Elena Colombi

Drought and rewetting drive divergent microbial dynamics across soil compartments and reveal Trinickia as a key genus for soybean drought resilience

This study tracks microbial dynamics during drought and rewetting in soybean soils, identifying Trinickia as a key genus linked to drought resilience.

Interspecies exchange of a mobile genetic element during a plant disease outbreak

The paper investigates an outbreak of plant disease caused by two Ralstonia species, identifying mobile genetic elements responsible for interspecies gene exchange and disease spread.

Diverse conjugative and mobilisable elements underpin key adaptive traits in Xanthomonas

The paper identifies diverse mobile genetic elements in Xanthomonas species and their role in adaptive traits through comparative genomic analysis.

Discovery of novel antimicrobial resistance genes in food and fertiliser using a high-throughput gene capture and functional screening platform

This study identifies novel antimicrobial resistance genes in environmental samples using a gene capture and functional screening platform.

Adaptative and ancient co-evolution of integrons with Xanthomonas genomes

This study analyzes integron distribution and evolution across Xanthomonas genomes, finding ancient acquisition, lineage-specific inactivation, and functional diversity in some species.

EcoFoldDB: Protein structure-guided functional profiling of ecologically relevant microbial traits at the metagenome scale

EcoFoldDB-annotate improves metagenomic function annotation by using protein structure and outperforms sequence-based methods, enabling ecological insights from microbial genomes.

Clonal expansion from standing genetic variation underpins the evolution of an emerging plant pathogen in Australia

This study shows that clonal expansion from existing genetic variation, not new genotypes, has driven the evolution of Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens in Australia since the 1980s.

Bacterial metabarcoding reveals plant growth promoting members of the core Brachypodium distachyon root-associated microbiome overlooked by culture dependent techniques

This study combines bacterial metabarcoding and culture-based techniques to identify plant growth promoting bacteria in Brachypodium distachyon root microbiomes, revealing strains overlooked by traditional methods.