Author

E. R. Westra

Listed by name: these papers carry no ORCID for this author, so different people with the same name may be mixed together.

Biology Disciplines

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Microbiology· 9 Evolutionary Biology· 2

Signature Assays, Organisms & Methods

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Organism:bacteria (other)· 9 Approach:experimental assay· 8 Research Focus:host-pathogen & immune response· 7 Approach:statistical model· 4 Assay:metagenomics· 3 Research Focus:ecology & biodiversity· 2 Assay:proteomics· 1 Research Focus:variant calling· 1

Frequent Co-Authors

S. van Houte· 6 shared S. Meaden· 4 shared T. Dimitriu· 3 shared D. Walker-Sünderhauf· 2 shared E. O. Alseth· 2 shared H. Chabas· 2 shared P. C. Fineran· 2 shared S. Gandon· 2 shared

Activity by Year

2018-2023 · peak 3/yr

Co-Author Collaboration Network

10 top collaborators · 16 mutual co-author links

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6 shared papersMicrobiology

S. van Houte

Mutual co-authors in cluster

Author profile →

11 papers

Recent·Most cited

The impact of phage and phage resistance on microbial community dynamics

E. O. Alseth, R. Custodio, S. A. Sundius, R. A. Kuske, S. P. Brown, E. R. Westra

This study examines how phage and phage resistance mechanisms influence microbial community dynamics through a controlled experiment with an artificial bacterial community.

bioRxiv · Sep 26, 2023Microbiology

Antibiotics that affect translation can antagonize phage infectivity by interfering with the deployment of counter-defences.

B. J. Pons, T. Dimitriu, E. R. Westra, S. van Houte

The paper shows that translation-inhibiting antibiotics reduce phage amplification on CRISPR-Cas bacteria by blocking phage-encoded anti-CRISPR gene expression.

bioRxiv · Sep 7, 2022 · PreprintMicrobiology

Interspecific competition can drive the loss of conjugative plasmids from a focal species in a microbial community

D. Walker-Sünderhauf, U. Klümper, W. H. Gaze, E. R. Westra, S. van Houte

The paper shows that interspecific competition can reduce plasmid maintenance in microbial communities by increasing plasmid costs and accelerating plasmid loss from focal species.

bioRxiv · Jun 6, 2022Microbiology

High viral abundance and low diversity are associated with increased CRISPR-Cas prevalence across microbial ecosystems

S. Meaden, A. Biswas, K. Arkhipova, S. E. Morales, B. E. Dutilh, E. R. Westra, P. C. Fineran

The paper examines the relationship between viral abundance and diversity and CRISPR-Cas prevalence across microbial ecosystems using metagenomic data.

bioRxiv · Jun 24, 2021Microbiology

Bacteriostatic antibiotics promote the evolution of CRISPR-Cas immunity

T. Dimitriu, E. Kurilovich, U. Lapinska, K. Severinov, S. Pagliara, M. D. Szczelkun, E. R. Westra

This study shows bacteriostatic antibiotics promote CRISPR-Cas immunity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by slowing phage development and allowing more time for immune response.

bioRxiv · May 4, 2021 · PreprintMicrobiology

CRISPR-Cas is associated with fewer antibiotic resistance genes in bacterial pathogens

E. Pursey, T. Dimitriu, F. L. Paganelli, E. R. Westra, S. van Houte

The paper analyzes bacterial genomes to show that CRISPR-Cas systems are associated with fewer antibiotic resistance genes, suggesting they limit horizontal gene transfer of resistance.

bioRxiv · Apr 12, 2021Microbiology

Immune Lag Is a Major Cost of Prokaryotic Adaptive Immunity During Viral Outbreaks

J. L. Weissman, E. O. Alseth, S. Meaden, E. R. Westra, J. A. Fuhrman

The paper shows that immune lag during viral outbreaks is costly for prokaryotes, even for completely immune hosts, by analyzing host-virus dynamics.

bioRxiv · Sep 30, 2020Microbiology

Diversity in CRISPR-based immunity protects susceptible genotypes by restricting phage spread and evolution

J. Common, D. Walker-Sünderhauf, S. van Houte, E. R. Westra

The paper shows that CRISPR diversity in bacteria limits phage spread and evolution by diluting susceptible hosts, creating an ecological feedback effect.

bioRxiv · Apr 15, 2020Evolutionary Biology

Type I-F CRISPR-Cas resistance against virulent phage infection triggers abortive infection and provides population-level immunity

B. N. Watson, R. B. Vercoe, G. P. Salmond, E. R. Westra, R. H. Staals, P. C. Fineran

This study shows that Type I CRISPR-Cas in Pectobacterium atrosepticum causes abortive infection against virulent phages, leading to population-level immunity.

bioRxiv · Jun 21, 2019Microbiology

Evolutionary emergence of infectious diseases in heterogeneous host populations

H. Chabas, S. Lion, A. Nicot, S. Meaden, S. van Houte, S. Moineau, L. M. Wahl, E. R. Westra, S. Gandon

This paper develops a theoretical model to predict pathogen emergence based on host population heterogeneity and validates it with experiments using bacteriophages and CRISPR-resistant bacteria.

bioRxiv · May 9, 2018Evolutionary Biology

Anti-CRISPR phages cooperate to overcome CRISPR-Cas immunity

M. Landsberger, S. Gandon, S. Meaden, H. Chabas, A. Buckling, E. R. Westra, S. van Houte

The paper shows that Acr-phages cooperate to overcome CRISPR-Cas immunity, with phage density and CRISPR resistance levels affecting their epidemiology.

bioRxiv · Mar 8, 2018Microbiology