global expansion. With @danielcroll.bsky.social & @guidopuccetti.bsky.social 🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41... #TEworldwide
nature.com
Historic transposon mobilisation waves create distinct pools of adaptive variants in a major crop pathogen - Nature Communications
In this study, the authors analysed a large genomic dataset to trace how jumping genes shaped the global spread of a major wheat pathogen and reveal bursts of activity over decades that drove adaptati...
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Daniel Croll @danielcroll.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
@tobybarilbio.bsky.social and I are very excited to release MycoMobilome! A very extensive effort to discover, QC and annotate TEs across the fungal kingdom. 👉 Ready-to-use for your own genome with a simple tutorial! 👉 Metadata about TEs discovered in your genome! 👉 Contribute and get recognition!
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Toby Baril @tobybarilbio.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
1/ Ever needed to annotate TEs in a fungal genome, but didn't know where to start? We have released #MycoMobilome, a community-focused non-redundant database of transposable element consensus sequences for the fungal kingdom, constructed from >4,000 fungal genomes! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Balance of the Microverse @microverse.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
A great turnout for our latest Microverse Seminar! 🍕🔬 @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social, Junior Group Leader #FungalInformatics, shared fascinating insights in her talk “From Ecology to Genomes: Unraveling Fungal Pathogenicity Across Scales.” Lively discussions and great connections followed!
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