New breakthrough in @NucleicAcidsRes! Transcriptional Interference (TI) protects Nostoc PCC7120🦠from toxic gene expression. This is the first independent proof that TI can be monitored in vivo via the rifi R-package. doi.org/10.1093/nar/..., doi.org/10.1038/s420...

NAR Breakthrough Article: Antisense RNA controls the degradation of phycobilisomes in heterocyst-forming cyanobacteria by a transcriptional interference mechanism: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Accurate RNA structure prediction remains a challenge, despite recent computational advances. This study presents DRFold2, a #DeepLearning framework that significantly enhances accuracy of de novo #RNAstructure prediction by increasing contact prediction precision @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4aoOQiX

A new + interesting paper on the guanidine riboswitch in Synechocystis and other cyanobacteria: "Deciphering guanidine assimilation and ri"boswitch-based gene regulation in cyanobacteria for synthetic biology applications" | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Riding a train in China, returning from the ISPP 2025 and the Green Carbon conference.

„RAPDOR: Using Jensen-Shannon Distance for the computational analysis of complex proteomics dataset“ rdcu.be/eImcr : 11 authors from 3 labs. Many thanks to all for making this possible!

How to search for unknown RNA-binding proteins? We did GradR in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803. And now our paper „RAPDOR: Using Jensen-Shannon Distance for the computational analysis of complex proteomics dataset“ is finally out in Nature Communications, here: rdcu.be/eImcr .

Riding a train in Lithuania.

RNA-binding proteins and photosynthesis: The RRM domain–containing protein Rbp3 interacts with ribosomes and the 3’ ends of mRNAs encoding photosynthesis proteins | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Inorganic carbon levels regulate growth via SigC signaling cascade in cyanobacteria - Kurkela - New Phytologist - Wiley Online Library nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

How are fully submerged algae efficiently fixing carbon? All organisms performing oxygenic photosynthesis fix CO2 in the Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle using RubisCO. But aquatic organisms have a challenge.

Out now: Cyanobacterial Argonautes and Cas4 family nucleases cooperate to interfere with invading DNA cell.com/molecular-ce... Most long-A pAgos interfere with invading DNA solo. Why then are cyanobacterial pAgos co-encoded with a Cas4-like protein?

Just three days left for the deadline for oral abstract submissions for the 15th Workshop on Cyanobacteria at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN, USA) - don't miss out! Workshop dates: 4-7th June 2025. More information: web.cvent.com/event/3d0bd3.... Please share widely!

TIGR-Tas: A new family of modular RNA-guided DNA-targeting systems in prokaryotes and their viruses: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🚨 New #Breakthrough article from @holmqvist-lab.bsky.social: "ProQ prevents mRNA degradation through inhibition of poly(A) polymerase" #RNA #Stability #Degredation #mRNA 📖 Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaf103

Why did chloroplasts retain some genes from their free-living ancestors rather than transferring all of them to the nucleus following endosymbiosis? We suggest that mRNA targeting might play a role. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Would you expect that Bacteria use an archaellum for swimming? We didn't, but we found that some Chloroflexota do! Find the story here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A little thread below 1/n

🅲🅾🅾🅻 🆃🅴🅲🅷🅽🅾🅻🅾🅶🆈 “Bacterial-MERFISH” provides ~1000-fold volumetric expansion of individual cells, charts gene expression in hundreds of thousands of cells, deciphering bacterial single-cell heterogeneity, intracellular transcriptome organization, and bacterial adaptation to µm-scale niches in vivo

Multicellularity is a key feature of complex life, but how to study multicellularity in bacteria and at the single cell level? Use advanced microscopy, MS imaging, flow cytometry, spatial and single-cell transcriptomics, advanced microfluidics and more. See here: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Mark your calendars for next Tuesday: Tel Aviv University's Prof. Eilon Shani will present a #CRISPR -based toolkit that targets multiple genes at a genome-wide scale, addressing functional overlap in genetic systems and to uncover hidden mechanisms behind hormone transport. kurzlinks.de/fprn

The conformational space of RNase P RNA in solution using atomic force microscopy: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Not all bacteria, even of a single species, are created equal. Nor are they always unicellular. Some cyanobacteria develop heterocysts and fix nitrogen. GradR/R-DeeP analysis identified new RNA-binding proteins. Some were previously known for other functions. Others were completely uncharacterized.

R-DeeP/TripepSVM identifies the RNA-binding OB-fold-like protein PatR as regulator of heterocyst patterning. academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...

We are looking for a new colleague :) Please spread the word!

ISPP-18, the "International Symposium on Phototrophic Prokaryotes" will take place September 8-12, 2025. This is the best conference in the world to learn about recent research in photosynthetic prokaryotes. Only every 3 years. Registration for ISPP-18 is now open. ispp2025-qingdao.com

How Small Proteins Adjust the Metabolism of Cyanobacteria Under Stress: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

The structure of Zorya is mind-blowing 🙀 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Integration of horizontally acquired light-harvesting genes into an ancestral regulatory network in the cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina MBIC11017 | mBio journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

I love this tradition at @biologyunifreiburg.bsky.social, every December the student representatives visit each floor and sing Christmas carols for us.

Cytosine N4-methylation by the DNA methyltransferase M.Ssp6803II is required for the proper expression level of protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase, HemJ. All details in our new paper in DNA Research: academic.oup.com/dnaresearch/...

The secrets of RNase P. This endoribonuclease is ubiquitous, but only in bacteria it is a ribozyme. We have characterized Ssr1238, a YlxR/DUF448 family protein to interact with the RNase P RNA in cyanobacteria. Details in our new paper: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Cyanobacteria from marine oxygen-deficient zones encode both form I and form II Rubiscos | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

We have a DFG-funded Phd position for 3 years to study gene regulation in cyanophages. This is at Cyanolab in beautiful Freiburg/Germany, from Jan 2025, or later. More details here: cyanolab.de/index.php

The "5th base": Bacteriophages that infect cyanobacteria, also called cyanophages, are full of surprises. In the genome of cyanophage S-2L, adenine (A) is completely replaced by diaminopurine (Z). www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Congratulations to Luisa for her excellent Ph.D. defense on "Unravelling the RNA Binding Proteome of Synechocystis sp. PCC6803"! Lots of new insight into the RNA biology of cyanobacteria. And 1 paper out, 1 in press, 2 more coming.

This is so freaking cool!! Heterotrophs sense metabolites from phage-infected Syns BEFORE they have lysed and rush to the scene to wait for the burst of delicious nutrients when the cells lyse. Microbial version of vultures circling above a sick animal in the desert.

What is Autonomous Replication sequencing and how does the big pSYSX plasmid of Synechocystis replicate? www.frontiersin.org/journals/mic...

Iceland volcano eruption winter 2023. One of the best sources of information is GutnTog, directly from Iceland: www.youtube.com/channel/UCR-...

Paleomycin. If you have never heard about this, read the new paper by Hansen et al.: www.nature.com/articles/s41....

First ever approval of a CRISPR-based gene editing therapy! crisprtx.com/about-us/pre...

Excellent opportunity for a Research Assistant/ Associate to work on integrases and DNA 🧬 recombination with fabulous Laura Spagnolo (University of Glasgow) www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DEA872/r... 🧪🦠🧫 #Microsky

Leopoldina und @dfg_public bekräftigen anlässlich der anstehenden Beratungen von Bundesrat und Bundestag ihre Unterstützung für den Regelungsansatz der Europäischen Kommission für den Umgang mit neuen genomischen Techniken in der #Pflanzenzucht: leopoldina.org/genomische-tec…#GMOM#GVOVO

Nice coverage of our Takakia paper in Cell: This moss survived 165 million years — and now it's under threat from climate change Ancient plant survived the formation of the Himalayas, but might now be facing extinction. www.nature.com/articles/d41...