Capturing dynamic phage–pathogen coevolution by clinical surveillance @nature.com @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A phage protein screen identifies triggers of the bacterial innate immune system Nature Microbiology, Published online: 16 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-025-02239-6A library of 400 phage protein-coding genes is used to find a trove of antiphage systems, revealing systems that target tail fibre and major capsid proteins.

Out Now! A phage protein screen identifies triggers of the bacterial innate immune system #MicroSky

Conference poster on microbiome editing

Such a privilege to share the Phage Foundry (phagefoundry.org) team’s work at the inaugural GRC meeting on Microbiome Editing 🎉🎊.

We are hiring new faculty!! Come join our amazing community in the Department of Molecular Microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine! The deadline for applications is 2/21, but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. facultyopportunities.wustl.edu/Posting/Deta...

Registration is open for the 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Stress Response to be held on July 19-24 2026!! Submit your abstract by February 15th to be considered for a short talk. Apply now before it fills up!! Hope to see you there!! www.grc.org/microbial-st...

Vibrio2026: The International Meeting on the Biology of Vibrios Join Vibrio2026: The International Meeting on the Biology of Vibrios, September 13-16, 2026. Learn more on Fourwaves.

Registration is open for September’s Vibrio2026 conference in Berlin! event.fourwaves.com/vibrio2026/p...

Modified DNA substrate selectivity by GmrSD-family Type IV restriction enzyme BrxU Abstract. Bacteriophages (phages), viral predators of bacteria, generate selection pressure that causes bacteria to evolve defence systems. Type I, II and

Durham University (@durham.ac.uk) and NEB scientists described the first biochemical characterization of GmrSD Type IV restriction enzyme substrate specificity and inhibition by phage protein IP1*. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2024.00...

Identification of sporulation genes in Bacillus anthracis highlights similarities and significant differences with Bacillus subtilis How good is Bacillus subtilis as a model for the spore-forming pathogen Bacillus anthracis? Using high throughput genetics to identify B. anthracis sporulation genes and cytological analysis of the mu...

Fer’s tour de force in B. anthracis is out! Fer got Tn-seq running, built an ordered knockout library, defined all essential sporulation genes, and found a peptidoglycan deacetylase inhibitor critical for engulfment. Including our first one-by-all Alphafold screen! journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Just got word that we are a go for the Bacterial Cell Biology and Development GRS and GRC at Southern New Hampshire University!

GRS will be on June 5-6, 2027

GRC will be from June 6-11, 2027

Block off your calendars Prokaryotic Cell Biologists!

More details to come! Please repost!

Phages are full of genes of unknown function that are likely adaptive in specific conditions.
New preprint: Phage TnSeq identifies essential genes rapidly and knocks all non-essentials. We would like to send a pool of phiKZ mutants to anyone wanting it! Reach out
tinyurl.com/bdcfrejh

Systematic discovery of TIR-based immune signaling systems in bacteria Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domains are important for immune signaling across humans, plants and bacteria. These domains were recently found to produce immune signaling molecules in plant immuni...

I’m happy to share our new preprint! We uncovered the full diversity of bacterial TIR-based antiviral immune signaling, massively expanded the known diversity of Thoeris systems, and revealed conservation of TIR-derived immune signals across the tree of life.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

📢 We have multiple open PhD positions to study bacterial immune systems using cutting-edge cryo-EM, microbiology, and biochemistry in our group! Join us and uncover how bacterial defenses eliminate predators and engineer next-gen biotech tools.

🔥 Apply by Jan 8, 2026

Details: phd.pages.ista.ac.at

Check this out for the 2026 SISB (phage defense) meeting in NYC. Mark your calendar! (and note the Zoom option, if needed)
sisb2026.rockefeller.edu

Spatial constraint drives negative frequency dependent selection of phage weaponization www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11....

Systematic mapping of bacteriophage gene essentiality with HIDEN‑SEQ The constant arms race of bacteriophages and their bacterial hosts has inspired major breakthroughs in biotechnology and shaped phages as fierce predators with great clinical potential to fight multid...

First the link to the preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...

Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🚨Preprint alert - this is a big one! We transfer the revolutionary power of TnSeq to bacteriophages.

Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms.

A thread 1/8

WYL-regulated defenses, to heighten the cell’s immune state to bolster protection against future attacks and counterdefenses.

unlinked Anti-plasmid system DdmDE, which has a predicted WYL protein encoded upstream of it. Our data suggests that these two WYL proteins (phage & plasmid defense) act independently of each other. We predict that bacteria can coordinate their immune response through multiple independent

This boost in immune protein abundance, provided increased protection against phage-encoded counterdefenses. This dynamic regulation is dependent on a WYL-domain-containing protein, commonly associated with defense system. unexpectedly, we observe an increase in expression of the genetically

I’m excited to share my recent postdoc work. Here, we interrogate how different phage infection outcomes (productive vs. restrictive) affect the expression of phage defense systems. We find that a restricted infection not only inhibits the phage but also induces increased immune protein abundance.

Thank you, Vivek! I really appreciated your help with this story!

Congrats Amelia!

Join the Blokesch lab (@EPFL) as a postdoc in Molecular Microbiology 🤩
Study Vibrio cholerae defense systems (phage/plasmid) in a dynamic, collaborative environment in Lausanne close to Lake Geneva in 🇨🇭!
Please visit my lab's webpage for details about the position and how to formally apply.

Congratulations, Tamanash and the rest of the team! So cool!

Adams Research Group The Adams Research Group uses molecular and cellular techniques to manipulate spirochetes, sequence bacterial transcriptomes, characterize cellular processes, map regulatory networks, and study spiroc...

Adams Group webpage is live! #NIAIDNews #IRPatNIH #ResearchingSpirochetes 🔬🧫🧬
(Consider joining our team!!)
www.niaid.nih.gov/research/ada...

Burton lab in big black letters. DNA helix connects B of Burton and L of Lab. Between the two words there is smaller text that reads Large Roles Small proteins.

Since we have had a big boom to bsky let me reintroduce myself.

I am Aisha Burton and a new PI at Cornell Micro. Currently on maternity leave but my two research techs are keeping the research going 🙏🏾. My lab is interested in studying small proteins and how they impact stress responses in bacteria

The vibriophage-encoded inhibitor OrbA abrogates BREX-mediated defense through the ATPase BrxC bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

Really excited to share my first preprint as a postdoc! Here, we determined that the BREX-inhibitor, OrbA, encoded by the lytic phage ICP1 inhibits BREX through the ATPase BrxC in V. cholerae.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Oh no! I’m not sure why these links are not working but we will work on it. You can google careerspub University of California #60990

careerspub.universityofcalifornia.edu/psp/ucb/EMPL...