Happy Holidays from the Feaga Lab! Strain credit to Kevin England @kevinengland.bsky.social and streaking/photo credit Katrina Callan.

In this study, we highlight the importance of the base composition of the first codons for protein expression. An increased abundance of adenine (A) and a decrease in guanine (G) enhance expression and improve mRNA stability. The mediator of this effect is the ribosome.

CryoEM folks, If you want to handle huge STAR file efficiently in Python, please try starfile-rs! github.com/hanjinliu/star… Reading a motion data of a particle from a 15 MB file is just like this ↓🤩

A 1.25 A!!! cryo EM structure of rubisco.

Last X-Mas, the ribosome gave you methionine, but the very next day, MetAP took it away. This year, to save histones from tears, NatD gives you an acetyl group. ⭐️ Explore our latest paper with the Deuerling lab @uni-konstanz.de and Shu-ou Chan lab @caltech.edu! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

very unusual - a tRNA regulated anion channel

Just got word that we are a go for the Bacterial Cell Biology and Development GRS and GRC at Southern New Hampshire University! GRS will be on June 5-6, 2027 GRC will be from June 6-11, 2027 Block off your calendars Prokaryotic Cell Biologists! More details to come! Please repost!

🔽 !!??? #RNASky 🧪

Online Now: Hypoxia-induced ribosomal RNA modifications in the peptidyl-transferase center contribute to anaerobic growth of bacteria Online now:

The Gonzalez Lab at Columbia University is seeking a scientific leader! Join us in a Research Scientist position, driving single-molecule, structural, and biochemical studies of translation, translational control, and other RNA-based processes. Apply: apply.interfolio.com/176949

How plant mitochondria make their own proteins 🌱🔬 A new study published in @natcomms.nature.com reveals the structure of the cauliflower mitoribosome and a unique RsgA mechanism that blocks premature translation. ▶️https://nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65864-z #PlantBiology #CryoEM #Ribosome

GTPBP1 is a GTPase implicated in neurodevelopment. Our cryo-EM maps show GTPBP1 delivering tRNA to ribosome. Due to delayed GTPase dissociation, mRNA decoding is more stringent than with bona fide delivery factor eEF1A. Congrats to Denis Susorov and collab with Pestova lab! tinyurl.com/3smdvt3v

New preprint out! Our latest work on how ZAKα is activated by stalled or/and collided ribosomes is now online🎉. #Ribosome #RibotoxicStressResponse #ZAKα #Translation #mRNA www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our study on the molecular function of translational activators for mitochondrial protein synthesis is published: rdcu.be/eSWxT A great collaboration with @stirlingchurchman.bsky.social and @sshaolab.bsky.social with structural work from our @pelleeas.bsky.social Funded by @kawresearch.bsky.social

The epitranscriptome formed by the growing number of modifications occurring within mRNA transcripts. We have been mapping mRNA modifications for over a decade. => Characterizing their functions -- especially on translation -- is a research frontier.

Using "in extracto cryo-EM", we visualize ribosomes in mammalian lysates, including RRL. "Hibernating" ribosomes carry an extended set of proteins that protect functional centers. These include elongation factor eEF2, LARP1 implicated in mTOR signaling, eIF5A etc. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Check out our paper on nucleosome positioning by our favorite remodeler INO80 in a collaboration with the Bartholomew Lab, finally out in MolCell 🧬 kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

#Ribosome #hibernation 🧪

My quote of the day For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. H. L. Mencken

📣Publication alert! A team led by Roland Beckmann shows: Ribosome collisions activate the kinase ZAK and thus trigger the ribotoxic stress response — a key mechanism of the cellular stress defense. More about it here👇 www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...

Check out our latest work on how collided ribosomes activate the MAP3K ZAK! 💫 www.nature.com/articles/s41... A fun collaboration with @beckmannlab.bsky.social @doubleshuang.bsky.social

Evolutionary Flexibility of Ribosome Biogenesis in Bacteria | Molecular Biology and Evolution | Oxford Academic https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/42/11/msaf288/8340222?login=false

How does the kinase ZAK sense ribosome collisions? Find out in our latest collaboration with the @greenlab.bsky.social @doubleshuang.bsky.social @Vienna Huso: 1/4 rdcu.be/eRmJl #ribosome #cryoEM #LMU #JHMI

Bacteriologists - save the date for the next BacNet meeting in September 2026 #BacNet26 organised by @lalouxlab.bsky.social

Registration is open for "The complex life of #RNA" 2026 @embl.org in Heidelberg! Excellent invited speakers and 30 short talks and even more flash talks selected from the abstracts!

Are you looking to establish yourself as a scientific group leader? BRIC is recruiting 1-2 junior group leaders to join our research centre in the heart of Copenhagen. See more at www.bric.ku.dk Please repost and get in touch if you are curious.

Two M. tuberculosis RelE toxins don’t cut mRNA, they slice 16S rRNA itself, shutting down translation in a totally unexpected way, new study reveals. A big leap in understanding TB’s survival tricks and new angles for therapies. 📖 shorturl.at/Z8MVX ✍️ @genevauxpierre.bsky.social & coll. #MicroSky

Excited about Kolya Aleksashin's new work, enabling preparation of active in vitro translation systems from primary human cells and difficult-to-edit cells (fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes). This opens new opportunities to probe mechanisms of translation regulation. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Termination of the integrated stress response | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🎉Thrilled to share that our lab has been awarded an ERC Synergy Grant @erc.europa.eu! Excited for amazing collaborations with the Pertschy (Uni Graz), Henras (CBI Toulouse), and Woodson (Johns Hopkins) labs. #ERCSyG #GeneCenter #LMU #UniGraz #CNRS #JohnsHopkins

Next Codon Usage Meeting, May 31st to June 3rd, 2026 in Montreal right after the RNA Society Meeting. The list of speakers will be up soon. sites.google.com/view/codonus...

The evolution lifecycle of ribosome hibernation factors https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.04.686544v1

📢 Open Call! The Max Perutz Labs invite applications for a Full Professorship in Integrative Structure Biology with a focus on in situ structural biology using cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and related methods. More details ➡️ tinyurl.com/brswbymu

#GetTheMessage - Did you know? After 300+ days in the hospital, Baby KJ went home—sitting up, waving, and growing. His parents were once told to consider end-of-life care. Now they're watching him thrive, thanks to mRNA technology. www.chop.edu/news/worlds-...

It was a fantastic mini-ribosome meeting with great science, lots of historical anecdotes and speeches as well as Swedish singing. Nice to catch up with old friends and make new ones! Special thanks to Suparna, Maria Selmer and Magnus Johansson for the organization!

Sweden: celebrating structural biology & protein synthesis! Saluting Anders Liljas & Måns Ehrenberg for years of shaping discoveries and service to the Nobel committee. Friends and colleagues gathering to discuss transformative advances and how to push the boundaries next.

EF-G variants (fusA mutants) slow down ribosome translocation only when the ribosome is bound by an aminoglycoside => the antibiotic isn’t displaced, but translation on that ribosome is effectively stalled 🦠 rdcu.be/eNt96

25 years on from publishing the structure of the bacterial 30S ribosomal subunit, alumni, collaborators & friends of Venki Ramakrishnan’s group joined us for a symposium celebrating the legacy of this work. Read about the event and find photos here: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/25-years-of-... #LMBNews

In @nature.com: Using AI and other cutting-edge techniques, the Klinge lab has captured the first near-continuous "molecular movie" of ribosome formation—revealing, frame by frame, how cells build the protein factories that make life possible. More here: https://bit.ly/3LbHTaF

Finally out in print! Long time project with @olexandr.bsky.social and the PHENIX group. Refinement of X-ray and CryoEM structures, using Machine Learned Potentials as the back end to help fitting. This fulfills the old dream of doing QM refinement, but very very cheap www.nature.com/articles/s41...

End-to-end automation of repeat-target cryo-EM structure determination in CryoSPARC https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.17.682689v1

🚨 Abstract submission extended to Oct 21! Join us for the Austrian Cryo-EM Symposium (Nov 11–12) at @istaresearch.bsky.social / ISTA 🇦🇹 Explore cutting-edge cryo-EM, meet top speakers, and visit beautiful Vienna. 👉 cryoem-symposium.pages.ist.ac.at

We are hiring…position suitable for PhD student with interest in ribosomes, antibiotics and cryoEM… www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...