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/...

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.

Now available as a Version of Record.
Thanks a lot again to everyone involved in this project!
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Happy to share part of my postdoctoral work at the @lucas.farnunglab.com lab. Great collaboration with @voslab.org and @andersshansen.bsky.social. “Structural basis for CTCF-mediated chromatin organization” 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

Ancestral sequence reconstruction reveals CTP-dependent loading of the bacterial centromere-binding protein ParB as an ancient evolutionary feature

Now published:
tinyurl.com/4ddhwbb3

Thanks to the Hochberg and Bange labs for the great collaboration!

Archaeal cells whose DNA has been stained with a blue dye. Zoomed-in images of mutant cells that display chromosome segregation defects.

High-resolution images of DNA-protein complexes obtained with atomic force microscopy. Upon binding, the protein bridges distant sites, forming loops.

📢 Interested in #chromosomes 🧬 & #archaea thriving at the edge of life? PhD project in York,UK on how archaea pass on their genome to daughter cells.Friendly supervisors: me, @steve-quinn-lab.bsky.social & @georgerheath.bsky.social

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
📅 January 7, 2026
Please RP🙏thx!

📢 Postdoc position: Biochemistry & Bacterial cell biology

in our group at Marburg University, Germany, funded by the ERC Advanced Grant "C-SWITCH"

🔗More information at shorturl.at/OlvlL
📅Deadline: Nov 30, 2025

Please repost. #Postdoc

📢 Postdoc position: Cell Biology of Cyanobacteria

in my group, as part of the Excellence Cluster "Microbes for Climate" (M4C) in Marburg, Germany.

More information at shorturl.at/wNnDT (see Project 2)

🔗Apply at shorturl.at/VsEDl
📅Deadline: Nov 16, 2025

Please repost. #Postdoc

Also see recent complementary work from the Priyadarshini lab on this topic: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Peptidoglycan recycling is critical for cell division, cell wall integrity and β-lactam resistance in Caulobacter crescentus Most bacteria possess a peptidoglycan sacculus, which is continuously remodeled during cell growth and division. The peptidoglycan (PG) fragments generated in this process are typically imported into ...

We are happy to share our latest preprint:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A great collaboration with Waldemar Vollmer’s group, along with our fantastic proteomics and metabolomics facilities.

@synmikro.bsky.social

Versatile NTP recognition and domain fusions expand the functional repertoire of the ParB-CTPase fold beyond chromosome segregation Nucleotide triphosphate (NTP)-dependent molecular switches regulate essential cellular processes by cycling between active and inactive states through nucleotide binding and hydrolysis. These mechanis...

new preprint from our group & Antoine Hocher: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A fantastic collaboration with Antoine, with Jovana Kaljevic' initiated the collaboration and drives the project.

Independent research fellowships leading to tenured positions at the John Innes Centre.

Repost = nice. Thank you very much!!!

Molecular basis of ParA ATPase activation by the CTPase ParB during bacterial chromosome segregation - Nature Communications ParABS systems partition chromosomal DNA and low-copy plasmids in bacteria. Here, the authors elucidate the mode of interaction between ParA and ParB and clarify how ParB stimulates the ATPase activity of ParA to drive the segregation process.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#microsky

We investigate the
▪️function and conservation of the bactofilin MTS
▪️cooperativity of membrane binding and polymerization
▪️role of client proteins in bactofilin assembly

Thanks to the Schäfer and Bange labs as well as our HDX and EM facilities for the fruitful collaboration!

Now published as a Version of Record, with various new results compared to the initial preprint:

Membrane binding properties of the cytoskeletal protein bactofilin

Available at:
elifesciences.org/articles/100...

@synmikro.bsky.social @unimarburg.bsky.social @mpimicrobiomarburg.bsky.social

Engineering Spatial Control of Bacterial Organelles Bacteria were once thought to lack organelles, but it is now clear they confine cellular reactions using an array of membrane- and protein-based compartments. A central question, however, is how bacte...

New PrePrint from the Vecchiarelli and Mosalaganti (@shyamalm.bsky.social) labs! 🧵

Collaboration with the Giessen and Pi labs

Congratulations to co-first authors Y Hoang (@hoanghamyy.bsky.social) and Pankaj Jadhav!

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

Happy to share that our story on the bacterial archaellum was published today in @natmicrobiol.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congrats to the authors: @sshamphavi.bsky.social @loumollat.bsky.social @mariejoest.bsky.social Najwa Taib and @sgribaldo.bsky.social

Graphic with a blue background and light green dots. The text 'call for applications' appears in green, and 'Ausschreibung' in white. A white arrow on the right points diagonally upward.

Early-career researchers: want to run your own lab? 🌟Max Planck Research Groups offer 6+ years, up to €2.7M in funding, open-topic freedom, team support & tenure-track opportunities. Intrigued? 😃Apply by Oct 14, 2025! www.mpg.de/max-planck-r...

Directors The Max Planck Society offers Directors a unique platform for groundbreaking research and leadership in diverse scientific fields.

Open Call for Expressions of Interest: become a Max Planck Director & redefine what’s possible in science! We offer scientific independence, long-term stable funding & exceptional infrastructure. Lead your own department & open new frontiers of research. Apply by 31 Oct 2025 → www.mpg.de/directors

We're hiring a DFG-funded PhD student (TVöD E13, 65%) at Max Planck Institute, Marburg to study quorum sensing in Klebsiella & host–pathogen interplay. 3 yrs, start flexible. Apply by Sep 30, 2025 (rolling). Send 1 PDF to laganenka@mpi-marburg.mpg.de

Talk slots full but we can take late breaking poster abstracts until August 7th. Hope to see you in York to hear about your chromosome story 🧬🦠🧫

www.eventsforce.net/biochemsoc/f...

@vslioy.bsky.social @damelab.bsky.social @graingerlab.bsky.social @biochemsoc.bsky.social @biophychrom.bsky.social

Evolutionary repurposing of a DNA segregation machinery into a cytoskeletal system controlling cyanobacterial cell shape Bacteria, despite their diversity, use conserved cytoskeletal systems for their intracellular organization. In unicellular bacteria, the ParMRC DNA partitioning apparatus is well known for forming act...

One of the most exciting discoveries from our lab so far is now online as a preprint!

Read a story on how the ParMR and Min systems started to collaborate to create the CorMR cytoskeleton, which now controls cell shape in multicellular cyanobacteria:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🚀Women in STEM: Are you a late-stage PhD student or postdoc in the life sciences?
The September Science Academy in Marburg offers talks, lab tours, workshops – and the chance to present your own research! Apply now 👉 www.mpi-marburg.mpg.de/1489492/Sept...
#LifeSciences #AcademicCareers

Congratulations to Rebecca Hinrichs on her first senior-author paper! @synmikro.bsky.social @unimarburg.bsky.social

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

How does your favorite species elongate? 🧵 "Phenotypic plasticity in bacterial elongation among closely related species". Happy to see this paper in print @natcomms.nature.com. Nice work by @mariedelaby.bsky.social, Liu Yang et al. See original 🧵, different colours, same data and conclusions.

Bactofilins are essential spatial organizers of peptidoglycan insertion in the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi The Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi has a distinctive pattern of growth. Newly-born cells elongate by primarily inserting peptidoglycan at mid-cell, while in longer cells, additional inse...

A new study from the Takacs lab, showing that bactofilins are essential for viability and critical for cell shape in the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi:

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

*** Only a few days left to apply ***

Postdoc position at the University of Marburg (Germany), funded within our ERC Advanced Grant "C-SWITCH"

Spatiotemporal regulation of cellular processes by CTP-switches in bacteria

Apply by 04 May: stellenangebote.uni-marburg.de/jobposting/2...

Learning the dynamic organization of a replicating bacterial chromosome from time-course Hi-C data www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04....

#Postdoc position - at the University of Marburg (Germany), funded within our ERC Advanced Grant "C-SWITCH"

Focus: CTP-dependent molecular switches as a new principle of cellular regulation in bacteria (including bacteriophages)

Apply by 04 May: stellenangebote.uni-marburg.de/jobposting/2...

New postdoc position available at IBVF!