A bacterial CARD–NLR-like immune system controls the release of gene transfer agents Nature Microbiology, Published online: 16 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02316-4An immunity-like system functions as a lysis control hub to promote gene transfer agent particle release from host bacterial cells, suggesting that bacterial immune systems may be co-opted to promote horizontal gene transfer.

Out Now! A bacterial CARD–NLR-like immune system controls the release of gene transfer agents #MicroSky

Competence-mediated DNA uptake diversifies Vibrio cholerae sedentary chromosomal integrons Bacteria often survive viral attack and environmental stress by sharing genes that enhance their defenses. The cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae carries a sedentary chromosomal integron (SCI), a genetic element containing hundreds of mostly promoterless ...

Really cool work from @mblokesch.bsky.social et al Competence-mediated DNA uptake diversifies Vibrio cholerae sedentary chromosomal integrons www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Postdoctoral Position - BMB APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, a...

Check out this squid-vibrio postdoc position at Penn State with my colleague Tim Miyashiro, especially if you have a background in proteomics/metabolomics.

psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...

This thread is about NIH taking away incentives to serve. In-person networking was a huge (and primary) incentive IMO. The irony is that JB wants to undo all COVID impacts, remote work, etc. Meeting in person again would actually be a positive change.

Expanding the LuxR-type receptor functional repertoire: Protein-protein interactions in quorum sensing regulation Quorum sensing (QS) enables bacteria to coordinate gene expression in response to population density, with LuxR-type transcription factors playing a central role in this process for many Gram-negative...

A true labor of love for @calebmallery.bsky.social is out now in PLOS Pathogens: a review article where we highlight current and emerging examples of key protein-protein interactions with LuxR-type receptors that control community behaviors and pathogenesis.
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

And a big shout out to Kieran Bowran whose bioinformatics analysis suggests there are multiple toxins out there

NIH Funding Curves (FY 2021 - 2026) – Grant Witness

Exciting News!

Grant-witness.us now has dynamic funding curves like mine for NIH available.

grant-witness.us/funding_curv...

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Research Fellow (Postdoctoral) at University of Birmingham Explore an exciting academic career as a Research Fellow (Postdoctoral). Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.

Two post-doctoral positions open in our lab. We're looking for people with expertise in molecular microbiology and/or genome-scale tools. Initially 3 yrs, posts could be extended for upto 8 yrs. If you'd like to know more about us take a look at www.graingerlab.com

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQY475/r...

New preprint alert!!! 🚀🤓 We are very happy to finally share this with the world — the result of seven years of work and a new tool to study integrons and discover new functions encoded in these bacterial platforms.

If you want to know more, here is a thread 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Me standing in front of my poster at the Upstate RNA symposium

Enjoyed presenting my work at the 2026 Upstate RNA symposium and learning much from the other posters and talks. Thanks to the organizers!

PcdA promotes orthogonal division plane selection in Staphylococcus aureus - Nature Microbiology PcdA interacts with DivIVA and FtsZ, promoting Z-ring formation and division plane selection in Staphylococcus aureus, which increases virulence in mice and reduces sensitivity to cell-wall-targeting ...

@felixrl.bsky.social reported that PcdA mediates orthogonal cell division in #Staphylococcus aureus: www.nature.com/articles/s41....

But what’s the point? Well, forming staphylococcal abscess communities to evade host immune responses requires this mode of division:
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

@nitzantal.bsky.social @romihadary.bsky.social @soreklab.bsky.social use structure prediction and in silico binding site analysis to discover viral immune evasion proteins! Exciting for our lab @reneechang.bsky.social @riveralopz.bsky.social to help with this project.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Out now! In collaboration with Leifu Chang, we uncover the molecular and structural underpinnings of CRISPR-Cas12f-like RNA-guided transcription systems!

Links to the published articles:
tinyurl.com/55kpavet
tinyurl.com/sk6djwx3

Previous thread for the preprint:
bsky.app/profile/did:...

New post-doctoral research position in my phage-host interactions (Phi) laboratory in @otagomicroimmuno.bsky.social at @universityofotago.bsky.social New Zealand. The project is focused on defences against jumbo phages. Please share and if interested apply using the link in the comments.

We’re hiring a Microscopy Core Director at the Wadsworth Center!
It's a state position (job stability & PENSION!) in a uniquely academic, research-driven environment 😎
Please share 🙏
statejobs.ny.gov/public/vacan...

Happy 125th birthday to the Wadsworth Center, and New York State Department of Health! Established on this day in 1901, just 17 years after the publication of Koch's postulates

Plasmids weaponize conjugation to eliminate non-permissive recipients www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02...

Bidirectional promoters in Escherichia coli: regulatory rules and implications for gene expression noise Abstract. In prokaryotes, bidirectional promoters are pseudo-symmetrical DNA sequences that stimulate divergent transcription. Ubiquitous, and far more lik

@ewarman.bsky.social has followed up on her discovery of bidirectional promoters in bacteria by defining their basic rules for regulation and links to gene expression noise...

academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Actuation of CRP activating region 3 by acetylation modulates V. cholerae sugar utilization and virulence www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01...

PlasAnn: a curated plasmid-specific database and annotation pipeline for standardized gene and function analysis Abstract. Conjugative plasmids are key drivers of bacterial adaptation, enabling the horizontal transfer of accessory genes within and across diverse micro

Big week: welcomed a new baby boy Harris Lopatkin, AND our PlasAnn paper is finally out: academic.oup.com/nar/article/... (obviously the first more important than the second 🥰). Currently on leave but if anyone has the need to annotate large plasmids, go check it out!

Transcription Factor Promiscuity Drives Regulatory Rewiring and Evolvability in Gene Networks in Bacteria This special issue marking the University of Bath's 60th anniversary offers an opportunity to reflect on nearly a decade of research into the evolution of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from members...

New Perspective out in Advanced Science 🎉 in collaboration with @alanrice.ie for @uniofbath.bsky.social 60th anniversary special issue.
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
We review nearly a decade of work asking:
how do gene regulatory networks rewire during evolution?
🧫🧵

Congrats @regolab.bsky.social! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Phase variable colony morphotypes of Clostridioides difficile elicit distinct host responses during acute infection www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01...

A single DNA methylation site regulates cell fate during Clostridioides difficile sporulation DNA methylation is a widespread phenomenon in bacteria that can regulate gene expression, although the mechanisms underlying this epigenetic regulation are often poorly understood. In Clostridioides d...

A single DNA methylation site regulates cell fate during Clostridioides difficile sporulation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Pili are essential for conjugation also in many Gram-positive bacteria Type IV secretion systems (T4SS) enable the spread of antibiotic resistance and other virulence factors. In Gram-positive bacteria, T4SSs have long been thought to lack VirB2-like proteins that form c...

📣New preprint with @rberntsson.bsky.social👇We overturn the long-standing view that Gram-positive bacteria lack conjugative pili! We identify pili-forming proteins in a wide range of bacteria and show they're essential for the spread of #antibioticresistance #AMR 🧵1/6
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Cyclic Di‐AMP Affects Cell Membrane Integrity of Streptococcus pneumoniae When Streptococcus pneumoniae produces low amounts of the second messenger cyclic di-AMP (c-di-AMP), they do not survive in the presence of competence-stimulating peptide (CSP), which is used for tra...

Tiffany Zarrella et al. provide new insights into the role of the bacterial second messenger cyclic di-adenosine monophosphate (c-di-AMP) in maintaining cell envelope homeostasis in Streptococcus pneumoniae.
#MicroSky #cyclic-di-AMP
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

How medically important antimicrobials bind to the 30S ribosomal subunit in a bacterial pathogen Ribosomes translate the genetic code in mRNA to synthesize proteins in all living organisms. Decoding of mRNA occurs in the small subunit of the ribosome and is mediated by tRNA anticodons. Regions ne...

1/ Our new preprint is out on biorxiv on how antibiotics bind to bacterial 30S subunits, please repost. #ribosome #antibiotics #microsky #rnasky doi.org/10.64898/202...

High-throughput transposon mutagenesis defines the essential genome of diverse phages www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12...

Phage-encoded small RNA hijacks host replication machinery to support the phage lytic cycle Using RIL-seq, Silverman et al. map the RNA interactome of E. coli during phage lambda infection and uncover a conserved phage-encoded sRNA that activates host replication machinery. Their findings re...

Do viruses use RNA to rewire bacteria?
Yes!
In our paper in @cp-molcell.bsky.social RIL-seq reveals interkingdom RNA interactions during λ infection. Phages don’t just encode proteins, they use small RNAs to hijack bacterial replication and fine-tune infection.
#RNA #Phage
doi.org/10.1016/j.mo...

RNA–RNA interactome approaches provide in vivo evidence for a critical role of the Hfq rim face in sRNA–mRNA pairing Abstract. Most bacterial small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) modulate gene expression by forming complementary base pairs with target messenger RNAs (mRNAs), dep

RNA–RNA interactome approaches provide in vivo evidence for a critical role of the Hfq rim face in sRNA–mRNA pairing url: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...