SchmitzStreitsLAB
@schmitzstreitslab.bsky.social
We are interested in #archaea,#regulation,#ncRNA,#smallproteins & novel biomolecules from nature, CAU Kiel https://www.mikrobio.uni-kiel.de/de/ag-schmitz-streit Views are our own
Starting with the DNA sequence of a #phage genome, #PholdAPhage will create a 3D reconstruction of the complete phage, almost like you did cryoEM on it! Check out Renee's awesome software github.com/reneegreen81... to assemble unknown phage particles one protein at a time
Biology has plenty of data—the challenge is making it usable. AllTheBacteria transforms 2.44 million public bacterial and archaeal genomes into an open, uniformly processed, searchable, AI-ready resource. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
AllTheBacteria: a community resource empowers biology and discovers novel peptide antibiotics
Public microbial genomes encode an immense record of biological diversity, evolution and molecular function, but much of this information remains difficult to reuse because raw sequencing data are not...
biorxiv.org
Out @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social, natural products meet bacterial immunity! We used genomics to identify lanthivirins: a family of >2,000 lanthipeptide BGCs that protect Actinobacteria against phages. Led by @hshomar.bsky.social & @mariegllm.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A family of lanthipeptides with anti-phage function
Bacteria produce natural products to adapt to their environments, with phage interactions as major ecological and evolutionary drivers. While some nat…
sciencedirect.com
Gabija restricts phage circularization & DNA replication Gabija prevents phage genome circularization & replication w/out impacting bacterial host. Exposed DNA ends & phage end-binding proteins license DNA targeting while RecBCD protects host from Gabija www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
Gabija restricts phage circularization and DNA replication
Gabija acts early during phage infection, preventing phage genome circularization and replication. Phage DNA end-binding proteins prevent RecBCD loading onto linear DNA, and the absence of RecBCD lice...
cell.com
As permafrost thaws, microbes are constantly exchanging pieces of DNA. Research in @natmicrobiol.nature.com suggests these genetic transfers help shape microbial communities and functions involved in carbon and nutrient cycling: spklr.io/63328EPuJ8 #microsky 🦠
Mobile genetic elements shape microbial diversity and functions in thawing permafrost soils - Nature Microbiology
An 8-year soil meta-omic time series shows how mobile genetic elements shape permafrost microbial diversity and impact a range of functions, including carbon and nutrient cycling.
spklr.io
📣 #JobAlert The Faculty of Biology of @uni-freiburg.de invites applications for a Professorship (W3) for Bioinformatics and Molecular Genetics. ❗ Application Deadline: 15 August, 2026 🔗 kurzlinks.de/roi8 #Biology #Bioinformatics #MolecularGenetics
Job Opportunity: #CNRS Chemistry - #InstitutPasteur Mid-Career Group Leader (Chemistry for Health) is open in Paris, France. This is a fantastic opportunity for a standout chemist to establish themselves in a world-class environment. research.pasteur.fr/en/call/mid-...
Mid-career Group Leader position in Chemistry for Health at Institut Pasteur, Paris - Research
Institut Pasteur and the CNRS are launching a joint call for a mid-career group leader position in Medicinal Chemistry and Chemistry for Health. We are looking for an experienced researcher (typically...
research.pasteur.fr
1/ Happy to share our preprint! The Mtr complex catalyses the second-to-last step of the methanogenesis and is an essential bioenergetic machine in most methanogenic archaea. Anaerobic cryo-EM of Mtr reveals a nitrogenase-like metallocluster bound at its active site! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Architecture of the 8 MDa Hdr–Vhu–Fwd super-assembly in class I methanogens #methanogens #methane #microbiology #MicroSky #ArchaeaSky @nature.com doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Architecture of the 8 MDa Hdr–Vhu–Fwd super-assembly in class I methanogens - Nature
The structure of the Hdr–Vhu–Fwd super-assembly reveals a lineage-specific and modular 8 MDa complex with the ability to adapt to diverse anaerobic niches.
doi.org
Excited to share that our Metis story is now published in Science! 🎉 Bacteria can sense phage-induced degradation of their genome and activate immunity. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this work. 📄 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... More details in my earlier thread 🧵⬇️
Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides
Phages often degrade the genome of their bacterial host to individual nucleotides. Here we describe Metis, a bacterial defense system that directly senses phage-mediated host genome degradation. Metis...
science.org
Osterman Ilya@ostermanilya.bsky.social · 9mo agoBacteria can sense when a virus starts shredding their genome — by detecting methylated mononucleotides. Here’s the story of how we discovered the Metis defense system 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our paper out in Science today: The Metis defense system senses molecular byproducts released when a phage degrades the bacterial genome, and then prevents replication of the phage in the infected cell Congratulations @ostermanilya.bsky.social and co-authors!
Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides
Phages often degrade the genome of their bacterial host to individual nucleotides. Here we describe Metis, a bacterial defense system that directly senses phage-mediated host genome degradation. Metis...
science.org
Osterman Ilya@ostermanilya.bsky.social · 4w agoExcited to share that our Metis story is now published in Science! 🎉 Bacteria can sense phage-induced degradation of their genome and activate immunity. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this work. 📄 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... More details in my earlier thread 🧵⬇️
Wonderful to hear Carl Stetter reminisce on the discovery of Archaea at MBoA2026
Humans and bacteria share strategies to defend against viruses. We wondered: could they use each other's genes? Yes, both can! Bacteria can use human immune genes to defend against phages AND Human cells can use bacterial genes for viral defense. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Bacterial and human exonucleases mediate interkingdom antiviral immunity
All kingdoms of life have developed strategies to limit viral infection. In humans, interferons induce a suite of antiviral factors that collectively provide immunity. Some human immune genes are homo...
biorxiv.org
What is the impact of phage biocontrol on plant immune responses and bacterial virulence? Very happy that this is out @cp-cellreports.bsky.social! @mibinet.bsky.social, @dfg.de, @fz-juelich.de, @hhu.de, @spp2330.bsky.social
Borjana Arsova@borjana-a.bsky.social · last mo. #Bacteriophages help sustainable plant protection ✅#Phages restore 🌱 growth during 🦠 infection. ✅🧬 shows ⬇️🌱immunity & ⬇️bacterial virulence. #Biocontroll #PlantSci 🧪 #PMI @frunzkelab.bsky.social @guidogrossmann.bsky.social @mibinet.bsky.social @fz-juelich.de www.cell.com/cell-reports...
@hifmb.de advertised 5 post-doc positions to work on social science / basic science interface, and here is a blog post to tell you why I care about this, and what it looks like: merenlab.org/blog/HIPP-on... Please spread the word if you can.
Five Postdocs, Five Questions: An Experiment in Transdisciplinary Thinking at HIFMB
Some personal notes on what we are trying to achieve, and how we are planning to achieve that
merenlab.org
Congratulations! 👏
Metaorganism Research@crc1182.bsky.social · last mo.The @erc.europa.eu is providing 2.5 million euros for the “CrypticBenefits” research project at @uni-kiel.de through an Advanced Grant #ERCAdG awarded to Prof. Hinrich Schulenburg. Congratulations to our spokesperson @schulenburglab.bsky.social! More: www.metaorganism-research.com/news/crc-118...
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
Out Now! Complex multicellularity is linked with expanded specialized metabolite production in microorganisms #MicroSky
Complex multicellularity is linked with expanded specialized metabolite production in microorganisms
Nature Microbiology, Published online: 26 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02385-5The evolutionary emergence of complex multicellularity in bacteria and fungi, such as the ability for mycelial growth, is strongly associated with increased genomic carriage of biosynthetic machinery for producing specialized chemical metabolites.
go.nature.com
Out Now! END nucleases are antiphage defence systems targeting multiple phages with modified genomes #MicroSky
END nucleases are antiphage defence systems targeting multiple phages with modified genomes
Nature Microbiology, Published online: 26 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02407-2The END nuclease targets eight phage families with at least ten different known DNA modifications, but not unmodified DNA. Its specificity is dictated by the C-terminal iEndoIII domain. To combat END, modified phages encode direct-binding inhibitors.
go.nature.com
Congratulations @athanasios-ppdpls.bsky.social and @mibinet.bsky.social!
Papadopoulos @ HHU@athanasios-ppdpls.bsky.social · last mo.Excited to share our latest publication!🚀🙏🏼🤩 We present ATPLyzer, an advanced ratiometric biosensor that is a clear step forward in sensor-related ATP-research, opening new perspectives for future applications. 📄 advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Excited to share our new preprint! 🧬❄️ by brilliant @mdreimann.bsky.social and great collaborators! Using cryo-ET&EM, we reveal archaeal chromatin in a near-native state: variable-beads-on-a-string fibers shaped by growth phase and histone composition #ArchaeaSky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#NatMicroPicks Hidden in plain sight! 💊🦠 Assessing overlooked minor compounds uncovered a new antibiotic, manikomycin, from well-studied Streptomyces species that kills bacteria by uniquely targeting the ribosomal E-site #MicroSky www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A natural depsipeptide antibiotic binds the E-site of the bacterial ribosome - Nature
Improved fractionation strategies can identify antibiotics with previously unseen scaffolds and mechanisms, exemplified by manikomycin from Streptomyces rimosus, which acts by targeting the E-site of ...
nature.com
🚨 Our Nature paper on Manikomycin is a Research Highlight in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. A new antibiotic. A new ribosomal target (E-site). Activity against MDR pathogens. doi.org/10.1038/d415...
New antibiotic targets novel ribosomal site
Discover the world’s best science and medicine | Nature.com
doi.org
Cultivation and molecular profiling reveal ammonia-oxidizing archaea as skin commensals #microbiology #archaea #ammonia #MicroSky @isme-microbes.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/isme...
Cultivation and molecular profiling reveal ammonia-oxidizing archaea as skin commensals
Abstract. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) have repeatedly been detected with molecular methods on human skin, yet their persistence, physiological traits,
doi.org
Ribosome hibernation in archea with HibA, with a bacterial line hpf/raiA domain rdcu.be/foDtr
A family of ribosome hibernation factors widespread in Archaea
Nature Communications - Ribosome hibernation preserves translation machinery during stress. Here, the authors identify a ribosome hibernation factor that is widespread in archaea and combines...
rdcu.be
How do pathogens disarm plant immunity? We discovered a widespread strategy used by plant bacterial pathogens: they directly cleave a conserved immune signaling molecule produced by plant immune receptors. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Preprint: Plant pathogens cleave 2’cADPR to suppress TIR immune signaling Inspired by knowledge on how phages inhibit bacterial immunity, we now show that disease-causing bacteria inhibit plant immunity in a similar way. A 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Plant pathogens cleave 2'cADPR to suppress TIR immune signaling
Small molecules produced by TIR (Toll-interleukin-1 receptor) domains are essential for plant immune signaling. A central TIR-derived signal is 2'cADPR, a cyclic ADP-ribose (ADPR) molecule that is gen...
biorxiv.org
How do human cells defend against viruses? @sgfern.bsky.social discovers that human immune proteins named ISGs target ancient features of replication shared between animal and bacterial viruses – opening analysis of human immunity to the power of bacterial genetics www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
