DNA Topology Lab
@dnatopologylab.bsky.social
DNA Topology Lab @ Department of Biochemistry University of Oxford "We adore chaos because we love to produce order." -M. C. Escher
Great science to be discussed in a fabulous location! Apply!
Anton Goloborodko@golobor.bsky.social · 4mo agoThis year's SMC conference will take place in Bengaluru, India, 13-18 Dec 2026. The registration deadline is **April, 1st** - very soon!! Don't miss your chance to meet the leading labs of our field and learn about latest developments. Please, don't hesitate to reach out if you have any Qs.
We are excited to be recruiting into 3 Associate Professorship's in @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social. Come join us as a colleague and benefit from our vibrant and multidisciplinary environment. Reach out to me if you have any questions. Please repost! (tinyurl.com/48deybuu) (tinyurl.com/4pdvjaft).
I had fun writing this N&Vs on two fascinating new papers on centromere evolution in yeast. If you’re interested in how centromeres adapt yet stay functional, here’s my take. rdcu.be/e6DD0 @nature.com @gautamdey.bsky.social @gsherloc.bsky.social @helsenjana.bsky.social @maxhaase.bsky.social
How can fast-evolving DNA retain a fundamental function in cell division? | Nature
In a dividing cell, chromosome pairs are pulled apart thanks to attachment sites called centromeres. Yeast genomes reveal key steps in how centromeres have evolved. In a dividing cell, chromosome pairs are pulled apart thanks to attachment sites called centromeres. Yeast genomes reveal key steps in how centromeres have evolved.
rdcu.be
Put together by Simona Giunta, @tatsuofukagawa.bsky.social, @roneilllab.bsky.social and myself. Big thanks to all the authors who contributed to this collection! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
40 years of CENP-A: the foundation of a new era of centromere biology - Chromosome Research
Chromosome Research -
link.springer.com
Very nice Preview by @bramkamplab.bsky.social on the SMC DNA loading paper by our @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social "Weaving the loops of life: DNA loading by loop-extrusion machines in plasmid defense and genome organization" Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Weaving the loops of life: DNA loading by loop-extrusion machines in plasmid defense and genome organization
Structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) complexes organize and segregate DNA via loop extrusion, but the mechanism of the initial DNA loading was unclear. In this issue of Molecular Cell, Roisné-Ha...
cell.com
Stephan Gruber@gruberlab.bsky.social · 10mo agoHow do SMC complexes load onto DNA to get ready for loop extrusion? @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social & co discovered that Wadjet, an SMC complex involved in bacterial DNA immunity, performs some impressive molecular gymnastics 🤸♂️🤸♂️🤸♂️. Check out the new paper: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
For the specialists: the motor units adopt a DNA-holding conformation, a proposed key state of the segment capture model
Great news for the Advanced Proteomics Facility based here in Biochemistry @ox.ac.uk ! The Wolfson Foundation is supporting the acquisition of a state-of-the-art mass spectrometer – the first of its kind in the UK – opening up possibilities for breakthroughs in human health ⬇️ bit.ly/202507-apf
£840,000 award from the Wolfson Foundation to enhance Oxford’s proteomics research
State-of-the-art mass spectrometer to be installed at the University’s Advanced Proteomics Facility (APF)
bit.ly
Very happy to share our protocols paper for CELLO-seq. This will make single cell long read RNA-seq more accessible and provides analysis guidelines. We hope this helps the #transposon #TEsky community and folks working on #singleCell isoform and allelic #gene expression. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Long-read RNA sequencing of transposable elements from single cells using CELLO-seq - Nature Protocols
Single-cell long-read RNA sequencing enables the high-fidelity mapping of single-cell expression data from highly sequence-similar transposable elements to unique genomic loci by correcting errors fro...
doi.org
Honoured to be elected an EMBO member. Looking forward to being part of this wonderful organisation that does so much for European science. Also thanks to Kavli Oxford for always using a picture which makes me look 20 years young. I own you guys!
Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford@kavlioxford.bsky.social · last yr.Congratulations to #KavliOxford Professor Matt Higgins on his election to EMBO Membership for 2025! 🎉 kavli.web.ox.ac.uk/article/matt...
Happy birthday, Dad. Time to come back now, it’s all gone a bit rubbish without you. ❤️❤️❤️
3rd edition of the fantastic UK DNA replication meeting is happening next September in Edinburgh. Don't miss out 🧬🏴 www.biochemistry.org/events-and-t...
UK DNA Replication Meeting 2026
Research in the DNA replication field is progressing at a remarkable rate. Technological innovations in biochemical reconstitution, structural biology, proteomics and DNA sequencing are helping to rap...
biochemistry.org
Fresh of the press! rdcu.be/egmY0 We discovered key chromatin modifications that are heritably maintained through mitotic cell divisions in the absence of continued transcription. These hold a memory of past exposure to interferon-gamma, priming cells for future activation of gene expression.
A few days left to apply for exciting PhD and Postdoc opportunities in wonderful Copenhagen and join our efforts in understanding Epigenetic Cell Memory.
The Groth lab@grothlab.bsky.social · last yr.🚨𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐛 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭!🚨The Groth @groth-anja.bsky.social, Mailand, Nilsson @nilssonlab.bsky.social & Krietenstein @nilskrietenstein.bsky.social labs are hiring 𝟔 𝐏𝐡𝐃&𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐬 to join the new Center for Epigenetic Cell Memory (EpiC) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Apply here: tinyurl.com/yvd93na2 & please share!
Fantastic teamwork with @drhonsworth.bsky.social, @taschner.bsky.social, in the @gruberlab.bsky.social with James at @dnatopologylab.bsky.social
Very pleased to share our new story on SMC complexes, a great team effort from @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social, @taschner.bsky.social in the GruberLab and James of @dnatopologylab.bsky.social We find that SMC hinge domains are ssDNA gates to facilitate obstacle bypass during DNA loop extrusion!
Stephan Gruber@gruberlab.bsky.social · last yr.Yet another preprint from the lab—this one is personal. During my PhD, I ended up working on the cohesin SMC hinge, showing its role in sister chromatid cohesion and proposing it as a DNA entry gate in the SMC ring. But the details have remained mysterious and controversial.
The lab is on 🔥 Tour de force by Hon, Florian and Taschi! Bravo! Privileged to have played a tiny part in this amazing story!
Stephan Gruber@gruberlab.bsky.social · last yr.Yet another preprint from the lab—this one is personal. During my PhD, I ended up working on the cohesin SMC hinge, showing its role in sister chromatid cohesion and proposing it as a DNA entry gate in the SMC ring. But the details have remained mysterious and controversial.
Glad to share the work of @yli18smc.bsky.social and co on Lamassu, a bacterial defense system related to Rad50/Mre11 (RM). While RM carefully trims DNA ends for repair, Lamassu chops up the host chromosome. Our study reveals how it is regulated to minimize damage, activating only during infection.
We are following up on one of these features in our next paper. Stay tuned! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Structure of a Type II SMC Wadjet Complex from Neobacillus vireti
Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes proteins are essential DNA-folding motors that facilitate critical cellular functions, including chromosome segregation and DNA repair. Wadjet systems are prokaryotic SMC complexes specialized in cellular immunity against plasmids. Type I Wadjet systems restrict plasmids via a DNA extrusion-cleavage reaction. Two other Wadjet types (II and III) have also been identified, however, their molecular characteristics are unclear. Here, we reconstituted a representative type II Wadjet system from Neobacillus vireti. We show that this system shares substrate selection and cleavage properties with type I but exhibits distinctive structural features, including a long elbow-distal coiled coil, a channel-less hinge, and a tandem KITE subunit. These features help identify the common and distinguishing architectural elements in the family of Wadjet systems and raise intriguing questions about the evolution of prokaryotic SMC complexes. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
biorxiv.org
Happy to share the beautiful structure of a Wadjet SMC complex by @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social, with support from the DCI and @drhonsworth.bsky.social ! This is a type II Wadjet with unique characteristics including a tandem KITE subunit, distinct coiled coil architecture and a deviant hinge.
A new PhD position is available in my lab to explore DNA replication mechanisms using single-molecule approaches. Apply by 19th of March: www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...
Yardimci Lab | Single-molecule visualisation of the eukaryotic replication machinery
crick.ac.uk
Fantastic opportunity to work with an amazing team in a world class setting. Apply!!
Amazing opportunity. Peter is super cool. Apply!
Peter Sarkies@psarkies.bsky.social · last yr.Postdoc or PhD working on C. elegans? Interested in applying C. elegans techniques to understand the astonishing world of epigenetics in parasitic nematodes? Apply to our Wellcome Trust funded postdoc position, joint between my lab in Oxford and Mark Viney's in Liverpool: tinyurl.com/5y6cpvcv
A brilliant, kind, funny colleague gone too soon. We will miss you Bela. www.merton.ox.ac.uk/news/remembe...
Remembering Professor Béla Novák 1956 - 2025
With great sadness, we announce the loss of Professor Béla Novák.
merton.ox.ac.uk
*Tenured full Professorship in Genetics and Molecular Cell Biology* at the University Of Cologne, Germany It's an opportunity to rebuild the place that used to be home to luminaries including Benno Müller-Hill, Max Delbruck, Campos-Ortega, Diethard Tautz Maria Leptin, Thomas Langer
Professorship in genetics and molecular cell biology (W3) (f/m/d) - Academic Positions
The University of Cologne is one of the oldest and largest universities in Germany. With its six Faculties covering a broad spectrum of disciplines and its i...
academicpositions.com
Excited to share James Jusuf's preprint: By integrating Micro-C with SuperRes Live-Imaging we can calibrate genomics&imaging to perform absolute quantification of looping (e.g. this loop is present 3%) We quantify mESC 36k loops: <loops> are generally rare (2.3%) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our new review on how the #chromatin domain is formed in the cell is now available @Curr Opin Struct Biol.📄✨ We critically discuss the domain formation mechanism from a physical perspective, including #phase-separation and #condensation. 📥 Free-download link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1keGn,LqAr...
🎯Breaking News Enzyme used in meiosis makes the cut in vitro News www.nature.com/articles/d41... Paper 1 doi.org/10.1038/s415... Paper 2 doi.org/10.1038/s415... Paper 3 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
The Barr lab @ox.ac.uk has discovered the important role of cell division timing mechanisms in the formation of cancer. The research, funded by Cancer Research UK, provides valuable insight into how damaged cells are normally stopped from growing. ⬇️ bit.ly/202502-barr
Cancer beats the clock
New research unveils the important role of cell division timing mechanisms in the formation of cancer
bit.ly
