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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

What do eukaryotes and some of the most ancient bacteria have in common? Calcium signaling! New press in EurekAlert! on #SPP2389 member @selimlab.bsky.social work on cellular communication in cyanobacteria @hhu.de @unituebingen.bsky.social

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Bacterial Multicellularity Tips: Let's Learn Together and Spark Our Curiosity!

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Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Cannibalism shapes biofilm structure and composition in Bacillus subtilis mBio by Lena Friebel from Thosten Mascher group within @spp2389.bsky.social DFG program journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... Superb summary of colony phenotypes in figure 1

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Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Comprehensive and Comparative Transcriptional Profiling of the Cell Wall Stress Response in Bacillus subtilis #MolMicrobiol from Thorsten Mascher @spp2389.bsky.social, Rut Carballido-López and colleagues onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Comprehensive and Comparative Transcriptional Profiling of the Cell Wall Stress Response in Bacillus subtilis

Transcriptional profiling of the primary cell envelope stress response (CESR) of Bacillus subtilis exposed to a range of cell wall-targeting antimicrobials, combining RNAseq and high-resolution tilin...

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Impressions of Bakteriopolis in Cosmo! Come try out a new memory game, check out the microbe of the year Penicillium chrysogenum (@vaam-microbes.bsky.social), or travel through an interactive timeline on the origin of life 🦠 Don’t miss upcoming workshops on fungal mycelium on 30.04. and 05.05. 🍄

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Our traveling exhibition Bakteriopolis is in the Cosmo Wissenschaftsforum this month! 🦠🔬 Come talk to scientists, learn about fermented foods, see the microbe of the year Penicillium up close and much more! Every Tuesday - Thursday 13:00 - 18:00 Schloßstraße 2 01067 Dresden

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Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

A family of endonucleases blocks nanotube-mediated plasmid exchange YokF encoded within prophage @natmicrobiol.nature.com from Sigal Ben-Yehuda, Ilan Rosenshine with Boris Maček within ERCSyG and @spp2389.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

A family of endonucleases blocks nanotube-mediated plasmid exchange - Nature Microbiology

The YokF endonuclease provides a donor-controlled mechanism to limit plasmid transfer to recipient bacteria via nanotubes in Bacillus subtilis, with YokF functional homologues found across Gram-positi...

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

What started out as a student project has grown over the last 2 years into a full-fledged review! So many thanks to @escolizzi.bsky.social for leading this multicellular effort and sharing your evolutionary wisdom with us 🫶🏻🦠

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Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

A bacterial extracellular matrix protein forms a supramolecular metallogel [=Bacillus subtilis TasA and Zn] bioRxiv from Liraz Chai with @vasilyzaburdaev.bsky.social within @spp2389.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Interested in the regulation and evolution of multicellularity in Strepromyces? Natalia Tschowri (@unihannover.bsky.social) and Daniel Rozen (@unileiden.bsky.social) are looking for a PhD student as part of #SPP2389 ! #PhDposition

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

And we’re back! The second funding period of #SPP2389 started this week with our kickoff meeting in Grimma Stay tuned in the next few weeks/months to get to know both the old and new members working on projects centered around the fascinating world of bacterial multicellularity! 🦠

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Surface matters! Chitin alters both intraspecies interactions and biofilm architecture in Vibrio cholerae in marine snow Preprint on @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social ⬇️

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Cellulose is a critical component in the cell wall of Streptomyces, and accessory proteins involved in its biosynthesis support both its unique cell envelope and multicellular filamentous growth From Daniel Claessens’ lab in @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social #microsky #streptomyces #multicellularity

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Bakteriopolis is in Halle at the #SilbersalzFestival this week! Even Come try water kefir, make your own bacterium, and learn about the hidden world of multicellular microbes! #SPP2389 #microsky #wisskomm Danke an Mainzelmännchen Det für den Besuch! @zdfde.bsky.social

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Interested in working on microbial interactions and cooperative cross-feeding? Join @kostchristian.bsky.social as a part of #SPP2389 !

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

From polymicrobial water kefir grains to PCD in biofilms, microorganisms are magnificently multicellular! Thanks to @embo.org @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social for having Lena Friebel and Thorsten Mascher @tudresden.bsky.social as well as @escolizzi.bsky.social at the #Multicellverse workshop

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

You can’t talk about microbial multicellularity without mentioning Streptomyces - check out our collaborator Daniel Rozen’s experimental evolution of these filamentous bacteria! Thanks @martaalvarez.bsky.social for snapping a pic! @embo.org #Multicellverse

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Our head of #SPP2389 Thorsten Mascher also put the spotlight on the multicellular microbial communities of water kefir - thanks again @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social ! @embo.org #Multicellverse

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Lena brought her research on cannibalism in Bacillus biofilms to the @embo.org multicellularity workshop! Thanks @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social for the picture! #Multicellverse

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ETH Zurich @ethz.ch · 10/10/2025

All cells – from mammalian cells to microbes – can follow different biological paths. Whether they grow and divide, specialise, age or die depends on the pathway they take. New findings by researchers at ETH Zurich could help influence a cell’s decisions to target diseases such as cancer.

ethz.ch

Protein condensates determine a cell’s fate

Do cells contain a mechanism that decides on their fates? Researchers at ETH Zurich have demonstrated in a new study that large clusters of molecules determine a cell’s future.

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Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

PhD position on Regulation and Evolution of Bacterial Multicellularity ( #Streptomyces ) within @spp2389.bsky.social supervised by Natalia Tschowri (Hannover 🇩🇪) and Danny Rozen (Leiden 🇳🇱) with research at both locations deadline: October 31, 2025 www.uni-hannover.de/en/jobs/id/802

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Streptomyces and other filamentous actinomycetes are treasure troves of a vast collection of antibiotic compounds - an evolutionary feature linked to their unique multicellular lifestyle

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Curious about kin recognition systems? Take notes from Proteus and Myxococcus! @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Congratulations to our Matthias for winning the @femsmicro.org international microorganism day microbe art contest for best photo and best overall! 🎉🦠 Biofilms truly are beautiful works of multicellular microbial architecture 🏛️ www.internationalmicroorganismday.org/microbeart

internationalmicroorganismday.org

International Microorganism Day - Microbe Art Contest Winners

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

A bit late to the party, but happy belated international microorganism day!

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

We loved hearing @khammerschmidt.bsky.social talk about evolution at the #MultiBac2025 conference this January - check out the @asm.org report on the origins of early microbial life!

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Our #SPP2389 associated PhD student Luis gave a great talk on the effects of experimental evolution on Streptomyces aggregates and colonies at the #ISBA2025 !

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Another #SPP2389 PhD student Martha with a great talk on phase transitions in B. subtilis macrocolonies! Thanks again to @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social for capturing the moment! #BACELL2025

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

One of our SPP PhD students Lena presented her research on cannibalism in B. subtilis biofilms at the #BACELL2025 today! Thanks to @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social for snapping a pic!

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Only 2 more days until the ISBA! Genna's looking forward to 5 days of nothing but actinomycetes and the beautiful North Sea. Tot snel! www.universiteitleiden.nl/isba2025

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Only a few more weeks until the Long Night of Science (Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften) here in Dresden! www.wissenschaftsnacht-dresden.de

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Bacterial colony architecture is heavily influenced by the strain and its environment - how can we study the spatial organization of these heterogeneous groups? Susann Müller's group developed a method for biopsies on the microscale! besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Bacterial colony biopsies: Spatial discrimination of heterogeneous cell types by cytometric fingerprinting

Colonies of pure bacterial strains are highly dense cellular structures organised in distinct and typical arrangements. The size, shape and variability of bacterial colonies are strongly species-d...

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

We heard Stefan talk about his work on multicellularity in Stenotrophomonas at our conference this January, check out his latest preprint!

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

The Type Strain Genome Server (TYGS) is struggling due to system problems and resource distribution - help save this widely used and crucial taxonomic tool! www.ipetitions.com/petition/dsm...

ipetitions.com

Petition DSMZ, bring back TYGS

DSMZ, bring back TYGS

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

From cell-cell communication in cyanobacteria to unraveling bacterial biofilm structures - check out all of the publications from our groups! tu-dresden.de/mn/biologie/...

tu-dresden.de

Publications

A list of publications from the participating SPP 2389 groups sorted by publication year and last name of the corresponding group leader(s).

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Throwback Thursday to our international conference in January! 120 PhD students, PIs, and guest speakers met in Berlin to present their amazing research on multicellular bacteria (and some archaea!) Congratulations to our poster prize winners Ruth Viveros, Miriam Epping, and Danielle Lange!

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SPP2389 - Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity @spp2389.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Hi everyone and welcome to our profile for the DFG-funded SPP 2389 on emergent functions of bacterial multicellularity! A lot has happened recently and we're looking forward to sharing all things bacteria, biofilms, and beyond with all of you! Genna & Matthias

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