New insight published in @molecularmicro.bsky.social by @saraalexander.bsky.social + Mark Goulian about how the phosphotransfer system known as PTS-Ntr mediates methylglyoxal resistance via K+ transporters. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
An Asgard archaeon from a modern analog of ancient microbial mats (Current Biology)
Beautiful microscopy of an Asgard archaeon, in the same family as Lokiarchaea, in syntrophy with a sulfate-reducing bacteria
Very very nice paper we saw in preprint form:
www.cell.com/current-biol...
The diverse molecular mechanisms of cellular motility. (A) The rotary T9SS and conveyor belt of Flavobacterium johnsoniae. (B) The focal adhesin complex of Myxococcus xanthus. (C) The leg-like attachment machinery of Mycoplasma mobile. Additional mechanistic models of motility for Mycoplasma genitalium (21) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (22–26) are described in the text, with additional details available in the cited literature. (D) Multiple Type IV pili strategically arranged at both sides of the septal wall ensure smooth, coordinated gliding in filamentous cyanobacteria. The molecular organization depicted is based on well-characterized Type IV pilus systems of cyanobacteria. (E) The actin and myosin-based glidosome of the apicomplexan Toxoplasma gondii. (F) The proposed raphe and actinomyosin system of the diatom Craspedostauros australis. (OM, outer membrane; IM, inner membrane; PG, peptidoglycan; IMC, inner membrane complex; pPM, parasite plasma membrane; hPM, host plasma membrane).
#MicrobiologyMonday: Gliding motility allows cells to move smoothly along surfaces without flagella. Although this strategy has evolved independently across many microbial lineages, common mechanical principles emerge. Learn more in #JBacteriology: asm.social/2SJ
Biofilm spatial structure and superinfection immunity modulate inter-phage competition
@plosbiology.org by James Winans and Carey Nadell
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
By all means, if you're deciding, take the time you need. But if you're deciding between two places, and there are three others you've ruled out, let those three know as soon as possible, not once you've picked a school
You could make a huge difference to someone else's life
Annual reminder: if you’ve been accepted to multiple graduate programs and are still deciding, please let the ones you’re definitely not going to know as soon as possible!
-Someone who got into his PhD off the waitlist the day after the deadline
(bacterial) cell divisionists take note 👇
the schwille lab did it again! now adding FtsN*) to the party, with FtsA, FtsZ and the Min gang already on board...
*) cytoplasm.domain
thx séamus for pointing this out🙏 #MicroSky
Happy #InternationalWomensDay to the brilliant women in our Hypothesis Fund community who are taking the intellectual risks to pursue bold ideas, supporting one another, and transforming science together. You inspire us every day. 💫 #IWD2026
#OnThisDay in 1938, American evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis was born. Margulis is most known for developing and popularising the endosymbiotic theory, which explains how eukaryotic cells evolved organelles from simpler prokaryotic organisms that resided within another and became incorporated.
At long last! Check out the link to our publication in @nature.com to learn more. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
12/12
A pilot in a submersible vehicle collecting sediments samples in 30 meters of water looking for Asgards (microbial relatives of eukaryotes)
One of the biggest questions in biology is how complex cells evolved about 2 billion years ago. Here's my new story on how scientists are solving the mystery of eukaryotes like us. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qMbo22
Preprint on the permeability of Gram+ bacterial cell wall from a few months ago. Intriguing findings, elegant methodology. Cell wall is largely impermeable to molecule sizes of mNeonGreen (27kDa) and above. How do larger secreted proteins get through? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #microsky
a daring approach: looking at LUCA's ancestors, i.e. pre-darwinian evolution. but not surprising it's coming from @kacarlab.bsky.social 👏
glad to see Iwabe et al. (1989) among the references (blew my mind when it came out >30 y ago)
Seema Mattoo on Bordetella pertussis and whooping cough!
Matters Microbial,
@mattoolab.bsky.social
@markowenmartin.bsky.social
#MicroSky
@poojag96.bsky.social work on the bioenergetics of spore germination is now published- Pooja had a really nice summary that I've put below but essentially we think the role of bioenergetics in spore germination has been completely overlooked!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program is funded by the National Science Foundation to create "points of entry" for students interested in research. Students apply from across the country to spend 10 weeks in Bozeman, Montana this summer (May 26, 2026 - August 1, 2026). Admitted students are paired with a faculty mentor, who serves as an advisor for a student's summer project. Each student receives a stipend ($7000 for 10 wks). Travel compensation, room, and board are also provided. Our program leverages MSU’s unique microbiology expertise, focusing specifically on microbes living with little or no oxygen (like those in the hot springs of nearby Yellowstone). Low oxygen microbes are essential to human and ecosystem health. They influence (or control) such processes as the breakdown of food in the GI tract, removal of toxins from our bodies and the environment, and production of greenhouse gases. They are also models for understanding the origins of life on this planet, and the potential for life on other planets. A key goal of our program is to recruit students from schools with limited research infrastructure. Being in Montana, a state with a vibrant Native American community, we are particularly interested in applications from students at tribal colleges. However, ANYONE with an interest in microbiology - or biology/science in general - can and should apply. If willing and able, please share/tweet/spread the word far and wide. Applications are due February 14, 2026. Full details can be found through our website http://www.montana.edu/mbi/reu/
Friends, please help spread the word about our microbiology REU program at Montana State University.
www.montana.edu/mbi/reu/
Each student receives a stipend ($7000 for 10 wks). Travel compensation, room, and board are also provided.
Details in the attached pic--Feb 14 deadline
🧫🧪🦠#microsky
Metabolite toxicity as a driver of bacterial metabolite externalization www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #jcampubs
Metabolic diversity of microorganisms toward atypical sugar enantiomers www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01...
Registration to GRC Microbial Stress Response is open!
Can't wait!👍
@stallingslab.bsky.social @fredbarras.bsky.social
& @anjbadri.bsky.social @laahrs.bsky.social
Overview of the NIAID data ecosystem interface and example search. (A) The landing page provides access to the Discovery Portal’s basic search interface. (B) Example search results for “Zika virus” data sets filtered by species: “Homo sapiens” and variableMeasured: “Proteomics,” demonstrating how users can refine results using structured metadata filters to support targeted data discovery.
Valuable data sets are often overlooked because they are difficult to locate. The NIAID Data Ecosystem Discovery Portal provides a centralized, searchable interface that empowers users with varying technical expertise to find and reuse data. #mSystems: asm.social/2Lo
Why does life explore so few of the forms it could possibly take? Using fractal descriptors, this #scienceadvances paper shows that Earth’s biosphere clusters around simple shapes, reflecting deep evolutionary constraints. @artemyte.bsky.social @manlius.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
Pete Greenberg's view in #JBacteriol:
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, my model for research on quorum sensing, biofilms, and opportunistic infections
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Some of the longest-lived organisms on Earth aren’t whales, trees or corals, but microbes buried deep in the earth. This eye-opening essay examines the slowest lives on Earth, asking what such lives mean for how we define life itself @karenlloyd.bsky.social
“A process which led from the amoeba to man appeared to the philosophers to be obviously a progress - though whether the amoeba would agree with this opinion is not known"
- Bertrand Russell, 1976.
Time-lapse video of Vampyrella lateritia eating Spirogyra algae from Science Source/Oliver Skibbe. 🦠
Can’t wait!! My bacterial cell bio friends, you’re gonna want to go to this GRC and GRS.
Absolutely stoked to have this published in @plosbiology.org
We looked at the metabolism of #Klebsiella pneumoniae 🦠🧫. We not only demonstrated lineage-specific #metabolism, but that lineages can cross-feed and support each other.
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
#MicroSky #microbiology 🧬 🧪 💊
The diderm cell envelope is not a stack of layers but a unified scaffold of Inner Membrane–Peptidoglycan–Outer Membrane.
We discuss how tethering the OM to the PG in E. coli preserves integrity — and extend the concept across diderm bacteria.
Curr Opin Microbiol: doi.org/10.1016/j.mi...
#microsky 🔬
I am recruiting graduate students for Fall 2026! The Microbial Ecosystems Lab @hot-mes-asu.bsky.social at ASU studies microbial interactions, spatial ecology, and imaging-driven microbiome science. If you love microbes, microfluidics, or single-cell analysis, let’s talk! www.microbialeco.systems
Essential reading if you care about the health of scientific inquiry in the US
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Each such discovery is a game changer for our understanding of eukaryote evolution, and this paper is no exception. Meet Solarion, which displays yet again novel types of subcellular structures. Congrats to all authors on a fascinating story. #protistsonsky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
