Those amazing #phages 🦠 figured out 5mC chemistry before we did:
📄 Out today in @MolecularCell we describe a 5mC-selective #deaminase family in environmental phage genomes with broad applications for #5base #sequencing
#epigenetics #DNAmethylation #genomics #NGS 🧬🧪
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
I am so excited to share our new findings with you! We provide the structural evidence for a direct protein-to-DNA information pathway, showing how a bacterial enzyme 'reads' its own structure to 'write' DNA. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Our latest publication is now out at Genome Biology!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
We uncover a unique association between a H3K27me3 reader complex and active transcription.
A thread with our key findings: (1/8)
#TEsky #Polycomb #transcription #smallRNAs
First “all our own” Barber lab data paper up on BioRxiv! PhD student Naureen Hameed identified peptidergic communication from clock neurons to non clock neurons, and PhD student Sergio Crespo Flores did connectimic proximity analysis to estimate signaling distance. 🧪 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
In a new study, Sarah Marion &co use genetic mapping and whole genome sequencing in wild #Drosophila to reveal the genetic basis of naturally occurring lethal mutations and introduce a new model that could explain their frequencies in natural populations.
🧪 #genetics
Fouché, @oggenfussursula.bsky.social, McDonald & @danielcroll.bsky.social retrace chromosomal degeneration in a fungal pathogen, identifying the exact sequence triggers that initiate chromosome instability and perpetuate degenerative cycles.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag037
#genome #evolution
You are finishing your PhD and looking to continue in science?
The Martin lab @biology-unige.bsky.social has an open postdoctoral position in cell biology to study cell-cell fusion. For more information, please consult mocel.unige.ch/research-gro....
Thanks for reposting!
Incredibly proud to share our new preprint, lead by the Incomparable Rithika Sankar.
Here we temporally dissect the role of FACT in mES cells, finding that FACT loss drives progressive deterioration of chromatin architecture, leading to transcriptional collapse.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Could be transcription-RT mutation biases, but something that strong smells of selection. Since U can basepair with G and A, but A can only bp with U, for a given AU composition a + strand with strong A skew probably has less secondary structure and is easier to RT to full lenght
"We are deliberately walking away from the most advanced form of one of the most effective public health measures available to the human race, and instead we are investigated older technologies that happen to involve the administration’s friends"
Indeed.
www.science.org/content/blog...
This is huge. The error threshold of early replicators is such a big problem for the origin of life (Eigen and Schuster 1979) that Eugene Koonin invoked a combination of parallel universes and the anthropic principle to explain it away.
Stress controls heterochromatin inheritance via histone H3 ubiquitylation
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Genomes of ancient asexual mites appear streamlined in their architecture www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12...
🪱 Selfish genes are everywhere and drive some of biology’s biggest innovations (CRISPR, antibody recombination, epigenetics). Yet almost no one asks the obvious question: how does a selfish gene begin? Our new manuscript uncovers how selfishness can emerge directly from the host genome.
The discovery of the first kinetochore proteins (CENP-A, CENP-B, CENP-C) was reported by Bill Earnshaw and Naomi Rothfield in 1985 in Chromosoma. Forty years later, Chromosoma/Chromosome Research has published a special issue (most articles are open access)
link.springer.com/collections/...
I’ve often thought about the time spent on the >85% unsuccessful grant applications for NIH funding, and that if the applicants had instead spent that time masturbating that would have literally been a more productive use of their time.
RNA decay via the nuclear exosome is essential for piwi-mediated transposon silencing www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12...
differential contribution of H3K9 methyltransferases to boundaries at satellites
A new and fascinating story from @bencarty.bsky.social and the group, with crucial help from the teams of @naltemose.bsky.social, Simona Giunta, and @dfachinetti.bsky.social. Many thanks to all for a fantastic collaboration.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Population genetics simulations and analysis of experimental datasets in yeast, Drosophila and E. coli show that beneficial mutations are abundant but transient, as they become deleterious after environmental turnover (antagonistic pleiotropy)🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The first paper of my PhD is now available as a preprint! 🎉
Transposable elements (TEs) don't just jump within fungal genomes, they also move extensively between species. In this study, we screened over 1,300 fungal genomes and found a conservative estimate of 5,500+ horizontal transfer events.
Just how smol are they? Banana for scale?
Our latest paper has just been published in Cell!
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
We developed a new method called MCC ultra, which allows 3D chromatin structure to be visualised with a 1 base pair pixel size.
Genomic traits associated with pathogenicity.
Lifestyles shape genome size and gene content in fungal pathogens.
buff.ly/tec1Tds
Thrilled to share that this work has been accepted for publication @currentbiology.bsky.social 🥳
Special shoutout to the editorial team – the process was incredibly smooth and productive. Read more here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Wrote up a little intervention post/explanation for my class about why using LLMs for trying to learn programming (as first time learners!) is bad and detrimental datavizf25.classes.andrewheiss.com/news/2025-11...
Que inventen ellos! (con nuestros postdocs)
1/ Ever needed to annotate TEs in a fungal genome, but didn't know where to start?
We have released #MycoMobilome, a community-focused non-redundant database of transposable element consensus sequences for the fungal kingdom, constructed from >4,000 fungal genomes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
