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

#microsky #phagesky The 3rd (? Lost track!) manuscript on a CRISPR/anti-CRISPR -based transposon tool to study gene essentiality in #phages www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Stacey and Jodi both completed their PhDs in 2008 - it was great to catch up

Looking forward to this meeting - will be great to catch up with old friends and hear about all the exciting new science in the archaea field!

Many thanks to @rutgerbregman.com for shining a light of moral purpose amid the encroaching darkness in four thought-provoking lectures. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...

Our story on plasmid streamlining is now published in PLoS Biology! With @andrewmatthews.bsky.social and @sonjalehtinen.bsky.social #MicroSky #Mevosky journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Because freedom of speech is curtailed in Europe 🤔

The top 10 people of 2025 @nature.com who shaped science. Recognizes Dr. Susan Monarez, the CDC Director who was "fired for holding the line on scientific integrity" www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

AI protein design marches on - very cool.

Diversity is a good thing - can we still say that?

yet more depressing craziness

Phages are full of genes of unknown function that are likely adaptive in specific conditions. New preprint: Phage TnSeq identifies essential genes rapidly and knocks all non-essentials. We would like to send a pool of phiKZ mutants to anyone wanting it! Reach out tinyurl.com/bdcfrejh

Fascinating, take a look at the thread

A great opportunity for aspiring PhD students

THE conference of 2026. Very glad to hear there's a zoom option, as I ain't setting foot in the USA in the next 3 years.

Our SPARHA story is out in Nature Communications! doi.org/10.1038/s414... We investigated a new short pAgo-HNH defense system, showing that it assembles into filaments degrading cellular DNA, inducing abortive infection, resolved their structure, and uncovered the activation mechanism 🧵

The Biology of Nucleus-Forming Jumbo Phages #phage #phagesky www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Come join us! Soon I will be advertising a postdoc vacancy in my group as part of my @erc.europa.eu AdG project 'DARK ROOTS'. Focus of the project will be on phylo- and metagenomic mining of novel prokaryotic lineages. I will soon post a link here - stay tuned, and please repost! #asgardarchaea

My lab is hiring postdocs! We combine AI, protein structure prediction and comparison, and high-throughput virology to study the virus-host conflict. You can read more about my lab's research here: jasonnomburg.com/research/ Apply here to join us in lovely Vienna! aithyra.onlyfy.jobs/job/0khkxp82

Hot, but very cool!

Now online at @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social from co-first authors @erinedoherty.bsky.social & @jnoms.bsky.social

Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🚨Preprint alert - this is a big one! We transfer the revolutionary power of TnSeq to bacteriophages. Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms. A thread 1/8

Is it a flagellate? A tiny ball with tentacles? Contamination in my ciliate culture? NEW SUPERGROUP OF EUKARYOTES? Yes to all 4! Meet Solarion - just out in #Nature doi.org/10.1038/s415... Huge congrats to Marek Valt, Cepicka Lab & the star team! Very happy to be part of this project. #ProtistsOnSky

🚨 PhD opportunity! 🚨 Join us at St Andrews to study how multiple prophages shape bacterial behaviour & AMR. Co-supervised with @tatianadimitriu.bsky.social This is a competition-based EASTBIO PhD. Full details and the application link are in the advert 👇 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

PhD studentship opportunity! Join us at St Andrews to study the factors controlling plasmid transmission in the gut. Competition-funded as part of the EASTBIO DTP, co-supervised with Dr Jaclyn Pearson. Please share & pass on to anyone interested! 🦠🧫 Deadline 15th December👇

Meet Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social, EMBO Young Investigator at @pasteur.fr #France: “The EMBO Young Investigator Programme has been developed by and for researchers,” she says. “It gives us access to some of the best #research infrastructures in the world.” 🧪 www.embo.org/people/build...

Akin to bacterial SIR2 antiphage proteins, human SIRal, also known as FAM118b, forms filaments that are essential for its NAD processing activity. Awesome to see structures of these filaments that differ from bacterial ones. Congrats to the authors on this beautiful study.

Just been trying out Nature Research Assistant beta, which analyses your manuscript drafts and suggests "improvements". Strong sub-editor vibes for me and I worry it will homogenise the literature - anyone else had a look?

Amazing piece of work from @rtoshiro.bsky.social & Kim Seed at UC Berkeley. 🙌 Played a tiny role in this work. Surviving phage attack dynamically regulates bacterial immunity to defeat counterdefenses www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our nuclease-protease story is out! We explored a fascinating case of coevolution and modularity in prokaryotic immune systems: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Thanks to wonderful coauthors/collaborators/friends, the whole @doudna-lab.bsky.social and everyone at @innovativegenomics.bsky.social

"incredibly humbled" is a phrase I'd hoped would have stayed over on X and not migrated to Bluesky.

📣 Calling all senior microbiology postdocs! The University of St Andrews is inviting applications from outstanding visionary Research Fellow and Future Leader candidates to attend a Biomolecular Science Fellowship Day. Applications due by 12th Dec, see link for full details: tinyurl.com/4n3na8vn

Better to know, I guess - great work from the Hobbs lab @uniofstandrews.bsky.social

Thanks! It was a very enjoyable visit and I learned a lot!

Thinking about your first steps to independent research? We'd love to hear from you. More details below, or contact me directly for details - reposts appreciated! www.nature.com/naturecareer...

This is something that is within our power

This has to be one of the most subtle signals activating a DS, it blows my mind that there are two different effectors capable of achieving this molecular recognition

Hi everyone, a few years ago, we started a list of labs studying bacterial immunty for students, editors, conference organizers... (currently n=79). Update time ! Send me a message to 1) add your lab or others 2) Correct info docs.google.com/spreadsheets... #Phagesky #Microsky

Very cool.

I’m thrilled to share our Retron Eco8 paper published in Molecular Cell today. Thanks all Fu lab members and our collaborators. 👉Phage SSB detection by retron Eco8 msDNA unleashes nuclease-mediated immunity. www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

#phagesky #phage

Please tell me what I'm missing here (other than SRM):

My home department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry at UC Irvine is looking to hire a new tenure-track assistant professor in the broad area of structural biology. Come be my colleague! recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09887

Perfect timing in the field for a beautiful review on NAD+ in bacterial immunity by @hugovaysset.bsky.social and @audeber.bsky.social @cp-molcell.bsky.social #MicroSky www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Rarely was an award more deserved

New preprint! Ever wondered why only a fraction of genomes encode CRISPR immunity? 🧬 🦠 Turns out CRISPR is rarely beneficial against virulent phages, being most beneficial against those for which resistance mutations are rare! An epic effort by Rosanna Wright www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...