Save the date! The 23rd International Conference on Bacilli and Gram-Positive Bacteria will take place from June 29 to July 2 in Ljubljana, Slovenia! #pogacar #pogi #subtiwiki
Kumaran Ramamurthi
@ramamurthilab.bsky.social
Scientist studying protein localization in bacteria. We also design artificial bacteria to deliver chemotherapeutics to #cancer cells. All views are my own. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=t9UM04YAAAAJ&hl=en
Dr. Shruthi Magesh and Dr. Jo Handelsman, of the University of Wisconsin Madison, join the quality quorum to discuss how different microbes can work together in moving biofilms, and how this phenomenon has implications to both agriculture and human health. @markowenmartin.bsky.social
Matters Microbial #135: Biofilms in Motion—The Adorable Zorbs
YouTube video by MicrobeTV
youtu.be
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... comprehensive review of bacterial RNA modifications 🦠
Compendium of RNA modifications for bacterial stress adaptation | Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews
SUMMARYRNA modifications in the tRNA, rRNA, and mRNA constitute a widespread layer of post-transcriptional gene regulation, commonly known as the epitranscriptome. In bacteria, tRNA and rRNA modifications are well documented and play essential roles in tRNA folding, rRNA maturation, translation, and peptidyl transfer. Although mRNA modifications have been extensively characterized in eukaryotes, their functional implications for mRNA fate in prokaryotes remain uncertain, and their identities and locations are the subject of an emerging field of research. Importantly, RNA modification is a dynamic process, and variation in the presence and abundance of these modifications has significant consequences for bacterial physiology. Here, we discuss current knowledge of modified RNA nucleotides in bacteria, with a particular focus on their roles in bacterial adaptation to environmental stress.
journals.asm.org
Bacteriology-Focused Assistant Professor Position in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan Application deadline: August 15, 2026 Come be my colleague!
#ProtistsOnSky no 'swimming' by 𝘝𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, definitively no 'staying still'. just a relaxed walk towards the lunch...
eLife@elife.bsky.social · 6mo agoDo microbes get more food by swimming or staying still? Turns out both work, and cilia help them pull in nutrients no matter the strategy. buff.ly/vK3GmK5
Another chapter of my thesis is out! We asked whether we could pair proteome-wide AlphaFold screening with Tn-seq to identify biologically relevant protein-protein interactions. We identify ClcR (formerly YerH) as a component of the Rod complex in Gram-positive bacteria. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
A broadly conserved gram-positive lipoprotein regulates cell elongation | PNAS
The cell wall peptidoglycan (PG) protects virtually all bacteria from osmotic lysis and specifies cell shape. Synthesis of this exoskeleton is carr...
pnas.org
Come join the new Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Design as a group leader Cool science in a great scientific environment in wonderful and very family friendly Copenhagen There are two positions that can either be at TT assistant or associate prof level employment.ku.dk/tenure-track...
Tenure-track Assistant Professor or Associate Professor of De novo Protein Design
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Design at the University of Copenhagen seeks to appoint two new group leaders in de novo protein design from 1 February 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter. These positions will be at the Assistant or Associate Professor level and associated with the Department of Biology (Faculty of Science) or the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology (Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences).
employment.ku.dk
Our Dept of Microbiology & Immunology @Geisel School of Medicine @Dartmouth has an opening for an Assistant Professor. Looking for programs bridging multiple areas in Micro & Immuno. A great place to be! Programs: www.M2P2.org www.dartmouthbiofilm.org Job ad: apply.interfolio.com/187637
We've been learning a lot about how Enterococcus faecalis interacts with neutrophils lately. In our latest preprint, @harisantypas.bsky.social describes how lactic acid from E. faecalis dampens neutrophil metabolism leading to NETosis and phagoytosis suppression. #microsky
bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 2mo agoEnterococcus faecalis biofilm rewires neutrophil metabolism to suppress antimicrobial functions https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.18.733107v1
This study further highlights the power of integrating advanced cryo-EM with computational structural biology to assign functions to the vast repertoire of proteins encoded within microbial “dark matter,” where conventional annotation approaches often fall short.
Taylor Updegrove presenting his work at #ASMicrobe. His "coming soon" paper proposes that a subpopulation of early-sporulating B. subtilis cells signals to other cells to initiate biofilm formation via secreted glycerol (normally an intracellular metabolite) that acts as a extracellular "morphogen"
@felixrl.bsky.social presenting his work at #ASMicrobe today. His preprint follows up on his recent work on orthogonal cell division in S. aureus and reports that PcdA, the division septum placement factor, is required for forming staphylococcal abscess colonies.
Kumaran Ramamurthi@ramamurthilab.bsky.social · 5mo ago@felixrl.bsky.social reported that PcdA mediates orthogonal cell division in #Staphylococcus aureus: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... But what’s the point? Well, forming staphylococcal abscess communities to evade host immune responses requires this mode of division: www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
@vanipande.bsky.social presenting her work at #ASMicrobe today.... Check out her recent preprint about a spontaneously inserting integral membrane protein that localized by recognizing a lipid cue
Kumaran Ramamurthi@ramamurthilab.bsky.social · 2mo agoBacterial transmembrane proteins usually localize inside the cell by "finding" a pre-localized protein, but how did the 1st protein get there? @vanipande.bsky.social found a protein in #B.subtilis that localizes by recognizing a *lipid* localization cue. #Microsky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Bacterial transmembrane proteins usually localize inside the cell by "finding" a pre-localized protein, but how did the 1st protein get there? @vanipande.bsky.social found a protein in #B.subtilis that localizes by recognizing a *lipid* localization cue. #Microsky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Making eyes ‘photosynthetic’ could treat common vision problem Relocating plants’ light-capturing structures to the eye may fight damage from dry eye www.science.org/content/arti...
Making eyes ‘photosynthetic’ could treat common vision problem
Relocating plants’ light-capturing structures to the eye may fight damage from dry eye
science.org
José Manuel García-Fernández@jmgarciafnandez77.bsky.social · 2mo agoMaking eyes ‘photosynthetic’ could treat common vision problem | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
🚨first Bartman lab preprint! it's an LC-MS method to measure "total Coenzyme A" (sum of all acyl-CoAs). this will let us study coA synthesis flux using heavy-isotope tracing! huge congrats to first author Amelia Taylor and star coauthor @mzspectrum.bsky.social ! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Tonight we continue our gram-negative cocci series 🎙️ This time we’re talking about the background singers of the group: non-pathogenic Neisseria + Neisseria and Moraxella species that break the gram-negative cocci rule. 7 PM
@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social Who knew ParB-CTPase fold can kill!!! A protein fold best known for segregating chromosomes…can be transformed into a potent antibacterial toxin in some plant and animal pathogens. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Repurposing a chromosome segregation ParB-CTPase fold into an ATPase toxin for contact-dependent growth inhibition in plant and animal pathogens
Bacterial competition drives the evolution of antibacterial mechanisms, yet how new activities arise remains poorly understood. A major route to innovation is the reuse of pre-existing genetic systems, whereby conserved protein modules are repurposed in new biological contexts to generate new capabilities. Here, we show that the ParB-CTPase fold, a conserved nucleotide-binding module best known for its role in chromosome segregation, can be functionally repurposed as an antibacterial toxin. We identify ToxB, a ParB-like domain embedded within the polymorphic toxin region of contact-dependent inhibition systems and show that it functions as a potent antibacterial effector. Structural and biochemical analyses reveal that ToxB retains the core architecture of the ParB-CTPase fold but lacks DNA-binding capability and preferentially binds ATP. This shift in nucleotide specificity underpins a distinct mode of action, in which ATP binding and hydrolysis trigger rapid nucleoid compaction, chromosome segregation defects, oxidative stress, cell chaining, and ultimately cell lysis. ToxB also exhibits toxic activity in plant cells, suggesting that it targets conserved cellular processes. Together, these findings provide direct experimental evidence that the ParB-NTPase fold is biologically versatile and can be repurposed for biological roles fundamentally distinct from its ancestral function in DNA segregation. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Wellcome Trust, https://ror.org/029chgv08, 221776/Z/2/Z, 227755/Z/23/Z Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, https://ror.org/00cwqg982, BB/X01097X/1 Diamond Light Source, MX32728
biorxiv.org
Not just for microscopists, but relevant to all technical specialists. Making the invisible visible: A global examination of careers and recognition for Imaging Scientists in core facilities - Thompson - Journal of Microscopy - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Making the invisible visible: A global examination of careers and recognition for Imaging Scientists in core facilities
Modern life-science research relies heavily on advanced imaging technologies, from microscopes that reveal the structure of cells to imaging systems used in biomedical research. These instruments are...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Interested in a *staff computational scientist* position? We are looking for an experienced computational biologist (ideally with microbiology experience) to support published packages while also driving new research. Pay range $73k-$111k w excellent benefits. careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...
Computational Biology Program Scientist
MIT - Computational Biology Program Scientist - Cambridge MA 02139
careers.peopleclick.com
Finally published. Many thanks to a wonderful collaborative team and scientific platforms!!! And thanks to editors and reviewers for enthusiasm and a great review. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A bacterial CARD–NLR-like immune system controls the release of gene transfer agents - Nature Microbiology
An immunity-like system functions as a lysis control hub to promote gene transfer agent particle release from host bacterial cells, suggesting that bacterial immune systems may be co-opted to promote ...
nature.com
Tung Le@tunglejic.bsky.social · last yr.1/ Excited to share our latest work on gene transfer agents (GTAs) in Caulobacter crescentus, led by Emma Banks in collaboration with Pavol Bardy and Mai Nguyen from York!!! See a brief thread below. shorturl.at/o6S1w
Bacterial rRNAs are highly modified, but their functions are often mysterious. Zac Park says that methylation of 16S rRNA by MraW(RsmH) enhances translation of structured mRNAs. Thus, mRNA structure and rRNA modifications likely co-evolved to fine-tune protein dosage. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
🚨Hear, hear, fellow microbial cell biologists!🚨 🦠 Bacterial and Archaeal Cell Biology will be represented again at this year’s CELL BIO (ASCB-EMBO) meeting! The deadline to be considered for a talk in our Minisymposium is June 9. Help us spread the word! www.ascb.org/cellbio2026/
Cell Bio 2023-An ASCB|EMBO Meeting
Network, learn, and collaborate with top cell biologists from around the globe.
ascb.org
Enantiomer sensing enables social avoidance by bacterial spores (of Bacillus subtilis) @cp-iscience.bsky.social from Gürol Süel www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
From forest floor to doctor’s office: the immunological journey of Borrelia burgdorferi through vertebrate hosts new review by Singh & Bankhead www.frontiersin.org/journals/imm... #MicroSky
The next International Conference on Gram-Positive Bacteria will take place between 29 June – 2 July 2027 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. #subtiwiki
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).
Having a hard time keeping up with the fast-moving field of origin of eukaryotes/Asgards archaea? Our new perspective article can help, we review the status of research over the last decade and where it's going. The archaeal roots of eukaryotic life www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
