While some might argue that the golden age of Streptomyces in antibiotic discovery has passed, these organisms can still surprise us 🦠🧫🔬🤓 #microbiology #antibiotics #NaturalProducts #MicroSky @nature.com doi.org/10.1038/s415...

A Streptomyces megacluster encodes synergistic biotin-targeting antibiotics - Nature

In Streptomyces spp., a conserved biosynthetic gene megacluster produces an arsenal of distinct antimicrobials that converge on bacterial biotin biosynthesis as a naturally evolved combination therapy...

doi.org

Molecular interplay between Integrative Mobile Elements exploiting Xer drives the evolution of cholera pandemics 🦠 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Out Now! Bacterial cell division protein FtsZ complexes with a phage protein to activate bacterial immunity #MicroSky

Bacterial cell division protein FtsZ complexes with a phage protein to activate bacterial immunity

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 12 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02384-6The activation of an antiphage defence system relies on host factors targeted by phages, a mechanism analogous to the way that eukaryotic innate immune systems detect pathogen-induced perturbations of host cells through effector-triggered immunity.

go.nature.com

Do plasmid-dependent phages enable the survival of costly plasmids? https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.01.729315v1

Genome replication and cell division control by the methylation-sensitive GcrA regulator in Agrobacterium tumefaciens https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.29.728657v1

Vibriophiles! Achtung! Come to Berlin Sept 13-16 to learn the latest about your favorite bacteria. Great speakers, great venue, great topics, great location (home of Robert Koch). Oral abstract deadline June 15. Please share. @asm.org @rki-de.bsky.social #Vibrio26 #VIS

1/ Excited to share our new paper in Science @science.org: “Toward life with a 19-amino acid alphabet through generative artificial intelligence design.” A great collab w/ Sergey's group @sokrypton.org at MIT @columbiasysbio.bsky.social science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🦠🧬🛠️🖥️💥

Toward life with a 19–amino acid alphabet through generative artificial intelligence design

Because all known living organisms are made from at least 20 canonical amino acids, the feasibility of life using a more simplified alphabet remains unclear. In this work, we leveraged computational d...

science.org

This one means a lot. Our paper, “Large extrachromosomal replicons are widespread across bacterial lineages and show coordinated replication termination and spatial coupling with the chromosome,” is out! doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Bacterial immune proteins have repeatedly evolved to become parts of eukaryotic immunity. But how? Our new preprint uncovers a recent horizontal transfer event & shows how eukaryotes co-opted a toxic bacterial immune protein 🦠🧪🧵 1/

Excited to share our discovery of a new programmable RNA-guided DNA-targeting system hiding inside bacteriophages that predates CRISPR. We call it VIPR (Viral Interference Programmable Repeat), and it uses an entirely new logic to find its targets. Thread + link below.

A new family of rolling-circle replication endonucleases widespread in archaeal viruses and plasmids. This family is unrelated to the HUH superfamily Reps, but distantly related to the bacterial Rep_trans enzymes. @narjournal.bsky.social academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Today Is the deadline for abstract submissions ‼️

Plasmid Society@plasmidsociety.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Please remember that the International Symposium on Plasmid Biology (ISPB 2026) will take place 7–11 September 2026 in Berlin, Germany! A great opportunity to meet, reconnect, and engage with the global plasmid biology community. 🤝 plasmid-biology-2026.de

Excited to share our new paper out today in @science.org 🎉 We show that HGT via natural competence drives diversification of chromosomal integrons in V. cholerae 🤩 Below a 🧵 on key findings incl. background on natural competence in V. cholerae 1/ #microsky #phagesky www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

📣Huge preprint 🔔 Today we share something our group has been working toward for a long time, led by @lucasmoriniere.bsky.social We asked can we predict which receptor a phage targets from its genome sequence alone? For most phages, we couldn’t. So Lucas set out to do something I had only dreamed of.

New preprint out on bioRxiv! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Can conjugative plasmids be used to control plasmid and pathogen spread? Follow me down the rabbit hole that led to this story 🧵

Nucleoid-binding protein RicO anchors replication origins to the membrane to ensure correct chromosome segregation in Staphylococcus aureus https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.06.710092v1

Yet another awesome single-phage paper from Ido Golding's lab #phagesky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Congratulations to Sonomi Yamaguchi for her paper at @nature.com. Sonomi discovered Clover defense and explained how nucleotide signals control each step of viral sensing, immune regulation, and viral restriction – named for her beautiful "four-leaf" structures 🍀 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller? Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase. 1/n

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand

The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

science.org

🚨 Hiring Alert! 🚨My lab at Institut Pasteur is recruiting several Postdocs! We have exciting open projects in: 🦠 Synthetic Biology and🛡️ Bacterial Immunity. Come do great science with us in the middle of Paris! 🇫🇷🥐 research.pasteur.fr/en/job/postd...

Postdoctoral position - Synthetic Biology / Bacterial Immunity - Research

The Bikard lab at Institut Pasteur in Paris is seeking to hire postdoctoral researchers. We are investigating bacteria / bacteriophages interactions, and the genetic innovation that happens at this in...

research.pasteur.fr

Deadline is approaching (Feb 9) to apply for a PI position at Institut Pasteur. Come join us and contribute to an amazing scientific environment!!!

Bacteria chromosomes contain Genomic Islands that provide virulence, antibiotic resistance, MGE-defence,... They transfer between cells, but the mechanism of most remains elusive. Here we explore the conjugative capacity of these mysterious Genomic Islands. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Creating bacterial genomic diversity through large-scale reconfigurations reveals phenotype robustness to organizational genome change doi.org/10.64898/202...

Do viruses use RNA to rewire bacteria? Yes! In our paper in @cp-molcell.bsky.social RIL-seq reveals interkingdom RNA interactions during λ infection. Phages don’t just encode proteins, they use small RNAs to hijack bacterial replication and fine-tune infection. #RNA #Phage doi.org/10.1016/j.mo...

Phage-encoded small RNA hijacks host replication machinery to support the phage lytic cycle

Using RIL-seq, Silverman et al. map the RNA interactome of E. coli during phage lambda infection and uncover a conserved phage-encoded sRNA that activates host replication machinery. Their findings re...

cell.com

#microsky #phagesky #phage www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Large-scale analysis of bacterial genomes reveals thousands of lytic phages - Nature Microbiology

Diverse genomes of lytic phages are found in bacterial assemblies, challenging assumptions about the nature of the lytic lifestyle.

nature.com

Bacterial genomes encode a rich repertoire of antiphage systems, but we still know surprisingly little about when these systems are actually expressed. In this preprint, Lucas Paoli et al, ask what shapes antiphage systems expression in native contexts. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Environment and physiology shape antiphage system expression

Bacteria and archaea encode on average ten antiphage systems. Quorum sensing, cellular, or transcription factors can regulate specific systems (CRISPR-Cas, CBASS). Yet, a systematic assessment of anti...

biorxiv.org

Our new paper on DusB’s role in redox metabolism in V. cholerae is now out in @narjournal.bsky.social linking tRNAmodif enzymes and metabolic adaptation. Beyond RNA modification: a tRNA-modifying enzyme shaping oxidative stress resilience and metabolism in V. cholerae #rnasky #rnabiology 😊🦠💫

Beyond RNA modification: a novel role for tRNA modifying enzyme in oxidative stress response and metabolism

Abstract. RNA modifications play a fundamental role in regulating essential cellular processes, including translation fidelity and stress adaptation. While

academic.oup.com

We've come full circle! I began my postdoctoral career by identifying the peptidyl deformylase gene. Today, we show that half of bacterial species harbor multiple PDF genes (up to 7, for always a single Met-tRNA transformylase), and while the role of these PDFs ... academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

Unraveling the Prevalence and Multifaceted Roles of Accessory Peptide Deformylases in Bacterial Adaptation and Resistance

Abstract. Peptide deformylases (PDFs) are enzymes that are essential for bacterial viability and attractive targets for antibiotic development. Yet, despit

academic.oup.com

Exciting opportunity @pasteur.fr for junior scientists aiming to create their research group !

Institut Pasteur | 130 years of biomedical research@pasteur.fr · 8mo ago

🔬 Call to create junior research groups at the Institut Pasteur Focus: Infectious diseases, host-microbe interactions, vaccines Special interest: AI methodologies 📅 Deadline: Feb 9, 2026 👥 2-12 years post-PhD Apply now 📝 research.pasteur.fr/en/call/crea... #JobOpportunity #Research