www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Our latest paper on C. difficile phage/S-layer interactions with thanks to @robfagan.bsky.social @jasonwils.bsky.social for all their hard work on this.

S-layer-phage interaction in Clostridioides difficile

Successful infection by a bacteriophage requires the injection of the phage genome into the cytoplasm of the host bacterium. To achieve this, an infec…

sciencedirect.com

As an academic, I have decided to pre-empt AI taking my job, so I am going to take ITS job! I am going to start hallucinating, lying to my students, and drinking 700,000 litres of water

Latest from our lab in special issue "CryoEM in the Fast Lane of Structural Biology". Review on CISs in #C.difficile & new results on phage contraction & receptor binding @jasonwils.bsky.social @robfagan.bsky.social @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social #SLayers #CryoEM #Phages doi.org/10.1107/S205...

How cryoEM has advanced our understanding of bacteriophages and bacteriocins targeting Clostridioides difficile

Two recent cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM) structures provide a unique opportunity to compare a bacteriophage and a bacteriocin targeted at the same host. CryoEM reveals the most detailed view ...

doi.org

Phage receptor-binding proteins are known for their LEGO-like modularity, but we still do not fully understand their evolutionary potential and how it shapes phage host range. Our new preprint examines this systematically in Klebsiella phages. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Thread 🧵

Automatic screening of cryo-EM grids using EPU is fast and efficient, but reviewing the generated data & picking the best areas for data collection can be slow and cumbersome. We made a little tool that makes this process more streamlined and enjoyable: github.com/mvorlander/E... 1/4

Having made the transition from primarily X-ray crystallography to cryoEM, this resource would have been invaluable.

Structural Biology@actacrystd.iucr.org · 6mo ago

Hassan Zafar et al.: Breaking barriers: transitioning from X-ray crystallography to cryo-EM for structural studies #CryoElectronMicroscopyCryoEM #StructuralBiology #SingleParticleAnalysis @uvmvermont...#IUCr https://journals.iucr.org/paper?S205979832600080X

This is a fantastic example of how to begin as a newcomer to #cryoEM. Being proactive in getting advice from experienced scientists and going to any of the great workshops would likely lower the incidences of erroneous structures in the EMDB and PDB (There’s not a lot but there are a few).

Structural Biology@actacrystd.iucr.org · 6mo ago

Hassan Zafar et al.: Breaking barriers: transitioning from X-ray crystallography to cryo-EM for structural studies #CryoElectronMicroscopyCryoEM #StructuralBiology #SingleParticleAnalysis @uvmvermont...#IUCr https://journals.iucr.org/paper?S205979832600080X

Introducing AlphaFast 🚀. AF3 is transformative but too slow for large-scale protein design. My students Ben and Jeonghyeon made it 10-100x faster using GPU-accelerated sequence search. Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...  Code: github.com/RomeroLab/al...

Would have been good to have added an apology for the lack of comms so far this year, particularly for those that submitted grants to UKRI applicant-led funding streams in Sept 2025, as these are highly unlikely to be funded (www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...)

MRC instructs grant review boards to slash funding rates - Research Professional News

Boards asked to recommend just three applications for funding, as BBSRC also suspends calls

researchprofessionalnews.com

We need to be shouting about the effects of this on junior researchers from the roofs, writing to our MPs. We are risking a "missing generation" of researchers.

Mark A. Hanson@hansonmark.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Both MRC and BBSRC responsive modes now withdrawn until further notice. Existing applications unlikely to succeed (late 2025 round expecting 1-5% success rate). Listen, I get that UKRI wants to pivot. But killing both at once is devastating. Let's hope at least one opens by summer... #AcademicSky

It was great to play a part in this study, using all of the work on alphaproteobacterial GTAs to help inform and identify key tell-tale patterns of GTAs in the human gut microbiome. I'm sure there will be many great followup studies on these fascinating particles. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We identified a new type of what seems to be a gene transfer agent in the most abundant gut microbe. Long read sequencing was the key here, as it showed suspiciously many 4kb and 8kb reads, which fits the smallest T=3 shrinked and T=3 regular capsids. And indeed, GTAs! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨Last chance to apply for two PhD projects in my lab, applying structural biology and single molecule biophysics to investigate gene expression in RNA viruses: www.findaphd.com/phds/?Keywor...

Our paper with @robfagan.bsky.social @jasonwils.bsky.social and Louis-Charles Fortier on #phage has been included in this year's LSA special collection. www.life-science-alliance.org/content/cell...

#OpenCloning is a an Open Source alternative to SnapGene/Benchling that supports automation and integration with other software ✅ Free 🔓 Open Source 🧬 More cloning methods than SnapGene 🤖 Can be automated with python 👨‍🔬 Built by a researcher — for researchers! 👉 Check it out at opencloning.org

Thrilled to share the core of my PhD work, now published in NAR! This project was a true collaborative effort across multiple teams, and it was a joy to bring it to life. Huge thanks to everyone involved, and especially to @fnobrega.bsky.social for the incredible support and guidance 🙏🏻 🧵1/5

Nucleic Acids Research@narjournal.bsky.social · 9mo ago

⭐ NAR Breakthrough! ⭐ A community-driven collection uniting 52 phages, 74 Klebsiella isolates, and extensive genomic + phenotypic data — all freely available at klebphacol.org. 🧬 Learn more: doi.org/10.1093/nar/... @fnobrega.bsky.social @danielarothschild.bsky.social #antimicrobialresistance

Outstanding work that will surely help shed light on 'Viral Dark Matter' - Huge congrats to all authors!

Alexander Harms@aharms485.bsky.social · 9mo ago

🚨Preprint alert - this is a big one! We transfer the revolutionary power of TnSeq to bacteriophages. Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms. A thread 1/8

📣 Fully funded PhD opportunity - CryoEM, Phage Biology & Structural Mechanisms University of Sheffield, UK | Start Oct 2026 We’re looking for a motivated student to uncover how bacteriophage proteins shut down drug-resistant Enterococcus bacteria.

Fantastic paper by James Bean and colleagues on phage Bas63 - this has been one of the first phages I ever isolated just for fun as a PhD student (in 2012!). It's #2 on this plate of Rhine river water on an E.coli K-12 lawn.... How it started /// How it's going

@bostinalab.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Cryo-EM structure of bacteriophage Bas63 reveals structural conservation and diversity in the Felixounavirus genus | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Structural basis of multitasking by the apicoplast DNA polymerase from Plasmodium falciparum url: academic.oup.com/nar/article/... Congrats all authors, very unusual and intriguing enzyme, with many more stories to come

Structural basis of multitasking by the apicoplast DNA polymerase from Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract. Plasmodium falciparum is a eukaryotic pathogen responsible for the majority of malaria-related fatalities. Plasmodium belongs to the phylum Apico

academic.oup.com

Beautiful CryoEM work by our University of Sheffield colleagues @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social Structural basis of multitasking by the apicoplast DNA polymerase from Plasmodium falciparum url: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Structural basis of multitasking by the apicoplast DNA polymerase from Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract. Plasmodium falciparum is a eukaryotic pathogen responsible for the majority of malaria-related fatalities. Plasmodium belongs to the phylum Apico

academic.oup.com

🚨Exciting #Postdoc opportunity in the Fogg & Antson labs: 3-year post based @biologyatyork.bsky.social to explore the #StructuralBiology & mechanism of viral DNA-packaging motors using cutting-edge #Cryo-EM, biophysical and molecular approaches. Apply by 9th Oct at bit.ly/3Iz3bOu #ScienceJobs

Want to name a real virus? I have recently discovered 9 new phages which now need names! To enter, you simply need to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on my JustGiving page (£2 = 1 entry) and share your email with me on donation (see link info). Please share 💚 www.justgiving.com/page/meaghan-c-1

Had a great time talking at @mgeworkshop.bsky.social last week and meeting some great people. Looking forward to cool science and collaborations to come.

#phage www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Global structural survey of the flagellotropic myophage φTE infecting agricultural pathogen Pectobacterium atrosepticum - Nature Communications

The cryo-EM structure of phage φTE is presented, revealing a distinct neck topology, tail sheath baseplate organization and oligomeric state of the tape measure protein. These features suggest a mecha...

nature.com

www.sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/... We have just solved the first structure of an S-layer penetrating C. difficile phage in both pre- and post-infection conformations. It is most curious! @jasonwils.bsky.social @robfagan.bsky.social

Fighting bacteria with viruses: Important step to treating antibiotic resistant infections

New insights into a ‘friendly virus’ that could pave the way for cutting edge treatments for the potentially fatal superbug C.diff have been uncovered by University of Sheffield scientists.

sheffield.ac.uk

New paper alert 🚨 We determined the structure of phiCD508, a 225 nm tailed myovirus #phage infecting clinical strains of C. difficile, using #cryoEM. Thrilled to see this finally out at @lsajournal.org . www.life-science-alliance.org/content/8/6/...

New paper alert 🚨 We've solved the complete structure of a C. difficile-infecting phage using cryo-EM, in both extended and contracted conformations - published today in Life Science Alliance www.life-science-alliance.org/content/8/6/...

Molecular mechanism of bacteriophage contraction structure of an S-layer–penetrating bacteriophage

The molecular details of phage tail contraction and bacterial cell envelope penetration remain poorly understood and are completely unknown for phages infecting bacteria enveloped by proteinaceous S-l...

life-science-alliance.org

It's been a really fun project, led by @jasonwils.bsky.social in collaboration with @perbullough.bsky.social and Louis-Charles Fortier at the Université de Sherbrooke

🚨We are hiring! A MRC-funded PDRA position to study novel anti-phage systems & their evolutionary dynamics in P. aeruginosa, in collaboration with @friendlymicrobe. If you are passionate about phage-bacteria interactions & evolution, apply now ! tinyurl.com/bddz4z44