Excited to share that our Metis story is now published in Science! 🎉 Bacteria can sense phage-induced degradation of their genome and activate immunity. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this work. 📄 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... More details in my earlier thread 🧵⬇️

Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides

Phages often degrade the genome of their bacterial host to individual nucleotides. Here we describe Metis, a bacterial defense system that directly senses phage-mediated host genome degradation. Metis...

science.org

Osterman Ilya@ostermanilya.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Bacteria can sense when a virus starts shredding their genome — by detecting methylated mononucleotides. Here’s the story of how we discovered the Metis defense system 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I'm excited to share our recent working using forward genetics to identify virulence determinants in Rickettsia. Check it out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A genetic screen identifies O-antigen as essential for Rickettsia parkeri survival in macrophages by protecting from inflammasomes and interferon-stimulated genes

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is highly immunostimulatory, yet it is evolutionarily conserved among many obligate intracellular bacteria for unknown reasons. We report a forward genetic screen to identify ...

biorxiv.org

Now published in Cell Reports! @cellpress.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell-reports... My postdoc Dr. Maria de la Paz Gutierrez led this work showing that cholera toxin drives epithelial L-lactate production in the small intestine, creating a nutrient that Vibrio cholerae exploits during disease

Cholera-toxin-induced disease generates epithelial-cell-derived L-lactate that promotes Vibrio cholerae growth in the small intestine

Gutierrez et al. show that cholera toxin induces epithelial LDHA-dependent L-lactate production in the small intestine, creating a nutrient niche that Vibrio cholerae exploits through LldD-mediated L-...

cell.com

Fabian Rivera-Chávez@fabianrchavez.bsky.social · 12mo ago

1/ Excited to share the first preprint from my lab! 🎉 My postdoc Paz asked how cholera toxin (CT) helps Vibrio cholerae thrive in the gut. Turns out, CT rewires epithelial metabolism toward L-lactate production—fueling pathogen growth in the small intestine during disease

Congratulations, Robert, Yimo, and CC! Our paper has been selected as a VIP Paper by Angewandte Chemie—a wonderful recognition. @angewandtechemie.bsky.social @ribbehulab.bsky.social b.bsky.social @ucibiosci.bsky.social doi.org/10.1002/anie...

Check out our new review with @mfarjo.bsky.social on what we know about the functional and evolutionary consequences of virus-virus interactions within viral populations, out now in @annualreviews.bsky.social: www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... Hope you like it!

Heterogeneity and Collective Interactions Within Viral Populations

The existence of viruses as obligate intracellular parasites with high mutation rates sets them apart from other forms of life in fundamental ways. Frequent errors in replication and assembly processe...

annualreviews.org

My very first grad student @naveenasadasivam.bsky.social defended her dissertation today. She is that girl. Set the bar so high for a PhD from the #Nicholaslab I am beyond proud of her and the work she has done. Congratulations Dr. Ujagar !!

(1/6) Thrilled to share this story! In our preprint from my PhD in the @kranzuschlab.bsky.social, with help from the Hatfull lab and @soreklab.bsky.social, we discover RyDEP, a phage-encoded RyR-domain glycosidase that allows phages to evade Thoeris defense. Highlights below! doi.org/10.64898/202...

Amazing piece from @science.org and @richardastone.bsky.social on our field and the growing connection between human and bacterial immunity! #microsky #virosky #immunosky www.science.org/content/arti...

Ancient wars between microbes gave us key immune defenses

A better understanding of battles between bacteria and viruses could inspire new medicines

science.org

Highly deserved. Congrats Cornelius!

Dr. Cornelius Taabazuing@taabaman.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Feeling incredibly grateful to join this amazing cohort of scientists! Thanks to all my mentors that have helped get me this far. www.bwfund.org/news/bwf-ann...

Feeling incredibly grateful to join this amazing cohort of scientists! Thanks to all my mentors that have helped get me this far. www.bwfund.org/news/bwf-ann...

BWF Announces the 2026 Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease - Burroughs Wellcome Fund

DURHAM, N.C. – The Burroughs Wellcome Fund is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease (PATH) awards, recognizing assistant professor-leve...

bwfund.org

Incredibly proud of undergrad Anny Wang! Just announced as a Goldwater Scholar here at UC Irvine and showing no signs of slowing down. Ph.D. programs better be applying to get her to join them this fall. www.bio.uci.edu/two-dunlop-s...

Two Dunlop School Students Named 2026 Goldwater Scholars - Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences

Steve Salinas, left, and Anny Wang, right, undergraduate students in the Dunlop School, were named 2026 Goldwater Scholars in recognition of their outstanding promise as future research leaders. Two u...

bio.uci.edu

Excited to announce that we are moving the lab to Minneapolis to join the University of Minnesota Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Institute on Infectious Diseases this summer!! We will be hiring so please reach out if interested in viral evolution, viral immunology, etc.!!

Happy to share our latest pre-print on the Druantia defense system. We find that Type III Druantia uses a cooperative helicase-nuclease mechanism to sense and degrade replication-associated forked DNA structures. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... A🧵

That's a wrap on three days of incredible science at #SISB2026! Special thanks to @rockefeller.edu for hosting us on their beautiful campus, to our speakers and poster presenters, and most of all to this community that never fails to inspire. Can't wait for #SISB2027 🫶

I’m thrilled to share an update to our work on bacterial NACHT domain containing proteins! In our last preprint, we reported that bNACHT11 is activated by multiple phage proteins. We’ve now expanded this work with structural insight and investigation of programmed cell death following activation.

Here's the link to the preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Looking forward to discussing the story with folks at #SISB2026 this week! 🦠

Tera Levin @teralevin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Bacterial immune proteins have repeatedly evolved to become parts of eukaryotic immunity. But how? Our new preprint uncovers a recent horizontal transfer event & shows how eukaryotes co-opted a toxic bacterial immune protein 🦠🧪🧵 1/

Link to the preprint! 14/ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Check out Tera's thread and the preprint to find out all about TIR NADases in amoebae and their evolutionary connections to prokaryotic immunity. We are happy to have contributed some biochemistry to this work that spans a real breadth of topics and technical approaches. Still so much to explore!!

Tera Levin @teralevin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Bacterial immune proteins have repeatedly evolved to become parts of eukaryotic immunity. But how? Our new preprint uncovers a recent horizontal transfer event & shows how eukaryotes co-opted a toxic bacterial immune protein 🦠🧪🧵 1/

Bacterial immune proteins have repeatedly evolved to become parts of eukaryotic immunity. But how? Our new preprint uncovers a recent horizontal transfer event & shows how eukaryotes co-opted a toxic bacterial immune protein 🦠🧪🧵 1/

Congratulations to Dr. Brenda Bass our 2026 Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence recipient. Dr. Bass has transformed our understanding of the relationship between RNA biochemistry and human disease, and has also consistently excelled in training and service. attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff...

Biochemist Brenda Bass wins Rosenblatt Prize - @theU

Distinguished professor helped reveal the inner workings of RNA, the molecule that carries genetic instruction for building proteins.

attheu.utah.edu

Wen Zhou previously led research in our group on evolution of the DNA-binding sites that control human cGAS activation. Beautiful work from his own lab at SUSTech University now extends similar insights to evolution of TREX1 regulation: www.cell.com/immunity/abs...

Out Now! Nuclease–NTPase antiphage defence systems use conserved molecular features to control bacterial immunity #MicroSky

Nuclease–NTPase antiphage defence systems use conserved molecular features to control bacterial immunity

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 27 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02312-8A large-scale, comparative cell biology and biochemical screen defines the molecular features controlling antiphage defence systems that encode nuclease effectors and accessory NTPase proteins.

go.nature.com

We found that TIR domains in animal immune proteins, including the human TLR4, are enzymes that cleave NAD+ to produce the signaling molecule cADPR Read our new preprint by talented Bohdana Hurieva: “Conserved catalytic activity of immune TIR domains in animals” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

🎉Excited to share our new preprint! TIR domains from diverse animals, including human TLR4, are catalytically active and produce cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR). This enzymatic activity is widespread in animals and conserved across the tree of life. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Structures of the QatBC complex from Angela Gao and Doug Wassarman in our group reveal an evolutionary link between QatABCD and Type IV CBASS and a role for protein deazguanylation in diverse anti-phage defense systems www.nature.com/articles/s41... www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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

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...

nature.com

I'm happy to share a review that our lab put together on innate immune responses to Rickettsia. One interesting tidbit - different Rickettsia species have distinct interactions with xenophagy, where some species co-opt ubiquitylation, while others avoid it! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Innate immune responses to Rickettsia: emerging themes and contrasts between species

Over 10 species of Rickettsia cause serious human disease across the globe, including deadly spotted fever and typhus. These arthropod-borne microbes …

sciencedirect.com

Check out this wonderful piece by @vcallier.bsky.social on how parts of the human immune system can be traced back to the conflict between bacteria and phages!

Quanta Magazine@quantamagazine.org · 4mo ago

Over two billion years, a fierce battle has raged between bacteria and the viruses that infect them. The resulting evolution has shaped the way our bodies fight disease today. @vcallier.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/the-ancient-...

Thank you to @vcallier.bsky.social and Quanta Magazine for highlighting our lab along with the incredible research from @soreklab.bsky.social @audeber.bsky.social @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social @benmorehouse.bsky.social @teralevin.bsky.social @algao.bsky.social Eugene Koonin, L. Aravind and others!

Quanta Magazine@quantamagazine.org · 4mo ago

Over two billion years, a fierce battle has raged between bacteria and the viruses that infect them. The resulting evolution has shaped the way our bodies fight disease today. @vcallier.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/the-ancient-...

Over two billion years, a fierce battle has raged between bacteria and the viruses that infect them. The resulting evolution has shaped the way our bodies fight disease today. @vcallier.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/the-ancient-...