I'm looking for an enthusiastic student to join my team as a PhD candidate on archaeal genome evolution 🦠💻 Work in beautiful Utrecht, at @binfutrecht.bsky.social, an international group full of caring, amazing scientists, and with frequent cake breaks! www.uu.nl/en/organisat... Please share! 🙏

Structural basis of biofilm formation mediated by the Pseudomonas aeruginosa fibrillar adhesin CdrA led by @olivia--smith.bsky.social Collaboration with @alexbateman1.bsky.social , Andres Floto and @geiselbiofilm.bsky.social labs

Interested in joining our group in Oxford? We are looking for a PDRA with single particle Cryo-EM experience to help us figure out how sphingolipids are transported to the cell surface of Gram-negative bacteria. The deadline is 31st July. Informal enquires are welcome. Please share!

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...

25 years at @maxplanck.de! (Really 40 years, if you count that I started my graduate studies exactly 40 years ago at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology under the guidance of my beloved mentor (and friend) Herbert Jäckle.)

Meet AbpX, a biomatrix protein from the hyperthermophile Pyrodictium abyssi. It forms Ca²⁺-triggered fibrils via donor strand complementation. Using cryo-EM + X-ray, we built a full lattice model and place AbpX in a new TasA superfamily clade. A very nice collaborative project! tinyurl.com/mryzcz4n

Out Now! Latent endogenous giant viruses drive active infection and inheritance in a multicellular algal host #MicroSky

Latent endogenous giant viruses drive active infection and inheritance in a multicellular algal host

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 13 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02361-zGiant endogenous viral elements integrated into the multicellular alga Ectocarpus are reactivated by specific temperature cues, driving productive latent viral infections.

go.nature.com

Happy to share our finding on Lys-toxicity in #cyanobacteria @plantphys.bsky.social by talented PhD #AndreasEnkerlin A collaboration w/ @linkmetabolism.bsky.social @mfeldbruegge.bsky.social @dfg.de @sfb1381.bsky.social @cmfi.bsky.social @hhu.de @mibinet.bsky.social academic.oup.com/plphys/artic...

Deciphering the metabolic details of L-lysine toxicity in cyanobacteria

Metabolomic analyses revealed that lysine rapidly disrupts the cell wall, energy homeostasis, amino acid balance, and photosynthesis in cyanobacteria, expl

academic.oup.com

You are an ambitious young scientist, on the verge to independence, in a research field related to our Cluster of Excellence @cmfi.bsky.social “Controlling Microbes to Fight Infections”? Join our vibrant, interactive scientific community in Tubingen. Repost and apply! www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Independent Junior Research Group Leaders (m/f/d) - Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg (DE) job with Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen | 12858473

The Cluster of Excellence EXC 2124 “Controlling Microbes to Fight Infections” (CMFI) at the University of Tübingen invites applications for Indepen...

nature.com

🧐Checkout our preprint revealing the stepwise firing💥 mechanism of a Contractile Injection System @xujwet.bsky.social&@chipericson.bsky.social trapped the complex by structure-guided engineering🧪 in multiple intermediate states and imaged them by multimodal #cryoEM❄️🔬 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Congratulations to Max Planck Research Group Leader Can Aztekin and his team on their new paper in @science.org. They have discovered how oxygen-sensing explains why amphibians regenerate limbs and mammals do not. Read the full press release here: tinyurl.com/bsuwmek6

When oxygen determines if a limb can regrow

Researchers show that mammals briefly activate regenerative programs after injury but shut them down too fast. Altering oxygen sensing keeps cells in a repair-ready state.

tinyurl.com

@canaztekin.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🚨 Why can’t mammals regenerate limbs like frog tadpoles or salamanders? In our new paper in @science.org , we show that species-specific oxygen sensing acts as a gatekeeper for initiating limb regeneration 🐭🐸 🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #EvoDevo

Our work on chromatin evolution in brown algae is finally out! This is also my first "co-first author" paper!! I’m excited to share what we found 👇

Nature Ecology & Evolution@natecoevo.nature.com · 4mo ago

Chromatin plays a central role in gene regulation, but chromatin systems are only known for a few model species. This study analyses chromatin regulatory landscapes in brown algal lineages to elucidate their structural organization and evolution 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Open postdoc position in my lab on HGT and interbacterial competition. We seek candidates with a PhD in microbiology (or related fields)+ strong 1st-author publications. Curious, highly motivated, and dedicated team players ready to contribute fully are encouraged to apply. Details: tiny.cc/cz01101

Open Positions

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tiny.cc

New review in @cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social on the fascinating world of chromatin organization in Asgard archaea. Very nice joint effort with @jvhooff.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Chromatin organization in Asgard archaea: histones, SMC complexes, and the archaeal roots of eukaryotic chromatin

The genomes of organisms across the tree of life are structurally and functionally organized into chromatin. In eukaryotes, within an organelle called…

sciencedirect.com

How much protein diversity can Life on Earth actually generate? With DIAMOND DeepClust, we show how billions of proteins across the tree of life can be clustered at low-identity for downstream analytics tasks. 📚Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 💻Code: github.com/bbuchfink/di...

Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating). A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)

Nature Portfolio@natureportfolio.nature.com · 5mo ago

A study in Nature shows that the single-celled form of a tiny, aquatic organism can turn into a multicellular version by three different routes. The discovery adds insight to the possible origins of multicellular life, suggesting a previously unrecognized degree of flexibility. 🧪

Another paper on a topic we never worked on before: a new ribosomal hibernation! Under the leadership of the super-postdoc Diorge, Davis Lab (ribo-cryoEM master), and @vikramalva.bsky.social (protein-evo whisperer), we identified AHA (not the song, but archaeal hibernation AMPKγ factor). (1/2)

Diorge Souza@diorgeps.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A new preprint from the @archaeon-alex.bsky.social and Joey Davis (MIT) labs! We solved the structure of the ribosome from the archaeon Haloferax volcanii and discovered a new highly conserved ribosome hibernation factor that we named AHA (AMPKγ–HPF from Archaea) 🧵⬇️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Have you ever wondered 🤔... Does phenotypic variance respond to environmental perturbation? Does it have a genetic basis? Are mean and variance regulating loci exposed to different selection pressures? These and more questions are explored in our new preprint 🔥 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Very cool work led by @diorgeps.bsky.social from the labs of @archaeon-alex.bsky.social & Joey Davis (MIT)! They solved the Haloferax volcanii ribosome and characterize AHA, a conserved archaeal hibernation factor. With several recent related preprints, it’s an exciting moment for the field!

Diorge Souza@diorgeps.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A new preprint from the @archaeon-alex.bsky.social and Joey Davis (MIT) labs! We solved the structure of the ribosome from the archaeon Haloferax volcanii and discovered a new highly conserved ribosome hibernation factor that we named AHA (AMPKγ–HPF from Archaea) 🧵⬇️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Please spread the word: the Structural Studies Division @mrclmb.bsky.social is looking for a new tenure-track, independent group leader with an exciting plan in any area of Structural (Molecular & Cell) biology, in discovery biology and/or methods development. 🥳 mrc.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...

Aarhus University is seeking a Tenure-Track Assistant/Associate Professor in Bioinformatics/Co… https://nat.au.dk/en/about-the-faculty/vacant-positions-and-career/job/tenure-track-assistant-professor-associate-professor-in-bioinformatics-and-or-computational-biology-at-aarhus-university-denmark #job

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor / Associate Professor in Bioinformatics and/or Computational Biology at Aarhus University, Denmark - Vacancy at Aarhus University

Vacancy at Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics - BiRC - Bioinformatics Research Center, Aarhus University

nat.au.dk

📣 New paper alert! This is a story of molecular tricks that let spirochetes (spiral-shaped bacteria) drill through tissue. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

One protein. One pathway. A whole germline fate. New paper from my postdoc @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social out in PNAS: Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus | PNAS

ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins are a highly conserved family of RNA-binding proteins that play central roles in gene regulation and developmental process...

pnas.org

We are hiring for group leaders again — EBI is a great place to start your research group! embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Hin...

Research Group Leader

Do you want to lead groundbreaking research in computational biology? Join us at EMBL-EBI! EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) is seeking talented and highly-motivated scientists to jo...

embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com

New manuscript alert. Turns out that calcium ion coordination may be a more common mechanism than we initially expected to trigger polymerization of extracellular filaments. @mikesleutel.bsky.social @vikramalva.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

From fibril to framework: P. abyssi AbpX illuminates a calcium-responsive family of microbial biomatrix proteins that form thermostable hydrogels

Evolutionary pressure on microbial communities propagating under extreme environmental conditions often results in unique structural adaptations to promote cell survival. Here, we report an investigat...

biorxiv.org

Excited to be at #SMBE2026 in Copenhagen! Don’t miss Symposium #17: “Unicellular organisms in major evolutionary transitions.” Registration is now open! #protistsonsky

Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution@official-smbe.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Organisers - Victoria Shabardina | @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social - @ankarn.bsky.social | University of Warsaw Invited Speaker - @vikramalva.bsky.social | @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social

📝 Abstract deadline: Tuesday, Feb 3, 2026. Let’s fill #SMBE2026 with #protistsonSky love!

The real drama of life happened "backstage" in the unicellular world. 🎭🧬 #protistsonSky Our postdoc Vika Shabardina is co-organizing this symposium with Annia (@ankarn.bsky.social). Two brilliant minds leading the evocell way! Plus, a talk by @vikramalva.bsky.social. 👇

Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution@official-smbe.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Organisers - Victoria Shabardina | @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social - @ankarn.bsky.social | University of Warsaw Invited Speaker - @vikramalva.bsky.social | @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social

Happy to share that our work on HLp, a bacterial histone from Leptospira perolatii, is now published in Nature Communications 🎉 In this study, we show that HLp forms stable tetramers that wrap ~60 bp of DNA, revealing a distinct histone–DNA organization in bacteria. www.nature.com/articles/s41...