A bacterial CARD–NLR-like immune system controls the release of gene transfer agents - Nature Microbiology An immunity-like system functions as a lysis control hub to promote gene transfer agent particle release from host bacterial cells, suggesting that bacterial immune systems may be co-opted to promote ...

Delighted to share our latest work on gene transfer agents (GTAs). We found a lysis control hub which allows GTAs to escape their bacterial host cells and transfer DNA 🧬 between bacteria. Thanks to @tunglejic.bsky.social, all co-authors, and our amazing collaborators!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Finally published. Many thanks to a wonderful collaborative team and scientific platforms!!! And thanks to editors and reviewers for enthusiasm and a great review.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Using X-ray Crystallography and 1,n-ADEQUATE NMR to Revise the Structures of Highly Substituted Aromatic Natural Products: The Absolute Configuration of Formicamycin Congeners Formicamycins and their biosynthetic precursors, the fasamycins, form part of the phenylnaphthacenoid family of polyketide natural products. A recent atroposelective total synthesis of formicamycin H brought into question our original stereochemical assignment of the axially chiral linkage between C-6 and C-7. To address this, we obtained an X-ray crystal structure for formicamycin H that unambiguously confirmed our original assignment as the Sa atropisomer. X-ray structures for multiple additional fasamycins and formicamycins confirmed that this is common to all congeners. However, these studies identified a compounded error made by us whereby several structures previously reported as para-methoxy were found to have ortho-methoxy groups on the hanging E-ring. To address this for congeners that did not crystallize or gave nondiffracting crystals, we turned to the surprisingly underutilized 1,n-ADEQUATE NMR experiment. In total, we generated X-ray structures for 15 phenylnaphthacenoid metabolites and by combining these results report the corrected structures for three formicamycins, six fasamycins, and three biosynthetic lactone intermediates, noting that several revised fasamycin structures now match previously reported naphthacemycins. Our results highlight the utility of 1,n-ADEQUATE experiments for regiochemical determination in polysubstituted aromatic molecules. Moreover, our investigations uncovered a potential deracemization step during biosynthesis of the formicamycin framework.

New paper with @barriewilks.bsky.social. There are many reports on fasamycins and formicamycins (aka accramycins, naphthacemycins, streptovertimycins). Here, we unambiguously solve their structures and stereochemistry. A great effort, led by Dr Edward Hems

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Professor Philippa Borrill

We are devastated to announce that our colleague and friend Professor Philippa Borrill died over the Easter weekend following a rare immune system disorder (HLH). She was a fantastic scientist, collaborator and mentor, and a close friend to many: www.jic.ac.uk/news/profess...

Our group’s inaugural PhD 🎉🍾

Toasting the successful & excellent defense of Dr. Garcia-Lozano 🎈

Congratulations, @marlenygarcial.bsky.social!!

Funding Opportunities - Biofortification Hub Funding Opportunities The Biofortification Hub offers funding to support innovative research, collaboration, events and mobility between Academia and Industry. Type of funding

Funding opportunities for the Biofortification Hub are open for 2026 🌱🍅

Those working in #Biofortification in the UK in industry, organisations or academia can apply for:

• Proof of Concept Awards
• Business Interaction Vouchers

🗓️ Deadline: 24 April 2026

@quadraminstitute.bsky.social

Sugar beet, oilseed rape, tomatoes and dandelions: four precision breeding projects win major funding to support UK agriculture | John Innes Centre The John Innes Centre and its industrial and academic partners have been awarded UK Government funding to help deliver four ambitious projects that unleash the potential of precision breeding…

🌱 Since the Precision Breeding Act, the UK Government has awarded funding for many interesting projects using #GenomeEditing, important for farmers and sustainable agriculture.
👇 Check out the four new projects at the @johninnescentre.bsky.social
www.jic.ac.uk/press-releas...

How specific are heritable symbioses?

And what can we learn from swapping obligate symbionts across host species?

We address this in our latest, led by @inespons.bsky.social & in our collaboration w/ @microbiome.bsky.social 🦠🪲 Out today in @natcomms.nature.com!

1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

If anyone is interested in working on these bacteria @johninnescentre.bsky.social has protocols, strains, plasmids and a genome database available here: streptomyces.org.uk

Here’s a sneak preview of the Microbe Zoo coming to Norwich Science Festival soon 👀

📅14 - 21 February 2026
📍The Gallery, the Forum Norwich

➡️ buff.ly/gtZX6Us

@norwichmicro.bsky.social @johninnescentre.bsky.social @thesainsburylab.bsky.social @earlhaminst.bsky.social @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social

<i>Microbiology</i> Editors: Call for expressions of interest

Want some editorial experience? The @microbiologysociety.org flagship journal Microbiology has opened a call for new editors, more details here:

microbiologysociety.org/news/society...

First results chapter from Kelly-Rose Tulley’s PhD is published. It was a great team effort to get this finished. This work supports previous results on S. coelicolor OrrA and suggests its function is highly conserved. #microsky #streptomyces 1/2

Seed cannot be made available in the UK unfortunately.

VACANCY - We're looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the @philcarella.bsky.social Group, working in the field of Evo-MPMI (Evolutionary Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions).

okt.to/yIlgTU

Closing date - 10 February 2026
Salary - £37,500 - £45,350
Contract - Full-time, 3 years

The Norwich (UK) cathedral spire seen at sunset.

New year, new goal of getting enough vitamin D 🌞

1 in 5 people in the UK are deficient in vitamin D during winter and spring 📉

Get involved in ViTaL-D to investigate whether @johninnescentre.bsky.social biofortified tomatoes lead to more vitamin D in the blood 🍅

➡️ buff.ly/2sdniq5

EXPERT REACTION: Genetically modified purple tomato approved in Austra EXPERT REACTION: Genetically modified purple tomato approved in Australia A genetically modified purple tomato has received all necessary approvals for commercial sale in Australia, accord

Great news for the Australians!
Purple tomatoes, enriched in beneficial anthocyanins, developed in Cathie Martin's lab @johninnescentre.bsky.social will be available to consumers in Australia in 2026.
www.scimex.org/newsfeed/exp...

Very happy to see this remarkable work published. Led by @tommclean.bsky.social and @ainsley-beaton.bsky.social. We show how Streptomyces bacteria sense & respond to misfolded secreted proteins. A great collaboration with @barriewilks.bsky.social

#microsky

1/2

journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10....

Too excited by the science to include the link to the paper! Here it is: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Need a winter warmer? Groundbreaking gene-edited tomato soup trial with higher levels of 'Sunshine' vitamin recruiting now - Quadram Institute Human trial of gene edited food, to understand whether biofortifying tomatoes in this way leads to higher levels of vitamin D in the blood

✅ Are you aged over 18?
✅ Live within 70 miles of Norwich?
✅Think you might be low in vitamin D?

Join the ViTaL-D study and help us understand if @johninnescentre.bsky.social tomatoes biofortified through gene editing could help boost vitamin D levels 🍅

Three volunteers standing behind an outreach stand with microbiology-themed activities on the table

Today we're supporting the Find my Future event at @johninnescentre.bsky.social with hands-on activities that highlight the diversity of micro-organisms.

Thanks to all our volunteers and the event organisers for helping us to engage with lots of students!

Postdoctoral Researcher (Salem Group) | John Innes Centre An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the newly appointed group of Dr Hassan Salem at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Crop…

VACANCY - We’re looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join Dr @hassansalem.bsky.social group, in the field of Crop Genetics.

www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...

Closing date - 15 December 2025
Salary - £37,500 - £45,350
Contract - Full-time, 17 months in the first instance (potential up to 4 yrs)

More broadly the research could also lead to insights into genetic regulation, biotechnology applications, and new strategies for tackling antimicrobial resistance, one of the major threats to human health in the 21st century.

It also shows that the fold is versatile – not only binding to CTP, but also to other ubiquitous nucleotides including ATP and GTP, including the first examples of GTP-binding ParB-like proteins.

The circular tree shows how thousands of ParB-like proteins are distributed and have evolved across bacteria, archaea, phages, and eukaryotes. The coloured rings highlight the origin of each protein and whether it retains key features, such as the canonical ParB structure or the ParA-binding sequence. Long branches reveal fast-evolving, highly diverged versions of the fold, offering a glimpse into how this ancient protein family has diversified across life.

NEWS - An exciting new landscape of protein-related discovery unfolds

An investigation into cellular components in bacteria has unexpectedly uncovered a feature with relevance across many life forms, paving the way for diverse research and applications:
www.jic.ac.uk/news/an-exci...

Versatile NTP recognition and domain fusions expand the functional repertoire of the ParB-CTPase fold beyond chromosome segregation | PNAS Nucleotide triphosphate (NTP)-dependent molecular switches regulate essential cellular processes by cycling between active and inactive states thro...

Now published. Thank you very much to our collaborative team, and very supportive editors and reviewers!!!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Versatile NTP recognition and domain fusions expand the functional repertoire of the ParB-CTPase fold beyond chromosome segregation Nucleotide triphosphate (NTP)-dependent molecular switches regulate essential cellular processes by cycling between active and inactive states through nucleotide binding and hydrolysis. These mechanis...

new preprint from our group & Antoine Hocher: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A fantastic collaboration with Antoine, with Jovana Kaljevic' initiated the collaboration and drives the project.

Congratulations to Charlotte Owen, winner of our HBio award. For playing a pivotal role in the set-up of spin-out company Hothouse Therapeutics, her exceptional talent in bioinformatics and her many contributions to the running of the Osbourn lab. @johninnescentre.bsky.social

Congratulations to Govind Chandra, winner of our @hbio-isp.bsky.social award. For the critical role he plays in bioinformatics data analysis, supporting colleagues and training new bioinformaticians @johninnescentre.bsky.social

‪Want to hear about exciting #microbial research from leading scientists? 🦠

The Centre for Microbial Interactions Conference is back next year with an amazing line-up 👇

@norwichmicro.bsky.social

Applied Molecular Microbiology | John Innes Centre John Innes/Rudjer Bošković – Summer Schools in Applied Molecular Microbiology Applications are invited for a summer school on Microbial Specialised Metabolites: Discovery…

EVENT - Apply today for the John Innes/Rudjer Bošković: Applied #Molecular #Microbiology Summer School (Microbial Specialised Metabolites: Discovery, Biosynthesis and Function)

🗓️ 12 - 20 Sept 2026

📍Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Deadline: 23 Jan 2026

www.jic.ac.uk/training-car...