Antivitamins mimicking vitamin B12 can trick bacterial riboswitches into turning down gene expression. This means antivitamins not only inhibit B12-dependent processes but also affect their regulation. 2/2

Repression of bacterial gene expression by antivitamin B12 binding to a cobalamin riboswitch The E. coli btuB riboswitch is a cobalamin-sensing RNA element that selectively binds coenzyme B12 (adenosylcobalamin, AdoCbl) to downregulate the expression of the outer membrane B12-transporter BtuB...

Check out our new paper led by Taga lab alum Florian Widner with collaborators Bernhard Kraeutler and @vitaminb12lab.bsky.social and their research teams: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a... 1/2 #VitaminB12 #MicroSky

Want to learn more about dissecting microbial community interactions across scales using the corrinoid model? Check out this @annualreviews.bsky.social of Microbiology article from our lab. Congrats to co-first authors Zoila and Becky! #microsky www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Junior, Assistant, or Associate Specialist – Xue Lab University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!

The Xue lab at UC Irvine is looking for a staff scientist to support our work investigating how microbes interact and evolve in the gut microbiome! Open to a wide range of previous experience levels, see ad for more.
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601

Our recent work on Actinobacterial G protein system is live on bioRxiv! These regulatory systems are conserved in Actinomycetota and are involved in secondary metabolism, phage defense, and cellular development. Check out the preprint here 👇:

PhD student Ashley Eng @ashyeneng.bsky.social responded to a letter about a local neighbor's life being uprooted and the value of their MA public education (4/4). brookline.news/re-the-world...

Fund science and education to invest in future Federal funding cuts to science and education are a direct threat to New Mexico’s future.

PhD student Dennis Suazo wrote about their New Mexican roots and the importance of funding public education and research in the community (3/4). www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/my_v...

PhD student Cami Scantlin @camiscant.bsky.social wrote about tiny microbial chemists and how growing up in California shaped their science opportunities today (2/4). www.eastcountymagazine.org/reader%E2%80...

As part of the #McClintockLetters Initiative, members of the Taga Lab wrote op-ed's and letters to their local hometown papers to defend federal science funding. Check them out in this thread and join the fight to defend federal science funding (1/4)!

Lab alum Amanda Shelton will present their postdoc work in the Bhaya-Grossman labs @carnegiescience.bsky.social. Their poster, "Viral Interactions in Hot Spring Microbial Mats Revealed by Long Read and Proximity Metagenomics" (EEB-SUNDAY-1138) is on Sunday, June 22 at session EEB-P-404.

RaMP scholar Farrah Sherdil will present their poster "Cross-Domain Nutrient Sharing: Co-Cultures of Archaeal Corrinoid Producers and Bacterial Corrinoid Dependents." (EEB-Saturday-1107) on Saturday, June 21 at session EEB-P-301.

PhD student Eleanor Wang @eleanorwang.bsky.social will present their poster "Comparative Genomics and Experimental Validation of B12 Biosynthesis Across the Archaeal Domain" (EEB-SATURDAY-1167) on Saturday, June 21 at session EEB-P-305.

Taga lab (past and present) will be at #ASMMicrobe2025! Swing by our posters to learn more about corrinoid producers in Archaea and more! Poster details are included in this thread. @asm.org #ASMMicrobe #MicroSky #ASMMicrobe25 #Microbe2025

What a great time with Pete Greenberg, @tagalab.bsky.social, @cwhitch.bsky.social, @laahrs.bsky.social, and Jeff Boyd in Dresden

+ learning about the history of quorum sensing research, the 2Ms, Matt and Marvin, BB medium, and many more stories

Farrah in next to their presentation title slide stating “Cross-domain nutrient sharing between archaea and bacteria”

Congratulations to our RaMP scholar, Farrah, for a great talk at the Bay Area RaMP in Microbiome Sciences! We are so proud of you!

Here, we tested a number of model bacteria and compared the results to previous studies. We found that cobamide preferences and requirements vary broadly across bacteria, as well as in cobamide-dependent pathways within the same organism. 4/4

They are not only required by humans, but also by nearly all bacteria. However, only a subset of bacteria can synthesize them, making them important shared nutrients. 3/4

What are cobamides and why are they important? Cobamides, with nearly twenty different forms found naturally, are the vitamin B12 family of molecules. 2/4

Microbes display broad diversity in cobamide preferences | mSystems Nearly all bacteria are found in microbial communities with tens to thousands of other species. Molecular interactions such as metabolic cooperation and competition are key factors underlying communit...

Check out our new paper led by lab member Kenny Mok! We highlight that understanding individual cobamide preferences of bacteria is necessary to understand the critical function of these vitamins in microbial communities. 1/4 journals.asm.org/doi/full/10....

Microbes display broad diversity in cobamide preferences | mSystems Nearly all bacteria are found in microbial communities with tens to thousands of other species. Molecular interactions such as metabolic cooperation and competition are key factors underlying communit...

Microbes display broad diversity in cobamide preferences

#mSystems Observation from @tagalab.bsky.social

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Two lab members holding signs. One sign says “Defund science defund musk” and the other sign says “Fund science not billionares”

Two lab members holding signs which say “This is not about waste it’s about control” and the other sign says “Stand up for science”

Lab member holding sign which says “Fund science save our F2s”

Lab member holding sign which says “DEI makes science great again. Science makes America great”

Last week we joined the Berkeley community to #standupforscience2025. Lots of energy and momentum to push us forwards! Thanks to the organizers who got this to happen 🧬 @standupforscience.bsky.social