New #mLife article!
How do desert cyanobacteria survive extreme desiccation? This study shows that osmotic signaling controls “sunscreen” biosynthesis (MAAs), enabling protection against dehydration stress and environmental extremes.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
Cutting-edge microbial techniques you should know— #mLife Collection I!
🔥From AI-driven protein design to single-cell analysis, genome editing, and environmental monitoring, these mLife papers are redefining how we study and engineer microbes.
11 highlights below ⬇️
Figure 1. The CRISPR‐Cas adaptive immune system and its sabotage by Anti‐CRISPR (Acr) proteins. This schematic illustrates the three stages of CRISPR‐Cas adaptive immunity, including adaptation, expression and processing, and interference, and the diverse inhibition mechanisms used by bacteriophage‐encoded Acr proteins to neutralize each stage.
Bacteriophages are evolving clever ways to outsmart CRISPR-Cas immunity! A latest review in #mLife highlights recent discoveries of noncanonical anti-CRISPR (Acr) mechanisms that go beyond simple steric blockade.
Read more: doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
Microbial Ecology in focus — #mLife Collection I
From single-cell heterogeneity to global biogeography, and from uncultured microbes to ecosystem functioning, these studies reveal how microbial communities are structured, function, and evolve.
⬇️10 papers in the Collection I
🧪 Microbial Engineering in focus — #mLife highlights!
From AI-driven protein design to synthetic biology, enzyme engineering, and microbiome-based therapeutics, these studies provide novel insights on how we can design, optimize, and harness microbes for biotechnology.
🧵11 key papers below ⬇️
🦠 Microbiome in focus — Selected #mLife highlights!
From human health and disease to evolution, metabolism, and new technologies, these studies showcase how microbiomes shape biology across scales.
🧵Explore 7 key papers below ⬇️
New method for 🍄fungal systems by in #mLife!
fCUT&Tag-Seq enables high-resolution chromatin profiling in fungi with low input and high sensitivity, opening new possibilities to study histone modifications and gene regulation in diverse fungal systems.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
🔥 Archaea are rewriting microbiology.
From the origin of eukaryotes to life in extreme environments—these #mLife publications reveal how archaea shape evolution, ecology, and biotechnology.
🧵Explore 10 key papers below ⬇️
A genome-wide screen in #mLife reveals that ATP levels universally govern ciprofloxacin tolerance across genetically distinct E. coli persisters. Low ATP states reduce antibiotic lethality, uncovering a conserved metabolic basis for persistence.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
New in #mLife!
Berberrubine is a potent inhibitor against Helicobacter pylori. It suppresses bacterial growth by inducing oxidative stress and disrupting membrane integrity, revealing a promising lead for new anti-H. pylori therapies.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
Multi-level adaptation to a hydrostatic pressure gradient by Orenia metallireducens strain Z6. (A) Changes in Fe(II) concentrations over time under different pressures. As no significant increase in product concentrations was observed in the abiotic controls under the corresponding conditions, and thus, they were not illustrated. (B) Pseudo-zero-order Fe(III) reduction rates (pink diamonds, left axis) and biomass-normalized Fe(III) reduction rates (blue diamonds, right axis) under different pressures. (C) Membrane adaptation. Relative abundance of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) at different pressures. (D) Schematic diagram of metabolic pathways. In the heatmaps, the five cells (from left to right) correspond to the cultures at 0.1, 10, 20, 30, and 40 MPa, respectively. The dashed arrow indicates a feasible but potentially insignificant pathway. (E) Conditional transcriptomic strategies under different pressures. The size of bubbles indicates the number of genes that are pressure-dependent and upregulated only under specific pressure(s). HHP, high hydrostatic pressure; PTS, phosphotransferase system.
New in #mLife! How do deep-subsurface microbes cope with extreme pressure?
In the iron-reducing bacterium Orenia metallireducens, pressure-dependent physiological and metabolic adaptations sustain iron reduction across a wide hydrostatic pressure range.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
New in #mLife! Did microbial sulfur metabolism begin in hot environments on early Earth?
This study reconstructs the evolutionary history of DsrAB, the key enzyme for dissimilatory sulfite reduction, suggesting a thermophilic origin in the Paleoarchean.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
Cover Story of #mLife Volume 5 Issue 1!
Filamentous fungi coordinate cell division during spore formation. The work reveals distinct actomyosin–septin coordination mechanisms in Verticillium dahliae. New insights into fungal growth and pathogen spread!
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
📢 New issue out now — #mLife Volume 5, Issue 1 (Feb 2026)!
This issue features new insights into microbial immunity, host–pathogen interactions, fungal development, genome editing, and early Earth metabolism.
Highlights from the latest research below ⬇️
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
📢 Most-read #mLife @WileyLifeSci papers of 2024–2025!
From food safety & microbiomes to environmental ecology, pathogen genomics, enzyme engineering, and synthetic biology—these highly viewed papers highlight exciting advances across microbiology.
🧵Top 15 highlights below ⬇️
New #mLife study reveals how site-specific mutations in the multidrug efflux transporter CmeB enhance antibiotic resistance in the zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter. Structural and functional analyses show how subtle protein changes boost drug export efficiency.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
Prokaryotes face constant viral attacks. A new #mLife review maps the diversity of prokaryotic defense systems and explains how evolutionary arms races with phages drive innovation in microbial immunity. #CRISPR #Phage #Immunity #Evolution
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2... @wileylifesci.bsky.social
A #mLife review summarizes how the intracellular pathogen Coxiella burnetii uses its Dot/Icm type IVB secretion system to deliver effector proteins that manipulate host cell pathways, enabling formation of a replicative vacuole and chronic infection.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
A #mLife review explores RNA editing in fungi, focusing on how A-to-I RNA editing mediates an altruistic antiviral defense — sacrificing individual fitness to protect the population—while balancing trade-offs between growth, reproduction, and viral resistance.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
Dual glycosylation of wall teichoic acid (WTA) in serovar 4b Listeria monocytogenes reshapes the O-antigen pattern and significantly affects virulence. A #mLife work highlights how cell-wall sugar modifications tune bacterial pathogenicity.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
🐎 Happy Chinese New Year!
Today, on the 6th day of Chinese New Year in the Year of the Horse (2026), we extend our heartfelt thanks to #mLife editors, authors, reviewers & readers worldwide.
May this year bring health, success & bold breakthroughs—full speed ahead!
New in #mLife!
Scientists engineered CASANOVA‑A5, a blue‑light controllable anti‑CRISPR tool based on AcrIIA5, to switch CRISPR‑Cas9 editing on/off in a light‑dependent manner — and it works across multiple Cas9 orthologs!
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
New in #mLife
Using wastewater RNA and machine learning, this work developed a predictive model that showed significant underreporting of COVID-19 cases in a university community after testing mandates were lifted — highlighting the power of wastewater-based epidemiology.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
New #mLife study reveals how salinization alters the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationship: low salinity has little effect, but high salinity weakens BEF relationships, with sharp drops in yield at low richness under hypersaline stress.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
New in #mLife! Xanthomonas campestris produces the plant hormone IAA. IAA modulates branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) synthesis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, thereby shaping pathogen viability and virulence in cabbage. 🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
Explore the Cover Story in #mLife Vol. 4, Issue 6!
The conserved protein ZapA uses a two-pronged mechanism to organize FtsZ filaments into the bacterial Z ring, offering novel mechanistic insights with structural and genetic support of bacterial cell division.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
New in #mLife! RebA is an essential for the RNase E regulator in Anabaena PCC 7120. Without RebA, nitrogen fixation fails despite heterocyst formation, revealing a critical post‑transcriptional control over RNA metabolism and nitrogen use. @wileylifesci.bsky.social
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
Insightful Review in #mLife!
Emerging single-cell sequencing and imaging technologies now allow for the profiling of microbial heterogeneity with unprecedented resolution—capturing phenotypic and spatial diversity within microbial communities.
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
Come to follow the official BlueSky of the journal #mLife!
🚀 Journal #mLife is now on BlueSky!
We're an open-access journal publishing cutting-edge microbiology—from molecular biology to microbial ecology, from pathogenesis to public health.
🔬 Follow us for the latest research & insights!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2770...
