Our most recent paper "Divergent Rickettsia species exhibit distinct mechanisms of actin-based motility" is now out in @jcb.org! Check it out here: rupress.org/jcb/article/...

Congrats to Dr. Allison Scott on her successful defense this week!

Looking forward to my first CauloCon and catching up on the latest work in Alphaproteobacteria. Day 1's talk from postdoc Brandon Sit @sitbrandon.bsky.social will be a must see!!

Caulocon@caulocon.bsky.social · 6mo ago

With CauloCon coming up in a few weeks, we are excited to share with you the schedule for the upcoming meeting! There will be 3 keynotes and 26 short talks over three days. You can see more information at caulocon.com

Excited to share our latest work from first author Patrick Woida. Using a novel surface display platform for expression of split TurboID, we discovered that CYLD is recruited to the Listeria surface via the effector InlC and that it supports cell-to-cell spread www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Hey alpha aficionados - it's almost time for CauloCon 2026! This free, virtual meeting will feature talks from @brunlabcaulo.bsky.social @thanbichlerlab.bsky.social and @lamasonlab.bsky.social with opps for trainee talks. Register using the link below. 👇

Marie Delaby@mariedelaby.bsky.social · 6mo ago

CauloCon 2026 is coming! 🔬✨ March 3–5 (fully virtual + free). Keynotes by Yves Brun, Becky Lamason & Martin Thanbichler. Great chance for grad students & postdocs to present their work (work-in-progress welcome!). Submit an abstract by Sun Feb 8. Register + submit: www.caulocon.com

Check out our latest paper from first author Allison Scott using a powerful enrichment strategy to enable transcriptional profiling of the early stages of a rickettsial infection

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Hybrid capture RNA-seq defines temporal gene expression in Rickettsia https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.04.697603v1

First 🟦 post - my main postdoc work is out in the world! We designed a Cas12a-based genetic screen to identify host factors that contribute to infection by the tickborne pathogen Rickettsia parkeri, and stumbled across a really exciting direct interaction between host and bacterium🦠. Check it out!

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Host cyclophilin-mediated maturation of an obligate intracellular bacterial surface virulence factor https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.28.684717v1

Thrilled to share our latest story from postdoc @sitbrandon.bsky.social! Using a functional genetic screen, he discovered an unexpected way that Rickettsia relies on the host to stabilize the Sca2 surface protein that drives pathogen motility and virulence.

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Host cyclophilin-mediated maturation of an obligate intracellular bacterial surface virulence factor https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.28.684717v1

Congrats to postdoc Jane Lodwick for being named a @damonrunyon.org fellow! www.damonrunyon.org/our-impact/n...

Congrats to postdoc Elayne Fivenson for being named a #JCCFellow!!

Jane Coffin Childs Fund for Medical Research@jcchildsfund.bsky.social · last yr.

We're thrilled to announce the 2025 class of Jane Coffin Childs Fellows! See our latest blog post and "look book" to learn more about our newest Fellows and their exciting research! www.jccfund.org/blog/the-jan... www.jccfund.org/wp-content/u...

New review is out from first author Patrick Woida! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Pathogen-induced rerouting of host membrane trafficking

Eukaryotic cell membranes are protective barriers that precisely control cargo import, trafficking, and export. In defiance of this control, intracell…

sciencedirect.com

Cytosolic companionship: Rickettsia connects with the endoplasmic reticulum. Stacey Gilk @sdgilk.bsky.social @unmccom.bsky.social highlights work from Acevedo-Sánchez et al. @lamasonlab.bsky.social (https://buff.ly/3CUnh2M) in Spotlight: https://buff.ly/40M2hTK

Thanks @sdgilk.bsky.social and @jcb.org for highlighting our work!

Journal of Cell Biology@jcb.org · last yr.

Spotlight: @sdgilk.bsky.social highlights work from Acevedo-Sánchez et al. @lamasonlab.bsky.social (https://buff.ly/3CUnh2M) revealing that the cytosolic bacterial pathogen Rickettsia parkerii hijacks host machinery to form stable membrane contact sites with the ER. https://buff.ly/40M2hTK

Out now at @jcellbiol.bsky.social is our latest paper describing a novel contact between a bacterial pathogen and the rough ER. rupress.org/jcb/article-...

Our collaborative work investigating the interaction between a Rickettsia parkeri secreted effector and clathrin is online in the December issue of Infection and Immunity. Thanks also to the editors for selecting it as an article of significant interest! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

A conserved interaction between the effector Sca4 and host clathrin suggests additional contributions for Sca4 during rickettsial infection | Infection and Immunity

Intracellular bacterial pathogens must adapt to a host cell environment to enable their growth, survival, and dissemination. Consequently, they have evolved various mechanisms to manipulate their host environments to create a more hospitable niche (1–5). One common way for pathogens to interact with host cells is through surface-associated and secreted effector proteins. Bacterial pathogen effectors are known to exert diverse functions, including inducing cellular invasion, establishing vacuolar compartments, remodeling host organelles, modifying the host immune response, and facilitating the spread of these pathogens between cells (6–11).

journals.asm.org