Our paper (and my first first-author) is out! The alarmone pGpp inhibits translation through GTP depletion academic.oup.com/nar/article/... 🦠🚨🤠 @narjournal.bsky.social

Are restriction/modification modules only used for host defense? @selmamhm.bsky.social shows an alternative use. "Restriction-modification systems are required for Neisseria gonorrhoeae pilin antigenic variation" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2602688123 #Microd #Microsky. #Microbiology

Last (?) preprint as a postdoc in the Merrikh lab! Awesome collaborative effort with graduate student Oyku! I hope people give it a read!

bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Polynucleotide Phosphorylase Stops Replication Restart by Degrading the RNA within R-loops during Replication-Transcription Conflicts https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.02.729377v1

Mfd interacts with RNA polymerase to modulate flagellum-dependent motility, chemotaxis, and population heterogeneity in the stationary phase of Bacillus subtilis in J Bacteriol journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Mfd interacts with RNA polymerase to modulate flagellum-dependent motility, chemotaxis, and population heterogeneity in the stationary phase of Bacillus subtilis | Journal of Bacteriology

The mutation frequency decline (Mfd) enzyme mediates transcription-coupled repair in transcribed genes by directly interacting with RNA polymerase (RNAP) during transcription of coding sequences. Howe...

journals.asm.org

Our paper unpacking "fitness" is out doi.org/10.1093/gene.... How to define fitness depends on what question you ask. Selection acts on organismal vital rates, longer-term outcomes make sense for genetic lineages, models link them. "Invasion fitness" = speed, but sometimes probability matters more.

Why there are so many definitions of fitness in models

Abstract. Evolutionary “fitness” is operationalized in many different ways in models. Its role is to quantify that which is favored by natural selection. G

doi.org

Joanna Masel@joannamasel.bsky.social · 2y ago

Our latest preprint doi.org/10.32942/X2V... explains why fitness can be defined in so many ways, and which version(s) you should use when. Fitness quantifies what natural selection favors. 1/

When is an antiphage mechanism an evolved defence adaptation? This question has been on my mind for so long, because despite the field’s rapid progress there is currently no widely agreed framework in place to answer it. So @brownlab.bsky.social and I wrote this, and I'm happy to share the preprint!

I am happy to share that my first-author preprint is now on bioRxiv! My project delves into how S. epidermidis anti-mobile genetic element defense systems evolve to enable novel genetic acquisition. Huge thanks to the lab @molabuw.bsky.social, @angeljhv.bsky.social and @goldmandoran.bsky.social!

The 3rd Hablemos de Ciencia Symposium was a success! I started this event to create a venue for researchers to communicate science in Spanish and fight monolingualism in science. This year, we had the amazing Dr. Filipa Godoy Vitorino from University of Puerto Rico as our keynote speaker!

Join us this Wednesday at MDTP Student Seminar to hear from Angel Hernandez Viera from the Mo Lab!

I am pleased to share my lab’s latest publication - Acinetobacter species lack canonical DNA repair pathway activation mechanisms, and we discovered a conserved transcriptional activator that fills this role: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

A WYL transcriptional regulator activates the DNA damage response pathway in Acinetobacter species

Abstract. The ability to sense DNA damage and activate DNA damage response pathways is critical for repairing DNA damage in all domains of life. The most w

academic.oup.com

Just published! at @narjournal.bsky.social . A new example of how gene order in bacterial genomes impacts cell physiology. Inthis episode we messed up with RNA polymerase genes! academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Evolutionary constraints on RNA polymerase gene positioning in the genome of fast-growing bacteria

Abstract. How gene order along chromosomes affects cellular homeostasis and genome evolution remains poorly understood. Bacterial chromosomes are organized

academic.oup.com

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller? Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase. 1/n

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand

The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

science.org

Does this create an Achilles’ heel, and can you drug it? Turns out: yes. Congrats to Barbara, Vanisha, Liz, and the rest of the team. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Transcription co-inhibition alters drug resistance evolution and enhances Mycobacterium tuberculosis clearance from granulomas - Nature Microbiology

Targeting two distinct steps of the transcription process yields synergistic antibiotics that kill non-replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis and reduce drug resistance.

nature.com

Recombinational repair is the major pathway required to reload the bacterial replicative helicase following introduction of single-strand DNA breaks. A great way to end the year! Big thank you to co-authors from the @heathmurraylab.bsky.social

@heathmurraylab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

A cool genetic system to study site-pecific replication fork collapse and repair from the brilliant @winterhalterlab.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

As many of you are aware, we are publishing a series of articles highlighting geographical diversity (or the lack thereof). The next commentary in this series by Filipa Godoy-Vitorino looks at the microbiome research landscape in the Caribbean and ways to improve it: www.cell.com/trends/micro...

Solutions to expand microbiome sciences in the Caribbean Region: an insider’s perspective

The Caribbean harbors diverse genetic resources, yet microbiome research in the region remains poorly characterized. Addressing infrastructure and training challenges through collaborations and capacity building is vital. This article reflects on the obstacles facing microbiome research in the region and proposes solutions to ensure equitable participation in the global microbial research ecosystem.

cell.com

How does linguistic bias reinforce privilege in science? #AppEnvMicro Editor in Chief @microgem.bsky.social offers insights and discusses how reviewers can identify it to support a more equitable review process. Read the article: asm.social/2Hp #COPE #PublicationIntegrity

In honor of #HispanicHeritageMonth, ASM celebrates and spotlights the vital contributions of Hispanic and Latine microbiologists, whose work continues to shape and advance the field of microbiology every day! Explore our focus page: asm.social/2AU

Delighted to be part of this collaboration with the Raman Lab at @uwmadison.bsky.social: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Systematic, high-throughput characterization of bacteriophage gene essentiality on diverse hosts

Understanding core and conditional gene essentiality is crucial for decoding genotype-phenotype relationships in organisms. We present phage high-thro…

sciencedirect.com

I need to draw more trees

What if fighting bacteria with viruses could make them sensitive to antibiotics again? A new eLife Digest explains research showing how #MRSA trades one kind of resistance for another. 🔗

Trading resistance

When the bacteria MRSA evolve to resist viral attacks, they regain their sensitivity to antibiotics.

buff.ly

Recognizing the importance of language accessibility in science and scientific communication, I have translated this work into Spanish. You can find the Spanish translation in Supplementary file 3!

Angel J Hernández Viera@angeljhv.bsky.social · last yr.

I'm excited to announced that the version of record of this article is out in @elife.bsky.social. With the other first coauthor My Tran, we found that phage resistance cause reduced beta-lactam resistance and reduced virulence phenotypes in diverse MRSA strains. elifesciences.org/articles/102...

I'm excited to announced that the version of record of this article is out in @elife.bsky.social. With the other first coauthor My Tran, we found that phage resistance cause reduced beta-lactam resistance and reduced virulence phenotypes in diverse MRSA strains. elifesciences.org/articles/102...

Bacteriophage infection drives loss of β-lactam resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

In methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, evolution of bacteriophage resistance causes trade-offs that re-sensitize the bacteriato β-lactam antibiotics.

elifesciences.org

***Please share widely*** @santiaaurora.bsky.social and I are guest curating Pablo Delano's new exhibit, "cuestiones caribeñas/caribbean matters: assemblage and sculpture by pablo delano" at the Chazen Museum at @uwmadison.bsky.social. chazen.wisc.edu/pablo-delano...

Pablo Delano Centers Complex Caribbean Histories in New Exhibition at Chazen Museum of Art - Chazen Museum of Art

‘cuestiones caribeñas/caribbean matters’ confronts colonialism and highlights shared experiences across the archipelago MADISON, Wis. — Grapple with the Caribbean’s complex contradictions and engage i...

chazen.wisc.edu

The 2nd Hablemos de Ciencia Symposium was a success! This event was started last year to create a venue for UW-Madison researchers to communicate science in Spanish. Science is done for and by speakers of different languages. The language(s) that we use to communicate science should reflect that!