Cell Bio 2023-An ASCB|EMBO Meeting Network, learn, and collaborate with top cell biologists from around the globe.

🚨Hear, hear, fellow microbial cell biologists!🚨
🦠 Bacterial and Archaeal Cell Biology will be represented again at this year’s CELL BIO (ASCB-EMBO) meeting! The deadline to be considered for a talk in our Minisymposium is June 9. Help us spread the word!
www.ascb.org/cellbio2026/

Peptidoglycan recycling is critical for cell division, cell wall integrity, and β-lactam resistance in Caulobacter crescentus Peptidoglycan recycling is essential for proper cell growth and intrinsic ampicillin resistance in Caulobacter crescentus, highlighting PG recycling enzymes as potential antibacterial targets.

Peptidoglycan recycling is critical for cell division, cell wall integrity, and β-lactam resistance in Caulobacter crescentus

Repurposing of a DNA segregation machinery into a cytoskeletal system controlling cell shape Bacteria, like eukaryotes, use conserved cytoskeletal systems for intracellular organization. The plasmid-encoded ParMRC system forms actin-like filaments that segregate low–copy number plasmids. In m...

Out now in @science.org
Repurposing of a DNA segregation machinery into a cytoskeletal system controlling cell shape | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New paper from the lab!
Transcriptional profiling of the primary cell envelope stress response of Bacillus subtilis exposed to a range of cell wall-targeting antimicrobials, combining RNAseq and high-resolution tiling arrays.

A series of spontaneously blinking dyes for super-resolution microscopy - Nature Methods A series of spontaneously blinking dyes in the far-red range facilitate single-molecule localization microscopy. These dyes vary in their blinking properties and can be matched to the applications and...

Out in @natmethods.nature.com: More dyes. They work. Quite well. And blink. Pick the one that fits your target, your technique, and your labeling density. With too many collaborators and institutes to list, but anchored at @hhmijanelia.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The next International Conference on Gram-Positive Bacteria will take place between 29 June – 2 July 2027 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

#subtiwiki

Local peptidoglycan composition defines division site selection in Streptococcus pneumoniae Nature Microbiology, Published online: 07 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02322-6Sequential peptidoglycan carboxylase activity of DacA and DacB generates a local peptidoglycan signature that recruits MapZ and establishes the division site at the Streptococcus pneumoniae cell equator.

Out Now! Local peptidoglycan composition defines division site selection in Streptococcus pneumoniae #MicroSky

We introduce mirror-enhanced 4Pi-SMLM (me4Pi-SMLM), a streamlined single-objective configuration that leverages mirror-based retroreflection of the illumination beam to achieve near-isotropic localization precision of 2–3 nm, enabling unambiguous resolution of diverse ultrastructural features.

bsky.app/profile/molm...

Looks like a great @embo.org workshop coming in September: “Lipid Code to Life”, with a who’s who of lipid #biochemistry… (e.g. @dimovalab.bsky.social @holthuislab.bsky.social @sciezgin.bsky.social etc ) More info and registration: meetings.embo.org/event/26-lip... #lipids #biophysics

Thanks Erin!! :)

European Academy of Microbiology welcomes 95 new Fellows Discover the latest election of 95 new Fellows by the European Academy of Microbiology, highlighting diverse expertise in the field.

Rut named fellow of the European Academy of Microbiology (EAM)!!! fems-microbiology.org/european-aca...

The registration is now open for BACELL meeting on 8-9 June 2026 at University of Malaga, Spain.

Register and submit abstract for oral or poster presentation: bacell2026.eu

Deadline for abstract submission: 31 March 2026
Registration deadline: 15 May 2026

Organizer @diegromero.bsky.social

Let's get ready for a full month of training in image analysis in @pasteur.fr , this summer!

Are you interested in learning how to do bioimage analysis? For light microscopy? for cryo-EM? And for cellular cryo-EM?

Stay tuned, Pasteur offers access to THREE courses, this June.

👇🎓

Save the date for the next International Conference on Gram-Positive Bacteria which will take place between 29 June–2 July 2027. The organizers (@annadragos.bsky.social, @polonca32.bsky.social, and Ines Mandic-Mulec) look forward to welcoming you to Ljubljana, Slovenia

Convergent MurJ flippase inhibition by phage lysis proteins - Nature A common mechanism of inhibition of the essential lipid II flippase MurJ by three distinct phage-encoded single-gene lysis proteins provides insights into potential new targets for antimicrobial devel...

Convergent MurJ flippase inhibition by phage lysis proteins www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Checkout our latest preprint which is a real lab-wide effort to map antibiotic stress signatures across the pneumococcal pangenome. All findings have also been incorporated in PneumoBrowse 2.0.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Structural mechanism and inhibitor discovery for DhhP, a Borrelia burgdorferi cyclic di-AMP phosphodiesterase with an Fe/Mn bimetallic center Klima et al. report the crystal structure of DhhP, a cyclic di-AMP phosphodiesterase of Borrelia. The structure reveals atomic details of the heterobimetallic active site and the overall asymmetry of ...

🫳 For c-di-AMP aficionados: Structural mechanism and inhibitor discovery for DhhP, a Borrelia burgdorferi cyclic di-AMP phosphodiesterase with an Fe/Mn bimetallic center!

In

👇

Structure www.cell.com/structure/fu...

@structure

Mechanistic basis of teichoic acid transport by a gatekeeper flippase www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Lipid scrambling: New players, new questions, new opportunities Nearly a quarter of the proteins encoded in most organisms are transmembrane proteins. Contrary to textbook description, many feature a hydrophilic gr…

Amazing PhD @cristianrocharoa.bsky.social
and I have collected our thoughts and questions (many!) on lipid scramblases in this review:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
If you are interested in lipid transport and metabolism, membrane asymmetry and membrane protein function, give it a read!

The Origins of Agar First introduced into laboratories in 1881, agar remains indispensable as a culture medium.

The origins of agar
www.asimov.press/p/agar

We’re excited to announce the next Fluorescent Proteins & Biological Sensors conference! Abstract submissions are now open—hope to see you there.
www.janelia.org/you-janelia/...

Thank you for highlighting our paper on how septal PG hydrolysis licenses a second wave of PG transpeptidation during cell separation! www.nature.com/articles/s41.... I will do a thread when the page set version is out.

Our latest preprint: Together with the team of Jan Löwe, @danieltamarit.bsky.social and many others we discovered and characterized several Asgard tubulin genes and propose that microtubule architecture and dynamics evolved in Asgard archaea prior to eukaryogenesis
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

SAVE THE DATE!
The next instalment of the long-running Bacterial and Archaeal Cell Division Conference will take place at www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels..., Italy from the 20th to 23rd of April 2027.
Organisers: me, @s-lab.bsky.social, @awehenkel.bsky.social.
More info soon.

#MicroSky

ATP-driven membrane binding and polymerization of bacterial actin MreB promotes local membrane fluidization www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02...

An SPFH Protein Couples Membrane Stress to Differentiation in Bacillus subtilis www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02...

The characteristics of autolysins associated with cell separation in Bacillus subtilis
-in #JBacteriology
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

New in JB: Jorgenson reviews recent advances in cell envelope assembly via the lens of the essential lipid carrier undecaprenyl phosphate and with an eye on targets of novel Abx development.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology

Please share!!! I am looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join us. Focus will be on exciting collaborative projects on lipids and membrane biology, pushing the boundaries of in silico "reconstitutions". Previous experience with molecular dynamics simulations of biological systems a strong plus!