Feels like this paper on protein-templated DNA synthesis by a natural enzyme warrants some comment.
So here's a 🧵. /1
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Protein-templated synthesis of dinucleotide repeat DNA by an antiphage reverse transcriptase Defense-associated reverse transcriptases (DRTs) are widespread bacterial anti-phage systems that use unconventional mechanisms of polynucleotide synthesis. We show that DRT3, which comprises two dist...

Protein-templated synthesis of dinucleotide repeat DNA by an antiphage reverse transcriptase | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Postdoctoral Scholar position in the Coaker group University of California, Davis We are seeking a Postdoctoral Scholar to join our research program focused on immune receptor engineering and spatial analyses of plant pathogens interactions using computational and imaging approaches. The position will involve integration of molecular, imaging, and computational approaches. Relevant publications from the laboratory include Nature Plants (2025, PMID: 40721669), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024, PMID: 38814867), and Cell Reports (2023, PMID: 37342910). https://www.coakerlab.org/ Qualifications: • Ph.D. in plant biology, molecular biology, genetics, computational biology, or a related field • Strong background in genomics and/or computational biology • First author publications in peer-reviewed journals • Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary environment • Experience in plant innate immunity is preferred Application Instructions: The position is initially available for two years, with the possibility of extension based on performance and funding. Salary is based on the University of California postdoctoral salary scale (https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2025-26/represented-oct-2025-scales/t23.pdf). The salary range for this position is $69,073-$82,836 US Dollars/year. Review of applications will begin June 1, 2026 and will continue until the position is filled. Please submit a CV, a brief statement of research interests (~1 page), and contact information for three references to glcoaker@ucdavis.edu. The research statement should describe your previous work, how your expertise aligns with ongoing research in the lab, and potential future research directions.

We are hiring! We’re excited to recruit a postdoc to our lab at UC Davis to work on plant immune engineering and single-cell analyses of plant pathogen interactions. Apply by June 1. Please repost. www.coakerlab.org/postdoctoral...

Abstracts open for ASM BIG. Submit now.

General abstract submissions are open for ASM BIG 2026!

Submit by June 17 (2 p.m. ET) to present your work in bioinformatics, genomics and big data and connect with a global community advancing microbial science.
asm.social/2TP

Diversity-generating retroelements for programmable targeted hypermutagenesis - Nature Biotechnology Diversity-generating retroelements are engineered for directed evolution in E.coli.

🔈Paper out! We turned the most fascinating phage host-switch mechanism, diversity-generating retroelements, into a programmable mutagenesis tool, DGRec. You can perform targeted hypermutation of any 50-200bp sequence directly in vivo in E. coli www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Fast and accurate multiple-protein-sequence alignment at scale with FAMSA2 - Nature Biotechnology FAMSA2 accurately aligns millions of protein sequences at high speed.

10 years after the first FAMSA paper, its successor is now published in Nat Biotech! We believe that FAMSA2 can enable analyses of large protein collections that were previously unattainable. Thank you, Andrzej and Cedric, for great collaboration
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Social Lives of Viruses is coming to Vancouver, Canada, from 4th-8th August 2026!

This is a free meeting dedicated to all aspects of virus-virus interactions & evolution.

To apply: socialviruses.zoology.ubc.ca

@sociovirology.bsky.social #socialviruses #evosky #lovevirology #virosky

The awesome virome logo of a phage above a strand of DNA

Have you developed a new #bioinformatics tool to understand #phage or #virus? Make sure you add it to #awesome-virome

github.com/shandley/awe...

>1000 lytic vibriophages sequenced. 4 years later… still there. Same genomes. Same vibes. Different story. When nothing changes—but everything does. Congrats to Jeff & Karine et al. and @epcrocha.bsky.social for the intellectual turbulence ;-)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Deadline is April 20th! Let’s get those viruses

My lab at Pitt is looking for a Research Scientist to help us make phage therapy for patients with antibiotic-resistant infections. Please share and apply! cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...

Again looking for (self)nominations of/by grad students and postdocs to give virtual talks (via zoom) in the fall seminar series of MSU's Thermal Biology Institute. Does >not< need to be on thermophiles. Email me!

Announcing Seattle DROP: Discover Research Opportunities for Postdocs on May 5th

Interested in postdoc opportunities in Seattle, WA? Seattle DROP is a virtual biomedical postdoc recruitment event sponsored by @fredhutch.org, @uwnews.uw.edu, and @seattlechildrens.org on May 5th from 8 AM-1 PM PT.

🎉🥳 Preprint out 🥳🎉

Here is a work you will hear about for a while, lead by @lucasmoriniere.bsky.social in the @vivekmutalik.bsky.social's lab, we developed a workflow predicting phages receptor specifity and identifies RBP from genomes🤯

Very happy to be part of this adventure and this dream team 🥰

🔥Preprint fresh off the press🔥

Hello Bluesky!

I'm delighted to share the story I have been working on for the past 3y in @vivekmutalik.bsky.social's lab at LBNL and Adam Arkin's lab @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social.

It's a wild story about 255 phages & 1,000+ HT genetic screens, are you ready? 🧵

Happy to have made a small contribution for @gbouras13.bsky.social's study. Hope this is just one of many examples in independent researcher collaboration with academic scientists!

#archaeasky folks, this pipeline rules for global baseline annotation for archaea

doi.org/10.64898/202...

💻🧬🧫🦠

Phage receptor prediction from genome sequencing alone. Bacterial receptor (blue) interacting with phage proteins (purple) is shown here

📣Huge preprint 🔔
Today we share something our group has been working toward for a long time, led by @lucasmoriniere.bsky.social We asked can we predict which receptor a phage targets from its genome sequence alone? For most phages, we couldn’t. So Lucas set out to do something I had only dreamed of.

This work a massive effort and needed a solid funding. We thank both NSF program and DOE Phage Foundry phagefoundry.org funding to make this happen.

iirc, it tests different codes and select the one that maximizes coding density ( @apcamargo.bsky.social , is that right ?).
So if you have a set of sequences, you can run a (quick) cds prediction with these tools and check which code was picked as the most likely

How diverse is bacterial immunity ?

We report in @science.org how language models allowed us to predict 2.4M antiphage proteins spanning >23K novel potential systems.
👏 @emordret.bsky.social, @alexhv.bsky.social & al doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Explore them here defensefinder.mdmlab.fr/wiki/refseq_...

GitHub - althonos/pyrodigal-gv: A Pyrodigal extension to predict genes in giant viruses and viruses with alternative genetic code. A Pyrodigal extension to predict genes in giant viruses and viruses with alternative genetic code. - althonos/pyrodigal-gv

Also available as a python module now :-)

github.com/althonos/pyr...

The PhageExpressionAtlas just made it to bioRxiv. Visually explore the transcriptomes of phage-host interactions or harness the database for analysis across infections! Please leave feedback, which functionalities/data you find missing.
Preprint:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

#phagesky #microsky

The SeqCode Committee has opened the call for applications to the SeqCode Prize 2026, sponsored by ISME.

@isme-microbes.bsky.social

Alex Kramer, Alan Zhang and friends posted our preprint today. In it, we introduce Panmap, a tool for phylogenetic placement, assembly, lineage abundance estimation, and eDNA assignment using phylogenetic pangenomes.

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

I am excited to share our latest paper, Uniform bacterial genetic diversity along the gut, now out in Nature Communications! www.nature.com/articles/s41.... (1/n)

Apply to be an editor at an ASM Journal! Open call for editors at mBio, mSphere, mSystems, and Microbiology Spectrum. This is a very fulfilling way to share your expertise and give back to our society journals. @asm.org journals.asm.org/asm-call-for...

Now out in AEM @asm.org! 🎉🧪

*High school student-isolated mutants 👉🏻 novel genetic causes of biofilm-associated adaptations
*We learn how diversity arises quickly and is maintained
*EvolvingSTEM enables scalable research in classrooms & promotes scientific literacy

journals.asm.org/eprint/FBU9M...

Hi, Blue Sky phage enthusiasts @phagepapers.bsky.social! My lab has been busy cooking up some cool phage science that is all out now on BioRxiv, so I am here to share with you:

New paper out today in @microbiomej.bsky.social: “Environmental microbiota transfer from forest soil into urban homes: a proof-of-principle study.” We show that a simple soil-on-rug intervention can shift bacterial microbiota in house dust in urban homes. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Open postdoc position in my lab at Cornell, conducting comparative and experimental studies on transcriptomic responses to diet and toxins, utilizing the milkweed-insect community. Background in molecular bio & herbivory desired. academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31867