Something a bit different from the Gruber lab: More than 10 years ago, we (and others) tried to linearize the B. subtilis chromosome using a phage telomere (successfully used before in E. coli). But it did not work.

Happy to share our latest work. Wadjet-I SMC hinges are gates allowing selective bypass of obstacles connected through ssDNA BUT are dispensable for extrusion of naked DNA. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Yet another preprint from the lab—this one is personal. During my PhD, I ended up working on the cohesin SMC hinge, showing its role in sister chromatid cohesion and proposing it as a DNA entry gate in the SMC ring. But the details have remained mysterious and controversial.

The SMC Hinge is a Selective Gate for Obstacle Bypass https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.17.643644v1

The plasmids described in our recent ‘4G-cloning’ paper for multi-subunit complex expression (www.life-science-alliance.org/content/8/1/...) are now available from @addgene.bsky.social (www.addgene.org/search/catal...). Thanks to Addgene for distribution in this convenient and affordable format!

If your new year resolution is doing a PhD, there is still time left to apply for a project in my group looking at how the condensin complex undergoes such large conformational changes while making loops. I mean look at how cool the starting model is:

Preprint suggesting that (monomeric) SMC motors are asymmetric DNA loop extruders (with some being able to change direction). In our hands, this surprisingly includes Smc5/6 (unlike previously found) t.co/5GTyutD5o7 from Roman, C. Dekker and Jan-Michael Peters labs (& little contribution from us)

First preprint 📢 on bsky: New work on the Wadjet defence system by @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social & @drhonsworth.bsky.social revealing beautiful & exciting structures of JET on plasmid DNA. With loop extrusion, obstacles, DNA bending, kinking, cleavage 🦠🧫 🧪 t.co/RaO7IO3zDk  With help from @DCI_Lausanne