One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “A broadly conserved gram-positive lipoprotein regulates cell elongation.” Explore the article here: https://ow.ly/Jjmw50ZkGem For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/UyOi50ZkGeg.

🚨 New in @natmicrobiol.nature.com! We reveal how the antibiotic target PBP1b fortifies the E.coli division site against osmotic rupture. Proud this was completed in our independent labs @dmf-unil.bsky.social, with @avettiger.bsky.social. Congratulations to all authors! 🦠❄️🔬 #teamtomo bit.ly/3SCbOg1 👇

Another chapter of my thesis is out! We asked whether we could pair proteome-wide AlphaFold screening with Tn-seq to identify biologically relevant protein-protein interactions. We identify ClcR (formerly YerH) as a component of the Rod complex in Gram-positive bacteria. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Microbial GAIN domains undergo autoproteolysis and enable release of diverse cell surface associated proteins https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.12.724683v1

My latest work! We found that the autoproteolytic GAIN domain which mediates force responsive signaling in adhesion GPCRs is not unique to eukaryotes. The microbial counterparts anchor diverse adhesion, enzymatic, and toxin domains to the cell surface, enabling release by likely mechanical stimuli.

Ph.D. finished! So many people to thank (pictured) but especially B. subtilis (& S. aureus & B. anthracis) (not pictured)

Happy to share the finalized version of my paper on phage lysis in bacteria with unique envelopes! 🎉 Bacteriophages target membrane-anchored glycopolymers to promote host cell lysis and progeny release www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Delighted to share our latest work on gene transfer agents (GTAs). We found a lysis control hub which allows GTAs to escape their bacterial host cells and transfer DNA 🧬 between bacteria. Thanks to @tunglejic.bsky.social, all co-authors, and our amazing collaborators! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Repurposing of a DNA segregation machinery into a cytoskeletal system controlling cell shape | Science www.science.org/eprint/JCFZX...

A potential role for acyl-phosphate in the coordination of phospholipid and lipopolysaccharide synthesis in Escherichia coli https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.13.711678v1

The moment you’ve all been waiting for… 🦠 SAVE THE DATE! 🦠 BBM2026 will be held from June 22nd - 23rd at Boston University’s George Sherman Union. Our featured speaker this year is Dr. Eric Skaar from Vanderbilt University! Registration opens soon! More info at: bostonbacterial.org #BBM2026

Unlike other #bacteria, C. difficile must detect both germinant & co-germinant signals to trigger #spore #germination. This study finds that the CspC:CspA complex is a key signaling node that integrates environmental cues to regulate #Cdifficile spore germination @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4rtCKdZ

Great new story from Sophie Helaine and Molly Sargen! www.helainelab.com

Fer’s tour de force in B. anthracis is out! Fer got Tn-seq running, built an ordered knockout library, defined all essential sporulation genes, and found a peptidoglycan deacetylase inhibitor critical for engulfment. Including our first one-by-all Alphafold screen! journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Identification of sporulation genes in Bacillus anthracis highlights similarities and significant differences with Bacillus subtilis @plosbiology.org from David Rudner journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Thrilled to share that the final piece of my PhD work is now on bioRxiv! biorxiv.org/content/10.1... With support from @nvidia and the @NSF, we used AlphaFold to screen 1.6M+ protein pairs, revealing thousands of potential novel PPIs. All data can be viewed at predictomes.org/hp

Identification of genetic interactions in Bacillus subtilis cell division. Congratulations, Byoung-Mo Koo, Carol Gross, and all involved! @cp-cellsystems.bsky.social #subtiwiki www.cell.com/cell-systems...

Dual transposon sequencing profiles the genetic interaction landscape in bacteria | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#microsky We challenge the long-standing view that peptidoglycan alone protects cells from bursting. Our study shows that the periplasm — enclosed by OM–PG connections — acts as a pressure buffer essential for osmoprotection in Gram-negative bacteria. 📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The #SubtiWiki Paper of the month for June 2025 has been selected. Congratulations, @apbrogan.bsky.social @ @harvardmed.bsky.social @natmicrobiol.nature.com subtiwiki.uni-goettingen.de/wiki/index.p...

🚨Out now! Cyclic-di-AMP modulates cellular turgor in response to defects in bacterial cell wall synthesis @harvardmicro.bsky.social #MicroSky 🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Brogan et al uncover a signaling pathway in which levels of the nucleotide second messenger c-di-AMP increase in response to defects in cell wall synthesis. This regulatory pathway decreases the cytoplasmic turgor pressure and protects the cell from lysis: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Very happy to share that a large part of my thesis work is out today: B. subtilis uses the second messenger c-di-AMP to modulate its turgor pressure in response to the state of its cell envelope. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I’m excited that the work by Diego Ramirez and Lei Yin is out, where they gained several key insights into what provides the force underlying bacterial cell division doi.org/10.1101/2025.... To divide, cells must first bend the membrane inward, a process that’s energetically expensive

🚨👉 Please check our recent work on bacterial cell division. In situ Cryo-ET reveals the cellular function of the penicillin binding protein 1b supported by AFM, live-cell imaging, in silico AlphaFold proteome screen and TIRFM. Hope you enjoy the read! #teamtomo #cryo-ET ❄️🔬🐎 big thanks to the team!

Very excited to share that my thesis work is out in Molecular Cell! We trained a Structure and Omics informed Classifier (SPOC) to score binary AlphaFold multimer (AF-M) predictions by structural quality and consistency with experimental omics datasets. www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

SAVE THE DATE ‼️ 📆 📢 BBM 2025 will be held on June 9-10th at the Harvard Science Center feat. the one and only Dr. Petra Levin as keynote! We can't wait to see you there. Registration and scholarship applications open next week.

Angelika Gründling’s work from her sabbatical in the Bernhardt-Rudner labs is out. She came with the goal of finding the missing G+ phosphatidylglycerol phosphate phosphatase and found it with time to spare. I can also highly recommend her as a bay mate! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

HARIBO bacter for happy holidays