www.nature.com/articles/s41... @nature.com Very interesting article & for @mibinet.bsky.social

Synergistic degradation of fucoidans in the ocean - Nature

Efficient degradation of fucoidans depends on complementary bacterial guilds that cooperatively break backbone and side-chain sugars, revealing a conserved, globally relevant mechanism that shapes mar...

nature.com

Evgenii Protasov@evgenii-protasov.bsky.social · 8h ago

Synergistic degradation of fucoidans in the ocean #microbiology #algae #polysaccharides #MicroSky @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Stop paying predatory publishers of academic journals - A policy proposal to restore scientific integrity and transparency (via @febsletters.bsky.social) doi.org/10.1002/1873...

Huge congrats to Dr Loz Rourke on her latest paper🎉 In ISMEJ we identify BicA2, a molecular gateway for carbon uptake in the globally dominant Prochlorococcus genus. Prochlorococcus contributes ~4% of global carbon assimilation, meaning BicA2 function has global implications for carbon uptake 🌊 🌏

Heterologous expression in E. coli reveals that bicarbonate transporter BicA2 mediates carbon uptake in marine Prochlorococcus spp.

Abstract. The widespread oceanic cyanobacterial Prochlorococcus genus is a major contributor to global carbon fixation, yet mechanisms enabling this lineag

academic.oup.com

Join us in Würzburg! Two excellent opportunities to start your own lab in RNA biology 👇

Helmholtz Institute Würzburg@helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social · 6d ago

🚨 The #HIRI & the Faculty of Medicine of the @uni-wuerzburg.de invite applications for 2️⃣ JUNIOR PROFESSORSHIPS in: 🔵 RNA-BASED INFECTION RESEARCH 🔵 MICROBIAL RNA BIOLOGY 🔵 RNA-BASED MEDICINE Apply by September 21: www.helmholtz-hiri.de/en/jobs-tale... Find an overview in this thread. 🧵👇 (1/5)

Number 1: 3',3'-c-di-AMP (AKA 3',5' c-di-AMP) plays a role not only in osmoregulation: 👇👇👇 Bacterial diadenylate cyclase domains synthesize diverse nucleotide signals in anti-phage defense: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Bacterial diadenylate cyclase domains synthesize diverse nucleotide signals in anti-phage defense

Bacterial diadenylate cyclase (DAC) enzymes synthesize the nucleotide signal 3′3′ cyclic di-AMP (3′3′-c-di-AMP) to control osmoregulation, cell-wall homeostasis, and DNA-damage responses. Here we disc...

biorxiv.org

Number 2: 3',3'-c-di-AMP (AKA 3',5' c-di-AMP) plays a role not only in osmoregulation: 👇👇👇 Minimal diadenylate cyclases have been co-opted to detect phage immune evasion! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Minimal diadenylate cyclases have been co-opted to detect phage immune evasion

Many bacterial immune defenses transmit recognition of phage infection via the generation of diverse cyclic nucleotide second messengers. Phage have evolved to subvert this kind of immunity by sequest...

biorxiv.org

#MicroSky

The EMBO Journal@embojournal.org · 2w ago

Multicellular cyanobacteria build long filaments in which connected neighboring cells exchange molecules trough so-called septal junctions @selimlab.bsky.social & collaborators show a key role of calcium signaling and the calcium-binding protein CSE in this process link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#Promotion in der Naturstoff-Forschung / Pharmazeutischen Biologie? Wir haben eine freie Stelle am Institut für #Pharmazie der FU Berlin... :-) jobs.fu-berlin.de/job/Wiss_-Mi...

Multicellular cyanobacteria build long filaments in which connected neighboring cells exchange molecules trough so-called septal junctions @selimlab.bsky.social & collaborators show a key role of calcium signaling and the calcium-binding protein CSE in this process link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The calcium-binding protein CSE links Ca2+ signaling with cell-cell communication in cyanobacteria - The EMBO Journal

Multicellular cyanobacteria have evolved sophisticated cell–cell communication machinery to exchange, synchronize, and coordinate the efforts of individual cells. Analogous to gap junctions that have ...

link.springer.com

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... A cloaked glutamate decarboxylase sustains the GABA shunt in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Luiz Pedro Carvalho, PhD@luizcarvalholab.bsky.social · 2w ago

Exciting!! Not all protein functions are what we think. We found a protein that looks like a well-known enzyme but does a different job entirely. This discovery reveals hidden metabolic diversity in Mycobacterium and may have implications for malaria parasites and related organisms. Links below:

Out now in @natmicrobiol.nature.com: Bacillus subtilis builds protein filaments that act as a pseudomembrane, pulling quinone out of the bilayer and carrying it into the cytosol for reduction by NADH dehydrogenase, well away from the membrane itself. doi.org/10.1038/s415... 1/5

Someone is online 🤩 Congrats @doellosofia.bsky.social for being one of the new Emmy Noether group leaders @dfg.de

Sofía Doello@doellosofia.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I am happy to share that I have started a new position as a group leader at the Biocenter of LMU Munich! Emmy Noether grant for biologist Sofia Doello www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...

Some animals that can eat plastic 🙈 🙈... Woow and strange www.nature.com/articles/s41... bioplastic food for an­im­als: mpi-bremen.de/en/Nature-s-...

Animal degradation of microbial storage polyhydroxyalkanoates - Nature Ecology & Evolution

This study shows that the degradation of microbial storage polyhydroxyalkanoates is not just restricted to microorganisms by finding that some animals also have the enzymes required to break down thes...

nature.com

Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology@mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social · 2w ago

Unexpected insight: Natural #bioplastic is food for animals! 🤩 #Biodegradable #PHA #plastics can be broken down by many different animals such as earthworms, seastars & oligochaeteas, a study @natureportfolio.nature.com reveals! DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-03153-8 mpi-bremen.de/en/Page6746....

Congratulations @selimlab.bsky.social and team and thanks for including us in this exciting story about Ca2+ signalling in filamentous Cyanobacteria 🥳 great to see it finally published!!

Khaled_Selim Lab@selimlab.bsky.social · 2w ago

🧵 #Bacterial #Multicellularity: We discovered that Ca2+ signaling controls cellular junctions in #cyanobacteria, similar to Euks @embojournal.org A great collab. w/ @weiss-lab.bsky.social #TeamTomo @hhu.de @spp2389.bsky.social @cmfi.bsky.social @mibinet.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1...

🧵 #Bacterial #Multicellularity: We discovered that Ca2+ signaling controls cellular junctions in #cyanobacteria, similar to Euks @embojournal.org A great collab. w/ @weiss-lab.bsky.social #TeamTomo @hhu.de @spp2389.bsky.social @cmfi.bsky.social @mibinet.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The calcium-binding protein CSE links Ca2+ signaling with cell-cell communication in cyanobacteria - The EMBO Journal

Multicellular cyanobacteria have evolved sophisticated cell–cell communication machinery to exchange, synchronize, and coordinate the efforts of individual cells. Analogous to gap junctions that have ...

link.springer.com

🔄 Mixing Two Cryo-EM Datasets on Purpose: A Cryo-EM Heterogeneity Challenge What happens when you deliberately mix two #cryo-EM datasets containing different conformational states? Our latest #CryoSPARC blog distills the practical lessons from the accompanying FaNaC1 case study 👉 bit.ly/3ScIZa3

I always thought c-di-AMP has something to do with phage defense Bacterial di-adenylate cyclase domains synthesize diverse nucleotide signals (cUMP-AMP and c-di-AMP) in anti-phage defense www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Bacterial diadenylate cyclase domains synthesize diverse nucleotide signals in anti-phage defense

Bacterial diadenylate cyclase (DAC) enzymes synthesize the nucleotide signal 3′3′ cyclic di-AMP (3′3′-c-di-AMP) to control osmoregulation, cell-wall homeostasis, and DNA-damage responses. Here we disc...

biorxiv.org

Most PDB structures report one set of coordinates. But the experimental data behind them, in both X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM, is produced by an ensemble of structures. How to extract this ensemble data at scale has been a quest in structural biology for 40+ years.

Bacterial phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) rewires tomato fruit development academic.oup.com/plphys/artic...

Malate matters: disrupting bacterial-type phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (BTPC) rewires tomato fruit development

Loss of bacterial type phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase reprograms fruit metabolism, altering sugar/acid balance, and delaying ripening through disrupted ca

academic.oup.com

Plant Physiology@plantphys.bsky.social · 3w ago

Malate matters: disrupting bacterial-type phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (BTPC) rewires tomato fruit development (Felix J Martínez Rivas , Milena A Smith , Zahra Zangishei , Saleh Alseekh , Björn Usadel , William C Plaxton , Alisdair R Fernie) doi.org/10.1093/plph... #PlantScience @aspbofficial

Happy to share our recent review on "Control of foreign DNA: emerging roles of xenogeneic silencers" @spp2330.bsky.social, @fz-juelich.de @hhu.de, @mibinet.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

What do the earliest organisms tell us about where life began on earth? This fantastic paper addresses this issue through analyses that expose early metabolism, & what the environment contributed to kick start it. Even if wrong it is worth reading for the clear introduction to metabolism.

Intermediate stages in the origin of metabolism at a phosphorylating hydrothermal vent

Enzymatic metabolism emerged from metal-catalyzed, aqueous reactions of H2, CO2, NH3 and phosphite at a hydrothermal vent.

science.org

How crazy is this!? A plant mimicking the smell of ants injured by spiders to fool kleptoparastic flies into performing pollination 🤯 Plant shenanigans is an endless source of wonderful biology! www.cell.com/current-biol...

Olfactory floral mimicry of injured ants mediates the attraction of kleptoparasitic fly pollinators

Mochizuki reports a plant that lures pollinating flies by imitating the scent of ants injured by predators. This study reveals the first known case of ant mimicry in flowers and uncovers previously un...

cell.com

🌾 We're hiring a postdoc! Join the Stomatal Biology group in beautiful Bern @unibe.ch How do grass leaves spatially coordinate development of veins & stomatal rows? 2 years (plus possible extension), funded by @snsf.ch @dfg.de within @cerealcell.bsky.social RU5325 jobs.unibe.ch/job-vacancie...

A.I. Just Created Viruses Not Found in Nature Amazing 🤩 & also alarming dangerous for "creating a new generation of biological weapons, from deadly poisons to unstoppable pandemics" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... At New York Time: www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/s...

Generative design of bacteriophages with genome language models

Many important biological functions arise not from single genes but from complex interactions encoded by entire genomes. We report the first generative design of complete bacteriophage genomes using g...

science.org

Carl Zimmer@carlzimmer.com · 3w ago

Here's a new kind of virus that scientists have generated with AI. And here's my story about what it means for us to have gotten to this remarkable moment: nyti.ms/4bBhoWB (Gift link) 🧪

This is an amazing study. Highly recommend to read... Machine Learning for enzyme function discovery Discovery of a phenazine–thiol conjugase from sparse data using genome-informed machine learning www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Luiz Pedro Carvalho, PhD@luizcarvalholab.bsky.social · 3w ago

Machine Learning for enzyme function discovery (truly)... take a look at this excellent work from Newman, Conway and colleagues. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Out now in Journal of Applied Crystallography: mmCIF Validator, automated validation of mmCIF files against the PDBx/mmCIF dictionary Useful for structure deposition prep, biocuration, and automated QC (VS Code extension + Python/CLI) Paper: doi.org/10.1107/S160... Code: github.com/PDBeurope/mm...

mmCIF Validator: a comprehensive validation tool for structural biology data files

The mmCIF Validator provides real-time automated validation of mmCIFs against a valid PDBx/mmCIF dictionary. The validator is available as both a Visual Studio Code extension and a standalone Python s...

doi.org

Siderophore production by the lichen fungus Xanthoria parietina supports its algal symbiont www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Biofilm formation in #Bacillus subtilis is thought to precede sporulation, but T. Updegrove says that a subpopulation of sporulating cells triggers other cells to become biofilm formers via an intracellular metabolite (glycerol) repurposed as a signaling molecule (!) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A metabolite morphogen coordinates multicellular development in Bacillus subtilis

Cell-cell signaling using a core metabolite repurposed as a developmental cue coordinates bacterial multicellular development.

science.org

PLEASE SHARE! New job openings in my lab @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social. We have a broad interest into the mechanistic basis of how molecular complexes are rewired during cellular development in plants and during invasion by pathogens. 🌱🍄🔬 See details below 👇 #PlantSciJobs

🫴 Diverse bacterial pattern recognition receptors sense the core phage proteome: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Diverse bacterial pattern recognition receptors sense the core phage proteome - Nature

Systematic analysis of prokaryotic STAND NTPases — relatives of animal and plant immune receptors — uncovers diverse antiviral sensors that detect most of the core structural and replic...

nature.com