It was fun digging into the bioinformatics on the four Sri hibernation factors! They bind the ribosome in pairs and similarly co-occur with their binding partner across the archaeal phylogeny. Across Sri, Dri, and Hib, it appears that CBS domain-containing factors mediate hibernation in most archaea

Prevalence of Group II Introns in Phage Genomes Although bacteriophage genomes are under strong selective pressure for high coding density, they are still frequently invaded by mobile genetic elements (MGEs). Group II introns are MGEs that reduce h...

(1/7) Very excited to share my first PhD preprint on the interactions of two of my favorite mobile genetic elements: phages and group II introns!

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

Tick-borne flavivirus exoribonuclease-resistant RNAs contain a double loop structure - Nature Communications Many flaviviruses generate specialized non-coding RNAs that resist degradation by host exonucleases, promoting viral infection. Here, the authors characterize an RNA element in Powassan virus, highlig...

Final grad paper is officially out! Grateful for the incredible team and all the support along the way!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Alker lab at the University of Rhode Island is hiring (students, postdocs and lab staff)! We use cutting edge tools in microbiology to investigate marine animal symbioses. Email or DM for further inquiries

🚨 The Alker Lab is starting at the University of Rhode Island in early 2025 and we will be hiring! 🚨

If you are interested in marine microbiology, bacterial genetics and/or symbiosis, please consider reaching out! Repost to help spread the word 🪸🧪🧬🌊

✨ The latest from C-GEM on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social

Structure of an Archaeal Ribosome with a Divergent Active Site
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Congrats to Amos, @kshulgina.bsky.social, Roan, @jhdcate.bsky.social and collaborators on a great story!
#NSFfunded #ribosome

Excited to share that my preprint about cellular differences in the hypothalamic preoptic region across behaviorally divergent deer mice is now reviewed on eLife! elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

Structure of an Archaeal Ribosome with a Divergent Active Site The ribosome is the universal translator of the genetic code and is shared across all life. Despite divergence in ribosome structure over the course of evolution, the peptidyl transferase center (PTC)...

One of the most ancient sequences in biology, the peptidyl transferase center of the ribosome, is not as conserved as we might have thought. #RNA #Ribosomes
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...