M. Lagator

High-throughput method rapidly characterizes hundreds of novel antibiotic resistance mutations

This paper introduces QMS-Seq, a high-throughput method to identify antibiotic resistance mutations in E. coli, revealing distinct mutation patterns for multi-drug and antibiotic-specific resistance.

Linking Molecular Mechanisms to their Evolutionary Consequences: a primer

The paper develops a mechanistic model of bacterial promoters to explore how molecular complexity affects evolutionary predictions, finding that simplifying mechanisms does not compromise accuracy.

Evolution of intrinsic transcriptional terminators in their genomic context

The paper studies the conservation and evolution of intrinsic transcriptional terminators between Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica subsp. pullorum, finding low sequence and functional conservation despite their close relation.

Not digested: algal glycans move carbon dioxide into the deep-sea

The paper shows algal glycans are not digested by bacteria in the deep-sea, allowing them to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for at least 1000 years.

Structure and Evolution of Constitutive Bacterial Promoters

The paper develops a biophysical model to predict constitutive gene expression from bacterial promoter sequences and estimates the prevalence of functional promoters in random sequences.

Experimental Determination of Evolutionary Barriers to Horizontal Gene Transfer

The paper experimentally measures fitness effects of horizontal gene transfer between Salmonella and E. coli, finding that dosage sensitivity, gene length, and protein disorder are key barriers, not previously identified gene function or interaction counts.