Scientists stunned by ‘fundamentally new way’ life produces DNA Newly discovered bacterial defense system challenges genetic code’s central dogma

Scientists stunned by ‘fundamentally new way’ life produces DNA | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

On #WorldHealthDay 2026, we are celebrating the power of scientific collaboration to protect the health of people, animals, plants, and the planet.⚕️
Join researches from around the world for our health related training: www.embl.org/events/

#StandWithScience 🧪🔬
@training.ebi.embl.org @embl.org

🚀 Save the date: Kostenloses Info-Webinar zu den Fördermöglichkeiten der VolkswagenStiftung!

📅 Do. 9. April 2026, 13:00-14:30 Uhr. Keine Anmeldung nötig.

Achtung: Live-Event, keine Aufzeichnung

Infos: www.volkswagenstiftung.de/de/live-webin…

#VolkswagenStiftung #Webinar #Förderung #Forschung

CauloCon 2026 A free, 3-day virtual meeting on all things Caulobacter and Alphaproteobacteria

Less than 24 hours until CauloCon starts! Last minute registration is still open if you want to attend.

caulocon.com

With CauloCon coming up in a few weeks, we are excited to share with you the schedule for the upcoming meeting! There will be 3 keynotes and 26 short talks over three days.

You can see more information at caulocon.com

CauloCon 2026 A free, 3-day virtual meeting on all things Caulobacter and Alphaproteobacteria

CauloCon 2026 is coming! 🔬✨ March 3–5 (fully virtual + free). Keynotes by Yves Brun, Becky Lamason & Martin Thanbichler. Great chance for grad students & postdocs to present their work (work-in-progress welcome!). Submit an abstract by Sun Feb 8. Register + submit: www.caulocon.com

Unlocking the potential of X-rays to scale up tissue ultrastructure mapping - Nature Methods Nondestructively mapping biological tissues in 3D with nanoscale detail is essential to scale up the study of how cells interact in their environment, such as in neuronal circuits. We resolved such ul...

And read the associated Research Briefing here:

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

Cohesin guides homology search during DNA repair using loops and sister chromatid linkages Accurate repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is essential for genome stability, and defective repair underlies diseases such as cancer. Homologous recombination uses an intact homologous sequenc...

I am happy to share that my postdoctoral work in the @gerlichlab.bsky.social at @imbavienna.bsky.social is finally out 🎉!
Our study reveals how cohesin guides focused and accurate homology search.
Read more 👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Follow along for key insights and updates! 🧵

Genome integrity relies on rapid recycling of DNA Pol III in bacteria | PNAS DNA replication requires precise coordination between DNA unwinding and DNA synthesis. In all domains of life, protein–protein interactions at the ...

Happy to share our most recent work www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/.... Here we describe how efficient DNA replication in E. coli is dependent on an interaction between SSB-ssDNA and the DNA polymerase (Pol III). Thanks to all the co-authors for their hard work!

Logo of "Prospects", the DFG Research Career Series, calendar entries: Thursday, 11 December 2025, 4-5:30 p.m. CET in English

#Prospects for #ECR: Join our online talk on 11 December!
Our Team Research Careers provides an overview of all DFG funding instruments and gives advice on how to prepare your proposal for the review process. The meeting link will be published shortly before start here: sohub.io/e2ad

Congratulations to Celia Municio-Diaz in the lab for this new publication, showing that Cell Wall mechanosensors taken from distant yeast species can still function and detect forces in the foreign cell wall of fission yeast cells!

@ijmonod.bsky.social @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social

⭐ NAR Breakthrough! ⭐
🦠 New study shows phage X1 hijacks Yersinia's enterocolitica flagellum to inject its DNA directly into the cytosol. Yersinia, though, strikes back!
🦠 A fascinating look at the #dualrole of #flagella in #viralentry and #bacterialimmunity.
🧬 Read more: doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

Night view of Belfast City Hall illuminated with colourful lights, promoting registration for Annual Conference 2026 at ICC Belfast from April 13-16.

'Annual Conference is the UK's largest annual gathering of microbiologists. Register now to secure your spot: microb.io/AC26Register #Microbio26

Apply now to attend the next EMBO Bacterial Networks meeting #EMBOBacNet

🗓️13-18 September 2026
📍Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain

📝Program and registration info: meetings.embo.org/event/26-bac...

👩‍🔬Organised with co-chair @s-lab.bsky.social and ECR @coralietesseur.bsky.social

#MicroSky

📢 Postdoc position: Biochemistry & Bacterial cell biology

in our group at Marburg University, Germany, funded by the ERC Advanced Grant "C-SWITCH"

🔗More information at shorturl.at/OlvlL
📅Deadline: Nov 30, 2025

Please repost. #Postdoc

James D Watson, co-discoverer of DNA’s twisted-ladder structure, dies aged 97 Nobel prize winner shaped medicine, crimefighting and genealogy but later years marred by racist remarks James D Watson, whose co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped light the long fuse on a revolution in medicine, crimefighting, genealogy and ethics, has died, according to his former research lab. He was 97. The breakthrough – made when the brash, Chicago-born Watson was just 24 – turned him into a hallowed figure in the world of science for decades. But near the end of his life, he faced condemnation and professional censure for offensive remarks, including saying Black people were less intelligent than white people. Continue reading...

James D Watson, co-discoverer of DNA’s twisted-ladder structure, dies aged 97

📣 Meet the new ERC Synergy Grant awardees!

Sixty-six research teams have been selected for funding, bringing together 239 scientists. Congratulations to all!

➡️ buff.ly/PSn3bi9

#EUfunded #HorizonEurope #ERCSyG

🦠🔬🤖🧑‍💻 #mAIcrobe is out! With @pinholab.bsky.social's lab, we launched an open-source framework for high-throughput bacterial image analysis. By rockstars A. Brito & B. Saraiva et al, making #DeepLearning for phenotyping accessible! Easy to use, plus model training

📜 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Comprehensive genetic interaction analysis of the Bacillus subtilis envelope using double-CRISPRi Koo et al. apply genome-scale double-CRISPRi to map cell envelope gene interactions in Bacillus subtilis, revealing >1,000 genetic interactions and uncovering gene networks in envelope biogenesis and ...

Identification of genetic interactions in Bacillus subtilis cell division. Congratulations, Byoung-Mo Koo, Carol Gross, and all involved!
@cp-cellsystems.bsky.social #subtiwiki

www.cell.com/cell-systems...

Now in @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social Bacillus subtilis DinG/XPD-like paralogues, DinG and YpvA, have been implicated in overcoming replication stress. DinG possesses a DEDD exonuclease and DNA helicase domains, whereas YpvA lacks the DEDD exonuclease domain

www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/26...

Now published as a Version of Record, with various new results compared to the initial preprint:

Membrane binding properties of the cytoskeletal protein bactofilin

Available at:
elifesciences.org/articles/100...

@synmikro.bsky.social @unimarburg.bsky.social @mpimicrobiomarburg.bsky.social

Group photo

That’s a wrap for The Biology and Physics of Prokaryotic Chromosomes VII 2025. A big thank you to all those who attended 🧪 #BioPhyChrom2025 #BiochemEvents

Are you planning to apply for an ERC grant? Do you need some guidance? This hands-on session is for you!

On 24 September, ERC representatives will guide you through the changes in the 2026 calls for the Starting, Consolidator & Advanced Grant.

👉 europa.eu/!hMhKRn

Supervisors and Projects

Please re-post: If you know (or are!) somebody who might fancy doing a PhD (Oct 2026 start) in my group @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social, working on chromatin evolution in prokaryotes (or other things we're interested in), please have a look at www.bioch.ox.ac.uk/supervisors-...

Group photo of postdocs conducting research at a Max Planck Institute

The #MaxPlanckPostdocProgram offers a guaranteed contract of at least 3 years, targeted mentoring, and career workshops. The call for applications is open now! 🚀 Take advantage of this opportunity and browse the job vacancies. www.mpg.de/en/max-planc...

In @elife.bsky.social: Membrane binding properties of the cytoskeletal protein bactofilin doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

⭐ SAVE THE DATE ⭐
📍 21st VAAM Industry Academia Panel - Bridging Academic and Industry Research:

📅 September 18th, 4:00 PM
💻 Via Zoom
🎯"In vitro Microbiome Models"

Speakers
Philippe Ulsemer, Acaryon GmbH
Michael Schloter, Technical University Munich

✔️Registration: t1p.de/y70py

During the 5 day #EMBLFluorescenceLifetime course, participants get hands-on training every afternoon on our state-of the art microscopes 🔬

Practicals include Halo-tags & FLIM, Multiplexing with FPs and FLIM on STELLARIS 8 STED, as well as FLIM analysis including ML and AI on STELLARIS Cryo 🤩

Super-resolution microscopy for structural biology - Nature Methods This Perspective introduces a framework for defining, measuring and reporting resolution in super-resolution microscopy and details the current state of the art in using fluorescence microscopy for st...

Really excited to share this Perspective from John Danial covering how technology is moving the field of fluorescence microscopy toward structural biology. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Expanding the diversity of bacterial DNA partitioning: A CTP-independent ParABS system for plasmid partitioning in Streptomyces | PNAS The ATP- and CTP-dependent ParA-ParB-parS segrosome is a macromolecular complex that segregates chromosomes/plasmids in most bacterial species. CTP...

Finally published! Many thanks to the reviewers and editor whose comments & suggestions improved this work significantly more than the first preprint version!!!

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