À novel preprint from the lab ! In a study led by Christian Lesterlin’ s we identify a novel plasmid encoded protein, named HerB. HerB is produced upon entry of the plasmid and modifies host biology to facilitate plasmid establishments ! More here ! #Microsky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Plasmid-encoded host reprogramming promotes plasmid dissemination

Conjugative plasmids are major drivers of antibiotic resistance dissemination, yet how newly transferred plasmids establish in recipient cells remains poorly understood. Here we investigate YfjB, a pr...

biorxiv.org

Want to learn about Francisella and its T6SS (especially the spike complex), have a look at our article on IglF in interaction with the PAAR protein IglG. Indeed, very collaborative work @ciri-lyon.bsky.social with @fronzeslab.bsky.social & @laurentterradot.bsky.social. Kudos to all the authors!

Happy to see this highly collaborative work published. Special thank to @fronzeslab.bsky.social and @cinflammasome.bsky.social ! What a journey it has been.

Rémi Fronzes@fronzeslab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Yay ! it is published ! Congrats to all the authors in @laurentterradot.bsky.social and @cinflammasome.bsky.social labs.

Very happy that our work on the T6SS ADP-ribosylcyclase toxin made the Cover at JBC @asbmb.bsky.social y.social ! Congratulations Julius @jmartinkus.bsky.social for designing this Cover ! @dukasju.bsky.social @laurentterradot.bsky.social

🦠 @laurentterradot.bsky.social lab reviews #Brucella’s #T4SS—a key virulence factor—covering its structure, function, and growing effector arsenal. It also explores how effectors enter host cells, opening new paths to understand and target infection. 🔬 👉 buff.ly/KW4kVN4

I am thrilled to share with you the outcome of the first collaboration with Albesa-Jove's lab (albesalab.org), in which we characterised the molecular mechanisms underlying the binding of a T6SS adaptor-effector pair in P. putida, Tap3–Tke5. (🧵1/9). Read the full paper here: doi.org/10.1038/s443...

New bioRxiv preprint from our Lesterlin lab How early gene expression coupled to DNA processing boosts resistance plasmid spread. With @nfrk92.bsky.social in collab with Y. Yamaichi lab 👉 doi.org/10.64898/202...

Coupling DNA processing to early gene expression drives antibiotic resistance plasmid dissemination

The rapid global spread of antibiotic resistance is mediated by conjugative plasmids, yet how these elements establish immediately after entering new bacterial hosts remains poorly understood. Here we...

doi.org

👀 👀 Atomic-resolution #cryoEM at 200 keV. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Atomic resolution cryo-EM at 200 keV

Atomic resolution in cryo-electron microscopy was first demonstrated six years ago. This was accomplished using 300 kV electron microscopes equipped with new hardware that provided narrower energy spr...

biorxiv.org

🚨Excellent editorial in ACS Central Sci 📣 Thank you @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social for your support and to @louisflwilson.bsky.social for spotting these mistakes + drafting an excellent manuscript #CryoEM #StructuralBiology #vidalized ACS Central Science pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Pitfalls in the Modeling of Maltoside Detergents in Protein Structures

This publication is Open Access under the license indicated. Learn More

pubs.acs.org

Hi fellow membrane protein #StructuralBiology people! Do you use maltoside detergents / model them in your stuctures? Watch out! ⚠️ Most PDB models of LMNG and GDN are wrong ❌, yet continue to be re-used. Spread the word! See more: doi.org/10.1021/acsc... (w. @sebvidalchem.bsky.social ) #cryoEM

Pleased to share our recent article in PNAS - a collaboration with @jessicaandreani.bsky.social & Pablo Radicella, with important roles played by many members of each team. A tripartite protein complex promotes DNA transport during natural transformation in Firmicutes www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

A tripartite protein complex promotes DNA transport during natural transformation in Firmicutes | PNAS

Natural genetic transformation is a conserved mechanism of bacterial horizontal gene transfer, which is directed entirely by the recipient cell and...

pnas.org

Our latest T7SS study is now out in Science Advances! We solved the cryoEM structure of the T7SSb core unit (T7bCU) composed of YukB, YukC, and YukD from Bacillus subtilis, revealing how these components assemble within the secretion machinery. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A ubiquitin-like protein controls assembly of a bacterial type VIIb secretion system

Cryo-EM structure reveals how a ubiquitin-like protein orchestrates assembly of a bacterial weapon system.

science.org

MISO: microfluidic protein isolation enables single-particle cryo-EM structure determination from a single cell colony. Or from a single dish of HEK cell culture in the case of two membrane proteins. Out in Nature Methods now! lnkd.in/gpyBSceg Wonderful collaboration with the Efremov lab.

Happy to share the last paper form the lab: Specialized shuttle proteins recognize T9SS signals and target effectors to their final destinations. Great work by @maellepllt.bsky.social, led by @thicoz.bsky.social in collaboration with @audebertstephane.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Specialized shuttle proteins recognize Type IX secretion signals and target effectors to their final destinations in Flavobacterium johnsoniae

Communications Biology - Bacteroidota use the Type IX secretion system to secrete proteins with a conserved C-terminal domain (CTD) secretion signal domain. Type B CTDs require specific shuttle...

nature.com

Please RT. Post-doc opportunity alert! 💥 closing 10th December.. Come join our team (www.thelowlab.org) at Imperial, London, working on the structure and mechanism of bacterial secretion systems. For more details and to apply please see www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

Widespread deployment of the human CD38 ADP-ribosyl cyclase fold in antibacterial and anti-eukaryotic polymorphic toxins - Journal of Biological Chemistry www.jbc.org/article/S002...

Widespread deployment of the human CD38 ADP-ribosyl cyclase fold in antibacterial and anti-eukaryotic polymorphic toxins

Bacterial polymorphic toxins are modular weapons that mediate intermicrobial competition and host interactions by delivering diverse cytotoxic domains through specialized secretion systems. Here, we i...

jbc.org

www.nature.com/articles/s41... #microsky but kinda #phagesky too

Structural characterization of an extracellular contractile injection system from Photorhabdus luminescens in extended and contracted states - Nature Communications

Marín-Arraiza and colleagues report the cryo-EM structures of an extracellular contractile injection system from Photorhabdus luminescens in extended and contracted states, providing structural insigh...

nature.com

Congratulations to the new Doctor Chloé Dugelay ! Massive thanks to all collaborators @xavierdebolle.bsky.social @suzanasalcedo.bsky.social @cascaleslab.bsky.social J.Celli and J. Ugalde. Thanks to the excellent jury members @fronzeslab.bsky.social R.Vouillhoux, P.Doublet and L.Journet

BindCraft: an AlphaFold2-powered de novo protein binder design tool 🧬✨ Tested in some bacterial systems too! Designs so far are short peptides or mini-domains. Looking forward to long/full protein design ahead! 🧪 #microsky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

One-shot design of functional protein binders with BindCraft - Nature

BindCraft, an open-source, automated pipeline for de novo protein binder design with experimental success rates of 10–100%, leverages AlphaFold2 weights to generate binders with nanomolar affinity without the need for high-throughput screening.

nature.com

Still Time to read this new study form Mathilde Guzzo’s Lab post doc @cjresearch.bsky.social with our structural contribution !

Guzzo lab - Lyon@mguzzo.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Check out the first preprint from our lab describing a direct molecular cross-talk between (p)ppGpp and c-di-GMP nucleotide messengers! Great work from first-author Corentin Jaboulay who was a postdoc in our lab, and great collaborations! @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social

We will have soon an Open position for a PhD thesis position to work on bacterial secretion systems ! Stay tuned !!

Open position !! Either at the Engineer or post-doctoral level, to work on filamentous phages. Collaboration between Laetitia Houot's group and Thierry Doan @thicoz.bsky.social. To apply at the E level: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U... To apply at the post-doc level: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...

Happy to share our work on a T6SS effector with ADP ribose cyclase activity, published in JBC @asbmbjournals.bsky.social Great work of Julius Martinkus @jmartinkus.bsky.social and (always) great collaboration with @dukasju.bsky.social and @laurentterradot.bsky.social www.jbc.org/article/S002...

Widespread deployment of the human CD38 ADP-ribosyl cyclase fold in antibacterial and anti-eukaryotic polymorphic toxins

Bacterial polymorphic toxins are modular weapons that mediate inter-microbial competition and host interactions by delivering diverse cytotoxic domains through specialized secretion systems. Here, we ...

jbc.org

🌿Congrats to the Equipe Projet VERT: Marine Blanc, Sandrine Magnard, Lauriane Lecoq (MMSB UMR 5086), Sandrine Vadon-Le Goff (LBTI UMR 5305), Nicolas Grimault (IBCP UAR 3760) and Virginie Gueguen-Chaignon (SFR Biosciences UAR 3444) for their Cristal Collectif Medal! ✨Towards more sustainable science!

CNRS@cnrs.fr · last yr.

👏 Félicitations aux lauréates et lauréats 2025 de la Médaille de cristal collectif qui distingue des équipes d’appui à la recherche, ayant mené des projets particulièrement remarquables. 👉 www.cnrs.fr/fr/actualite... #TalentsCNRS

We have an open engineer position to work on type IX secretion (T9SS), under the supervision of @doan_thierry (collab with HP Fierobe & A. Tolonen). 1-year contract, renewable up to 3.5 years. Please apply here or forward to anyone potentially interested: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...

The 4th edition of the Integrative Structural Biology Meeting (BSI) will take place in Bordeaux, from December 15th to 19th, 2025 #CryoEM #XmasBSI bsi4.org

Einenkel et al 𝘕𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰 🦠 Cryo-EM structures of the complete 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 extracellular flagellum—including the FliD cap complex and hook–filament junction. Flagellin subunits assemble while the junction buffers mechanical stress → stable motility and colonization. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New insights! Cryo-EM reveals structural dynamics of simian virus 40 helicase: DNA strand separation and unwinding mechanics detailed after decades—must explore! PMID:40108462, Nature 2025, @Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08766-w #Medsky #Pharmsky #RNA #ASHG #ESHG 🧪

Structural dynamics of DNA unwinding by a replicative helicase | Nature

Hexameric helicases are nucleotide-driven molecular machines that unwind DNA to initiate replication across all domains of life. Despite decades of intensive study, several critical aspects of their function remain unresolved1: the site and mechanism of DNA strand separation, the mechanics of unwinding propagation, and the dynamic relationship between nucleotide hydrolysis and DNA movement. Here, using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), we show that the simian virus 40 large tumour antigen (LTag) helicase assembles in the form of head-to-head hexamers at replication origins, melting DNA at two symmetrically positioned sites to establish bidirectional replication forks. Through continuous heterogeneity analysis2, we characterize the conformational landscape of LTag on forked DNA under catalytic conditions, demonstrating coordinated motions that drive DNA translocation and unwinding. We show that the helicase pulls the tracking strand through DNA-binding loops lining the central channel

doi.org

Zoom into a human cell infected by Shigella, the bacteria behind dysentery. Using cryo-EM, @leaswistak.bsky.social and team revealed how it pierces cells with molecular syringes. Stunning science at the nanoscale. @enningalab.bsky.social @jytinevez.bsky.social @nanoimaging.bsky.social #CryoEM

This is completely mad. We must, as a community, do something about this #cryoem

Oli Clarke@olibclarke.bsky.social · last yr.

I know there are more important things to worry about right now... but it really pisses me off coming across things like this in the literature. Nominally 4.8 Å map... check out Fig S1 😬 (also check out any other #cryoem paper by same group, ~all in BBRC) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...