iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Manasa Bharathwaj @mbharathwaj.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Hot off the press from the Traven lab! Check out for some fun videos on bacterial metabolites modulating fungal metabolism and morphogenesis in Candida albicans! Biggest thanks to Prof. Ana Traven and our collaborators at Warwick, Monash and Bio21. Thanks for sharing @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social :)

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Manasa Bharathwaj @mbharathwaj.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Had a wonderful time at Brissy attending #ASBMB2025 at UQ while commuting by ferry! Thank you @asbmbaus.bsky.social Yeast SIG for the opportunity and support to present my work on fungi.

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Reposted by Manasa Bharathwaj

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 23/05/2025

#Fungal infections are hard to treat due to #DrugResistance. @blakebillmyre.bsky.social &co use a high-throughput #TNseq system in #Cryptococcus neoformans to identify >1400 essential genes & reveal a role for #mitochondrial genes in #fluconazole sensitivity @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4dz3iVm

Schematic of TN-seq in C. neoformans. Top left: Transposon insertions (orange arrow) into nonessential genes results in viable cells. In contrast, insertions into essential genes will result in dead and nonrecoverable cells. Top right: TN-seq works by generating a library of cells where each cell has a single independent transposon insertion in a random location. As in A, those insertions into essential regions cause the cells to die and are nonrecoverable. As a result, the total library (bottom) is depleted in insertions in essential regions. Bottom: The Ac/Ds transposon was split into an Ac transposase and a Ds transposon containing a neomycin resistance marker. This Ds transposon was integrated into an intron of URA5 and the Ac transposase was integrated into the safe haven locus. The resulting stain is ura− and neomycin resistant. Upon initiating transposition via growth on galactose, the strain becomes URA+ and mutant at another locus (depicted here as YFG1).

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Reposted by Manasa Bharathwaj

The MRC Centre for Medical Mycology @mrccmm.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Fascinating article about @normanvanrhijn.bsky.social work on the affects of climate change on fungi & fungal infections, with comments from MRC CMM's Elaine Bignell www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

bloomberg.com

Deadly Fungi Are Here, and They’re Spreading

Unlike “The Last of Us,” virulent fungal disease isn't a work of science fiction.

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Reposted by Manasa Bharathwaj

Trevor Lithgow @trevor-lithgow.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

We are recruiting for a PhD student who wants to understand how bacterial membranes are built and how they function. It would be a biology meets maths project … if this piques your interest take a look here: macsys.org/monash-phd-s... for project details and contact info

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Reposted by Manasa Bharathwaj

Trevor Lithgow @trevor-lithgow.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

"That telomere phages are so prevalent means that they are a selective force, one that we know little about. We now want to understand how the telomere-toxin is secreted and also understand how this ‘telocin’ wheedles its way into unsuspecting bacterial neighbors” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Telomere bacteriophages are widespread and equip their bacterial hosts with potent interbacterial weapons

Klebsiella host strains infected with telomere phages can grow to be the dominant lineage in mixed populations.

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