#MIcroSky

We believe that microbiology has the potential to solve the world’s greatest challenges. This #EarthDay, read the latest research demonstrating the current and future role of microbes in improving global economic, social, and environmental sustainability. 🌍🦠

🔗 https://ow.ly/FPhh50YNKmX

#MicroSky

Priority areas:
- Biomedical microbiology and infectious disease #microsky
- Biomedical cellular disease or immunity pathways.
- Environmental biology or Environmental microbiology
- Plant/crop science including phenomics, plant physiology, genetics/breeding or virology.
Deadline: 31 May 2026

A strong global community of #Shigella researchers and clinicians!
#Microsky #IDsky #AMR

#MicroSky: One Health: Tumors hijack the constant crosstalk between ur gut, brain, and immune system. Decoding this neuroimmune: microbiome axis could supercharge immunotherapy and microbiota-based cancer treatments. Wang et al at doi.org/10.1111/1751...

Day 3 of #Shigella2026 underway with #InfectionModels and #MolecularMechanisms of pathogenesis. A nice variety of talks from speakers around the globe! @shigellameeting.bsky.social #Microsky #AMR #IDsky

Wait, what🤯? A provocative review: "Cognition without brains? Learning and memory in microorganisms" in @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social
#microbiology #learning #cognition #MicroSky
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Identification of an R1-type pyocin previously misannotated as a prophage in Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 While Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 is a widely used reference strain with previously characterized prophage regions, our use of one of the latest prophage prediction tools, PHASTEST, helped revea...

#microsky #phagesky

On the challenge of annotating alleged pro #phage in bacterial genomes:

www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

Fantastic news 🎉 @charisthompson.bsky.social is working on ways to wrangle NTMs #MicroSky

FIG 9 Model of murine host immune responses to Bb, tick factors, and tick-transmitted Bb relative to the control. Graphical summary of the study showing the infection conditions—subcutaneous needle inoculation of multi-strain Bb (BbSC), uninfected tick feeding (Tick–Bb), and multi-strain Bb-infected tick feeding (Tick+Bb)—in C3H/HeN mice, with sequential analyses, including flow-cytometric profiling of immune cell populations at the bite/inoculation site and in spleen, and serum proteome profiling to quantify 19 cytokines and 20 chemokines.

Innate immune responses to Borrelia burgdorferi during tick-feeding: mechanistic insights relevant to Lyme disease

cool new report from Kundu, Joyner, and Gomes-Solecki

journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

#MicroSky

This preprint on #Shigella flexneri covers a new genotyping scheme + tool, #AMR and analysis of 13k genomes from ~1925-current day 🦠

#MicroSky #microbiology 🧪

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

FEBS Press Serpentinizing (H2-producing) hydrothermal vents are candidate environments for metabolic origin. They generate highly reducing conditions that convert CO2 to formate and methane in abiotic reactions....

Prebiotic aqueous reactions catalyzed by native nickel without hydrogen
#microbiology #OriginOfLife #geochemistry #MicroSky
@febsj.bsky.social @febspress.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1111/febs...

Validate User

enhanced domestication method for uncultured bacteria academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...

#microsky

great article in @quantamagazine.bsky.social by natalie wolchover on the bacterial flagellum and proton motive force. alas, I missed this great model on what happens to the stators during gear-shifting. see it in STC:
smallthingsconsidered.blog/schaechter/2...
#MicroSky

Bat Immunological Training Education (BITE) outreach at Discovery Place yesterday.

We had 171 visitors at our booths today. We will continue to educate the public about diseases and immune responses.

At Discovery Place every 3rd Saturday of the month. #microsky #bats #Stem

Great job team!

New preprint from the lab!

We developed a new tool to identify prokaryotic species (down to the strain level) directly from mass spectrometry-based bottom up proteomics data.

#teammassspec #microsky

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Excellent keynotes today to get #TheShigellaMeeting started! Philippe Sansonetti presented #history of the pathogen and Karen Kotloff focused on the #GlobalBurden. Looking forward to tomorrow for #epidemiology, #AMR and more!
#Shigella2026 #Microsky #IDsky
@shigellameeting.bsky.social

A boron-based agent to treat multidrug-resistant gonorrhoea Nature Microbiology, Published online: 20 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02330-6Emerging multidrug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains with altered penA alleles threaten the effectiveness of the last outpatient antibiotic, ceftriaxone, for gonorrhoea treatment. We discovered a boron-based penicillin-binding protein inhibitor that addresses penA-mediated ceftriaxone resistance with potent antibacterial activity, suitable pharmacokinetics, and good safety, selectivity and in vivo efficacy, making it a promising candidate for further development.

Out Now! A boron-based agent to treat multidrug-resistant gonorrhoea #MicroSky

Hunting for new lineages and mechanisms of life Nature Microbiology, Published online: 20 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02336-0The US Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute recently held the New Lineages of Life Symposium at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The symposium brought together researchers focused on diverse and varied ecosystems but united by their goal to discover and characterize microbial dark matter.

Out Now! Hunting for new lineages and mechanisms of life #MicroSky

Salmonella-derived haem inhibits macrophage phagocytosis and promotes infection in mice Nature Microbiology, Published online: 20 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02341-3SirM methyltransferase upregulates Salmonella HemL-dependent haem production to enable haem-dependent inhibition of phagocytosis and promote infection in mice.

Out Now! Salmonella-derived haem inhibits macrophage phagocytosis and promotes infection in mice #MicroSky

Phytophthora targets plant extracellular vesicles to promote infection Nature Microbiology, Published online: 20 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02325-3Phytophthora secretes an infection-induced apoplastic lipase, damaging Arabidopsis extracellular vesicles and suppressing plant defence against infection.

Out Now! Phytophthora targets plant extracellular vesicles to promote infection #MicroSky

MoCox6 is a regulator of mitophagy and a druggable target in Magnaporthe oryzae Nature Microbiology, Published online: 20 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02329-zMoCox6 is an inner mitochondrial membrane regulator of mitophagy in Magnaporthe oryzae, and targeting it with a small molecule, Pan-RAS-IN-1, suppresses fungal virulence and reduces rice blast disease.

Out Now! MoCox6 is a regulator of mitophagy and a druggable target in Magnaporthe oryzae #MicroSky

Some good work on monitoring endoscope reprocessing. While we don't expect them to be sterile afterwards, endoscopes shouldn't harbor high-concern organisms such as CRO after reprocessing. #IDSky #MicroSky 🦠

Assistant Professor x6 (111522-0426) - University of Warwick Title: Assistant Professor x6 (111522-0426). Application Deadline: . Position Type: Permanent

My super department @warwicklifesci.bsky.social is hiring 6 assistant profs in the wake of recent retirements. We're looking for people in microbiology/infection, cellular disease / immunity; environmental biology; and plant/crop science. #MicroSky warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...

Identification of hot spring Obelisk-like RNA replicons and expanded diversity of the Obelisk superfamily

#MicroSky

#microsky

Phage homing endonuclease amplifies anti-defense genes to evade bacterial immunity - Nature Communications Phages employ diverse counter-defense strategies to overcome bacterial immune systems. Here, the authors reveal that the phage homing nuclease SegB facilitates immune evasion by promoting the segmenta...

Happy to share our new work on how phages escape bacterial immunity.

We show that a phage homing endonuclease drives segmental amplification of anti-defense genes, pointing to a versatile and rapid mode of adaptation.

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

#PhageSky #MicroSky

#MicroSky: Mystery gut infections with no detectable pathogen are deadly- hard to treat. In severe cases, washed microbiota transplantation showed >60% response and 43% cure rates, hinting that restoring gut ecosystems may succeed where antibiotics fail. Zhang et al at doi.org/10.1111/1751...

📣 Our Industrial Challenge Response #Fund call is now live.

🧫 We are seeking high-quality, collaborative project proposals from organisations with the expertise to investigate and exploit areas where #biofilms play a central role.

⏰ Apply by 5pm on 26 May 2026 ➡️ tinyurl.com/3xxz2htc

#MicroSky

Predicting competition & substrate preferences for targeted #microbiome alteration.

Microbial interaction & niche determination (MIND) infers microbial niches from mRNA translation to predict competition & guide interventions.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #microbiota #MicroSky

cAMP triggers the turbo for swimming speed in 𝘝𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘦 O1 AJ10 via its light-responsive adenylate cyclase, a cyaA variant in some but not all 𝘝𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘦 strains/isolates (of course, also CRP is involved)

#MicroSky 🙏for the shoutout @cyrilpedia.bsky.social