1st genome sequenced (Sanger 1977), 1st genome synthesised (Venter 2003), 1st genome + proteome fully mutated (Huijin Xiangua 2026!) @crg.eu @sangerinstitute.bsky.social Complete Mutagenesis of the Genome and Proteome of ΦX174 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Complete Mutagenesis of the Genome and Proteome of ΦX174

The bacteriophage ΦX174 was the first genome to be sequenced and the first to be chemically synthesised. Here we present a complete map of the consequences of changing every nucleotide in the ΦX174 ge...

biorxiv.org

Riboseek is a fast RNA/DNA search. More sensitive than nhmmer at 250x speed. Structure-aware realignment produces MSAs approaching rMSA quality. Plus 1.7M precomputed RNA MSAs, and an API to search your own 📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 💾 github.com/steineggerla... 🌐 search.foldseek.com/riboseek

DNA polymerization activates RNA cleavage of a reverse transcriptase–like antiviral enzyme www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

DNA polymerization activates RNA cleavage of a reverse transcriptase–like antiviral enzyme

Defense-associated reverse transcriptases (DRTs) transcribe noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) for antiviral defense, but the mechanisms of ncRNA-independent DRTs remain unclear. In this work, we show that a sin...

science.org

Out Now! Cell-autonomous immunity as an integrated immune network against bacterial and viral pathogens #MicroSky

Cell-autonomous immunity as an integrated immune network against bacterial and viral pathogens

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 30 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02428-xThis Review summarizes the current knowledge about the cell-intrinsic factors that act against pathogenic bacteria and viruses and the immune evasion strategies that pathogens have to counteract cell-autonomous immunity.

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We’re so excited to share our new paper, where we tackle the wealth of structural and functional diversity of anti-phage sensors across bacteria (1/6)

Nature@nature.com · last wk.

Nature research paper: Diverse bacterial pattern recognition receptors sense the core phage proteome go.nature.com/45fpXCZ

Nature research paper: Diverse bacterial pattern recognition receptors sense the core phage proteome go.nature.com/45fpXCZ

Diverse bacterial pattern recognition receptors sense the core phage proteome - Nature

Systematic analysis of prokaryotic STAND NTPases — relatives of animal and plant immune receptors — uncovers diverse antiviral sensors that detect most of the core structural and replicative proteins of bacteriophages.

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Some bacteria use the CRISPR/Cas systems as transcriptional repressors of other anti-phage systems, such that when CRISPR interfered with, gene expression of repressed anti-phage systems goes up www.nature.com/articles/s41...

CRISPR–Cas regulates expression of embedded anti-phage defence systems - Nature

CRISPR–Cas systems transcriptionally tune diverse innate defences using CRISPR RNA-like guides to balance antiviral protection with fitness, and hyperactivate these defences when compromised, establis...

nature.com

🔥My first (co)first-author paper is out🔥 The surfaces of Gram+ and Gram- bacteria are markedly different from each other. How are phages equipped to breach the Gram+ envelope❓ 💡We report a baseplate structure uniquely adapted to infect Gram+ S. aureus. A 🧵⬇️ 1/8 #phagesky #cryoEM 🧪

Happy to share the first preprint out of the Nomburg lab! Many aspects of cellular immunity are shared across the tree of life. Here, we show that some of these conserved aspects of cellular immunity are mirrored by conserved effectors of immune antagonism. Thread below! 1/15

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 2w ago

Conserved folds enable immune antagonism across the tree of life https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.21.739742v1

1/4 Every good defence needs a backup! 🛡️⚔ Out now in @natrevmicro.nature.com our Comment on "𝗶𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴"! 🎉 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Immune safeguarding as a conserved principle of antiviral defence - Nature Reviews Microbiology

All organisms defend against viral infections through active immunity mechanisms that clear the virus or population-level mechanisms that cause regulated cell death. Recent research increasingly shows...

nature.com

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

These microbial clusters can eject “escape pods” to survive. Learn more: https://scim.ag/4gJ8WrE

A family of lanthipeptides with anti-phage function Discovery of 2,000+ lanthipeptide biosynthetic gene clusters with anti-phage potential. Lanthivirins inhibit phage replication by targeting phage proteins & interfering with phage DNA replication. www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

A family of lanthipeptides with anti-phage function

Shomar, Guillaume, et al. report the genomics-driven discovery of a family of more than 2,000 lanthipeptide biosynthetic gene clusters with anti-phage potential. They experimentally demonstrate anti-p...

cell.com

Thrilled to share our collab led by Grace Hibshman with the Shipman lab! Type IX retron-Kva2 structure reveals phage detection via an HTH fold, not a primary sequence. We computationally designed triggers that program bacteria cell death, pointing toward designer antimicrobials.

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

Missing link between prokaryotic immune systems Phylogenetic analysis of YprA (widespread helicases) reveals distinct class of defense systems-ARMADA-that connect DISARM & Druantia. ARMADA protects against diverse phages, synergizing w/Druantia III www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

YprA-family helicases provide the missing link between diverse prokaryotic immune systems

YprA-family helicases represent a key hub in the prokaryotic defense network. Through phylogenetic analysis of YprA, Bell and colleagues identify a distinct class of defense systems, called ARMADA. AR...

cell.com

Ilya Osterman is opening a new lab at EMBL Hamburg and is now hiring. Highly recommended - a fantastic opportunity to do top-notch science in phage biology and bacterial immunity

Osterman Ilya@ostermanilya.bsky.social · 3w ago

🚨 We're hiring! My new lab at EMBL Hamburg is looking for a Research Technician. I'm looking for someone excited by phages, metabolism, enzymes, structural biology and bacterial immunity—if you know the right person, please share this post!🧵⬇️ Apply here: embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...

A study published in Nature identifies distinct neuronal populations in the frontotemporal cortex that capture both syntactic and semantic properties of language. These neurons dynamically incorporate sentence context, enhancing our understanding of language processing. 🧪 #Neuroscience

Mapping the neuronal building blocks of human language with language models - Nature

Wide-scale recordings reveal neurons in the human brain that encode fundamental components of language such as the grammatical relationships between words, their parts of speech and the higher-order syntactic structure of phrases and sentences.

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Thrilled to share! We present the structure of a prototypical P2 OLD and reveal that its tRNAse activity is triggered by ssDNA hairpins in phage origins or unresolved termini in RecBCD-deficient cells. Great team effort with Wang, Bikard & Nudler labs. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

OLD sentinel: an abortive tRNase surveys phage replication and DNA defects in RecBCD-compromised cells

OLD, an abortive immunity protein from prophage P2, consists of an ABC ATPase sensor and a TO-PRIM nuclease effector - a core architecture shared by a large protein family, including components of ant...

biorxiv.org

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 ago

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 🧵⬇️

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 ago

Bacteria 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...

🚨Defense systems against conjugative plasmids can kill recipient cells, like abortive infection against phages. Massive effort from very talented Ludovic Poiré (@ludopoire.bsky.social) in the Charpentier lab at @ciri-lyon.bsky.social ! Very happy our team could contribute w @julie-bltk.bsky.social

Xavier Charpentier@labxc.bsky.social · 4w ago

#microsky New preprint from the lab! Widespread immune systems protect bacteria against conjugative plasmids www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Kudos to the extremely talented lead author Ludovic Poiré! Key contributions by @francoisrousset.bsky.social and also help from C. Lesterlin/TacC lab. 🧵⬇️

Discovery of bacterial immunity against plasmid conjugation. Massive effort, impressive work

Xavier Charpentier@labxc.bsky.social · 4w ago

#microsky New preprint from the lab! Widespread immune systems protect bacteria against conjugative plasmids www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Kudos to the extremely talented lead author Ludovic Poiré! Key contributions by @francoisrousset.bsky.social and also help from C. Lesterlin/TacC lab. 🧵⬇️

www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Membrane protein solubilization and structure determination using de novo–designed proteins

Developing therapies and vaccines against integral membrane proteins is hindered by their extensive hydrophobic surfaces, which complicate production and structural analysis. Here, we describe a gener...

science.org

Widespread immune systems protect bacteria against conjugative plasmids https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.06.735840v1

Nature research paper: Targeted enzyme discovery using metal-coordination mining go.nature.com/3SCD8e6

Targeted enzyme discovery using metal-coordination mining - Nature

A methodology for mining protein structure databases on the basis of the distinct intrinsic structures of metal-binding active sites in enzymes enables the discovery of new families of radical halogenases.

go.nature.com

8 hours. That’s all fish need to heal wounds 🐟⏱️ Why are they so fast compared to humans? I break down the science of rapid regeneration in a microscopy story 🔬 Watch here: youtu.be/Mt9f61adaP0 #FluorescenceFriday #Microscopy

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

New preprint from @courtneyrsantos.bsky.social and @kvnforsberg.bsky.social discovering human ISGs are sufficient to block phage replication in bacteria! Amazing to see such strong phenotypes especially against RNA phages: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A step forward in discovering Buchnera's key to the aphid's heart, published today! Thanks to Jerry Maeda and other authors--a great team -- and to the helpful reviewers #SymbioSky doi: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

A secreted endosymbiont protein essential for colonizing host cells - Nature

SyeA was present in the Buchnera ancestor, is secreted into the host cytoplasm, is homologous to secreted effectors of bacterial pathogens and is essential for Buchnera transmission.

doi.org