Neisseria gonorrhoeae carries an unusually large number of restriction–modification systems (up to 16!), many of which are phase-variable. How does this affect plasmid transmission in gonococci? doi.org/10.64898/202...

A great paper. Perfect for non-experts like myself. So, can we definitively say that bacterial species follow the BSC model? Homologous recombination DOES "play a crucial role in maintaining species cohesiveness, much like sexual reproduction does in eukaryotes" www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New preprint from my lab (with Arya Kaul, @fernpizza.bsky.social, and @brinda.eu), in which we explore new genes hitchhiking on the beneficial deletion that fused them together, and find them in the LTEE, M. Tb/bovis, and across the bacterial tree of life

🚨 New paper from our lab in Cell Reports @cp-cellreports.bsky.social, led by Clara Douadi! We show that bacteriophages can cross the intestinal barrier, with increased translocation in Crohn's disease. 🔗 www.cell.com/cell-reports... Many thanks to all the authors!

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...

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/...

academic.oup.com/nar/article/... Collaboration with Y. Yamaichi. Killing donor bacteria in conjugation mixes using water enables transcriptomic profiling of early plasmid genes ! Superb tool for studying zygotic induction of these early genes, which include anti-SOS and anti-RM factors. #microsky

A membrane-sheathed flagellum! I had never heard of that www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Nice move @cnrs.fr From 2026, no more Web of Science. But is the community truly ready for qualitative evaluation? Hiring, promotions, grants… we’ve all been shaped by the metrics we grew up with. Changing the mindset is the real challenge and will take time.

A newly discovered archaeal cell has a tiny genome and can’t metabolize biomolecules. It’s upending biologists’ definition of a living thing. “These types of organisms have been found before, but not as extreme as this,” said microbiologist Thijs Ettema.

🧬🛡️How are new immune mechanisms created? We show how Lamassu antiphage system, originated from a DNA-repair complex and evolved into a compact and modular immune machine, wt Dinshaw Patel lab in @pnas.org. 👏 @matthieu-haudiquet.bsky.social, Arpita Chakravarti & all authors! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Kwun et al. test whether transformation is an efficient mechanism for deleting prophage despite sensitivity to the ssDNA imported by competence machinery, identifying key interfaces in the evolutionary arms race between prophage and their hosts. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf259 #evobio #molbio

Winter Is Coming: And the Earth’s oldest organisms are prepping. 🥶

I started studying phages just over 4 years ago. The project that started it all is finally published. We isolated 6 closely related anti-Acinetobacter phages and showed that they are not capsule-specific and can reduce bacterial load in a rat model. More work still to come on this! #phagesky #IDsky

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... A clever metabolic engineering framework in P. putida

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Nice phage host-range work with useful application

Our latest paper is out with @adiop.bsky.social and @gmdouglas.bsky.social. We analyzed the extent of homologous recombination between bacterial species (introgression) and how it affects species borders (it can vary a lot depending on the approach used to classify species!). rdcu.be/eQAMf

#microsky TraN variants mediate conjugation species specificity of IncA/C, IncH and Acinetobacter baumannii plasmids www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🦠 Phages (bacteria-killing viruses) aren't as picky as we thought. 5-10% can infect multiple bacterial species, even genetically distant ones. Potential implications for phage therapy against antibiotic-resistant infections 💊 @rkoszul.bsky.social study in Nature Microbiology #Phages

Cool work from our neighbors at @cultivarium.bsky.social using components from the POSSUM Toolkit! What will they (or you!) find next? Check out the toolkit here: www.addgene.org/kits/cultiva...

🚨New preprint out! We present a foundational genomic resource of human gut microbiome viruses. It delivers high-quality, deeply curated data spanning taxonomy, predicted hosts, structures, and functions, providing a reference for gut virome research. (1/8) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The impressive molecular details of the retroelement Eco8 defense activation, a protein-RNA-DNA complex in which all three play a part www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

A brand-new Gordon Conference on Microbiomes!🦠 The opening session (Jan 2026) dives into microbiome editing - how fundamental research and new technologies can advance human health and environmental sustainability. Super looking forward!🧪 #microsky #microbiomesky #grc www.grc.org/microbiome-e...

@prczhaoyansong.bsky.social’s deep dive into the dark matter of compost communities is now out 🎉 Genomic islands hijack jumbo phages—whose capsids enable transfer of large tracts of DNA—shedding new light on the scale & scope of phage-mediated gene flow 😎 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Our work on viruses and virus satellites of haloarchaea and their DPANN symbionts is out today in Nature Microbiology! @mkrupovic.bsky.social @deemteam.bsky.social @anagtz.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Phage defense is sometimes so convoluted 🙃

Excited to share our preprint led by Carlos Voogdt et al We developed new genetic tools & genome-wide libraries for species of the Bacteroidales order; constructed saturated barcoded transposon libraries in key representatives of three genera. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Phages evolve fast, or do they? In oysters, some stay identical for years. With >1,200 phages & 600 Vibrio genomes, we reveal long-term stability and new mobile elements. Proud of this collaborative work across our teams (Roscoff-UdeM and @epcrocha.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Another breakthrough work on the fascinating biology of Diversity Generating Retroelements by Jeff Miller’s team

Can we exploit past phage infection events (prophages) to decipher the specificity of phage receptor-binding proteins such as depolymerases?🔎 Happy to share our recent work at @natcomms.nature.com 🔽 #microsky #phagesky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

MIT says no to the Trump admin higher-ed compact clearly and emphatically. Other universities would be well served to read, remix, and respond similarly. "In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences." orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Type IV secretion systems: from structures to mechanisms Kévin Macé and colleagues summarize recent structural insights into the assembly and function of bacterial type IV secretion systems www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Biofilm formation mediated by a Type IV secretion system pilus www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Today in @nature.com , we highlight how a cousin of CRISPR-Cas10, mCpol, establishes an evolutionary trap in anti-phage immune systems. Check out @erinedoherty.bsky.social and my work from @doudna-lab.bsky.social lab here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

"Alignment" (aka fealty) is not a merit-review criteria. If ideology determines outcomes, our world-class federally funded research system will reward apparatchiks and loyalists while punishing opponents and critics. And then soon, it won't be world-class. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA 10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

🚨New paper out! #MicroSky Studying obligate predators like Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is tricky—essential genes for predation are also essential for survival. We expanded its genetic toolbox: 🧬promoters to fine-tune expression 🧬IPTG-inducible system 🧬CRISPRi for rapid knockdown bit.ly/46GUn2c 1/4

Delighted to share our recently published work! Ever wondered how Klebsiella (and others) deals with capsule production’s costs ? The paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... Thread👇

🚨New Review Out🚨 We explore how phage-antibiotic synergy can dismantle efflux-driven resistance in multidrug-resistant ESKAPEE pathogens. By reprogramming bacterial defences, phages offer a precision strategy to restore antibiotic efficacy. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Our paper on model cyanobacterial communities by @andrejakust.bsky.social is finally typeset and looks beautiful, check it out: academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

OMG this is it?! The final piece in the puzzle?!😲 tRNAs are the key, because archaic tRNAs sit at the core of all ribosomes. If aminoacyl-tRNAs could form on early Earth, you have a plausible route for the first self-replicators, the bridge from chemistry to biology www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Ever wondered why some bacteria have multiple CRISPR-Cas systems? Our new study led by Leah Smith shows how type I CRISPR systems can promote the acquisition and retention of new spacers into a co-occuring type III system. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

1/16 New pre-print from the Sternberg Lab! We uncover how temperate phages can use RNA-guided transcription factors to remodel the flagellar composition of their bacterial host and enhance their fitness. Find the preprint and full story here: tinyurl.com/mshwjd77

What a cool way to sort out massive information!