📣Huge preprint 🔔 Today we share something our group has been working toward for a long time, led by @lucasmoriniere.bsky.social We asked can we predict which receptor a phage targets from its genome sequence alone? For most phages, we couldn’t. So Lucas set out to do something I had only dreamed of.

Last day to apply

Out now–our work on bacterial cGAS-like enzymes making 2′,3′-cGAMP! Read Uday's thread for updates since the preprint including determining our lab's first protein structure and developing a new system to study bacterial STING homologs in phage defense👇

How do you kill a MRSA superbug armed with 15 different anti-phage defense systems? You make a smarter phage. Check out our latest preprint on overcoming bacterial immunity using defense-guided engineering to build durable therapeutic phage cocktails! Led by Sarah Voss. doi.org/10.64898/202...

Only 9 days left to apply for this post doctoral position. Please share and forward to your colleagues.

Great fun presenting some of our research @otagomicroimmuno.bsky.social @universityofotago.bsky.social Including transposon mutagenesis of phages. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Join us for the first Rangahau Rising of 2026 with Dr Nils Birkholz (University of Otago). Nils will talk about his research on the plant pathogen Pectobacterium, highlighting new solutions for targeting problematic bacterial pathogens. 📍 Online, Register via Zoom: zurl.co/FLQvS

New post-doctoral research position in my phage-host interactions (Phi) laboratory in @otagomicroimmuno.bsky.social at @universityofotago.bsky.social New Zealand. The project is focused on defences against jumbo phages. Please share and if interested apply using the link in the comments.

New post-doctoral research position in my phage-host interactions (Phi) laboratory in @otagomicroimmuno.bsky.social at @universityofotago.bsky.social New Zealand. The project is focused on defences against jumbo phages. Please share and if interested apply using the link in the comments.

Congratulations to Sonomi Yamaguchi for her paper at @nature.com. Sonomi discovered Clover defense and explained how nucleotide signals control each step of viral sensing, immune regulation, and viral restriction – named for her beautiful "four-leaf" structures 🍀 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

It’s been a fun first few week of my sabbatical. Many exciting meetings w/ @peterfineran.bsky.social lab, learning new stuff and brainstorming ideas. And my own lab has been off to a crazy great start to the year. The early/late zoom meetings have me burning the candle at both ends…

🔬 iVoM 2026 Online Conference Series – Session 1: Viral Biotechnologies 🗓 28 Jan 2026 ⏰ 17:00 CET | 11:00 EST | 08:00 PST • Intro by a senior researcher • 3 ECR talks • Live Q&A 👉 Register for links & updates: 🔗 docs.google.com/forms/d/1hAB... #iVoM #VoM2026 #Virology #ECRs #OnlineEvent

Excited to be hosting @jcornlab.bsky.social on his sabbatical @universityofotago.bsky.social @otagomicroimmuno.bsky.social

@peterfineran.bsky.social and colleagues develop Tn-seq for phages by leveraging anti-CRISPR (Acr) as a positive selectable marker in the presence of CRISPR-Cas counter-selection, and identify essential genes in phage from non model orgs www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

✨New preprint! 🧵1/4 Excited to share our work on AI-guided design of minimal RNA-guided nucleases. Amazing work by @petrskopintsev.bsky.social @isabelesain.bsky.social @evandeturk.bsky.social et al! Multi-lab collaboration @banfieldlab.bsky.social @jhdcate.bsky.social @jacobsenucla.bsky.social🧬 🔗👇

🚨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

📣 Fully funded PhD opportunity - CryoEM, Phage Biology & Structural Mechanisms University of Sheffield, UK | Start Oct 2026 We’re looking for a motivated student to uncover how bacteriophage proteins shut down drug-resistant Enterococcus bacteria.

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/...

Bacteria can sense when a virus starts shredding their genome — by detecting methylated mononucleotides. Here’s the story of how we discovered the Metis defense system 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Really excited to be hosting @jcornlab.bsky.social here at @universityofotago.bsky.social next year. Looking forward to lots of fun science ahead.

Use antisense oligomers to silence phage genes and discover new biology. @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de print: www.nature.com/articles/s41... highlight: www.nature.com/articles/s41... briefing: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The Wilkinson Lab is open for science! @mskcancercenter.bsky.social 🧬We'll be finding funky new RNA biology, mainly by looking at reverse transcriptases (i.e. the Best Enzymes In The World)🧬 annnd: I'm hiring - come join! Especially postdocs and PhD students - please get in touch (NYC is great)

Please RT: We have an opening for a junior group leader position in „Phage Biology & Biotechnology“. www.fz-juelich.de/de/karriere/... Interested candidates are encouraged to contact me via email for further details. @spp2330.bsky.social; @mibinet.bsky.social

Welcome @isvm-society.bsky.social to bsky, the International Society for the Viruses of Microorganisms. Check the new look website isvm.org and become a member for free! #phagesky #microsky

Come and work with me and @ariannebabina.bsky.social on #Streptomyces evolution and antibiotic production Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate... please repost

The Department of Biology at Colorado State University is hiring an Assistant Professor in the area of plant-microbe interactions! Please spread the word! jobs.colostate.edu/postings/165...

Type I CRISPR-Cas immunity primes type III spacer acquisition Priming by type I CRISPR-Cas aids spacer maintenance by co-occurring type III. Concurrent DNA&RNA-targeting minimize phage escape for population benefit @peterfineran.bsky.social @leahmsmith.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

All systems go: CRISPR crosstalk for enhanced immunity Barrangou Previews papers led by @peterfineran.bsky.social & Meeske demonstrating CRISPR-Cas systems have unprecedented level of cooperative crosstalk between different subtypes, enabling primed spacer acquisition www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Willing to join us @pasteur.fr for a PhD for a project on how interactions between mobile genetic elements shape bacterial adaptation? Subject to be tailored to candidates with keen interest in evolution, genomics, computational biology, microbiology. Check www.pasteur.fr/en/education...

We're looking for a technician at Institut Pasteur for experimental work on satellite-phage-bacteria interactions, working directly with @jmouradesousa.bsky.social and myself in the lab of @epcrocha.bsky.social ! ANR funded. Link to the job emploi.pasteur.fr/offre-de-emp... Thx for sharing!

Check out our new paper: a review of translational coupling, the phenomenon where translation of one prokaryotic gene can promote translation of the gene downstream. We cover the history, and delve into the mechanism, which is still not fully understood. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

No Genetics? Try ASOs – A non-genetic approach to silence genes at the phage-host interface. We use it to study jumbo phage biology and anti-phage defence. @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social published now in @nature.com

Thrilled to share our two latest papers with the @tcostalab.bsky.social lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species. @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

The ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems'. #phage #phagesky A bunch of interesting reviews royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Phage defence-system abundances vary across environments and increase with viral density Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B by @seanmeaden.bsky.social, Edze Westra and @peterfineran.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Type I CRISPR-Cas immunity primes type III spacer acquisition Priming by type I CRISPR-Cas aids spacer maintenance by co-occurring type III. Concurrent DNA&RNA-targeting minimize phage escape for population benefit @leahmsmith.bsky.social‬ ‪@peterfineran.bsky.social‬ www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

In a multi-CRISPR-Cas system host, @peterfineran.bsky.social & I found that type I priming promotes spacer 🧬 uptake & maintenance by a type III system & that multiple systems minimize phage escape ⬇️ @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social @otagomicroimmuno.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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...

We’re building a team! 🔬I currently have open positions for a lab technician/ manager and a PhD candidate. I’m also always happy to hear from curious, motivated scientists interested in microbial defense, molecular machines, or structural biology. Please get in touch! 🚀

Feels surreal to say but: I'm hiring! If you are or know anyone interested in looking at the evolution of phage resistance using A. baumannii and natural transformation, then this might be for you www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

Stoked to finally have a preprint out for Phold, our tool that uses protein structural information to enhance phage genome annotation #phagesky 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Can leaf MICROBES help protect MAIRE TAWAKE from MYRTLE RUST? In our next Rangahau Rising kōrero @hanareiaehau.bsky.social shares research into the microbiome of this endangered tree and what it could mean for forest resilience in Aotearoa Wed 20 Aug | 12–1 PM | Zoom 🔗 Register: tinyurl.com/25x2jwae

Ready to lead pioneering research that bridges systems-level investigations of biological systems to molecular mechanism? The EMBL Molecular Systems Biology Unit in Heidelberg is hiring a Group Leader!

First preprint from the Nemudryi Lab! 🍾 In this work, we link antiviral immunity in bacteria and humans by showing that homologs of human Schlafen nucleases protect bacteria from phages. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🦠🧍‍♀️From bacterial to human immunity. We report in @science.org the discovery of a human homolog of SIR2 antiphage proteins that participates in the TLR pathway of animal innate immunity. Co-led wt @enzopoirier.bsky.social by D. Bonhomme and @hugovaysset.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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

🌟 Exciting news! We’re launching three fully-funded postdoc positions for "New Horizons for Synthetic Phages” Join us in tackling antimicrobial resistance with cutting-edge synthetic biology + AI bioinformatics. Based at Flinders Uni in vibrant Adelaide. 👇 Read on for details! #Phage

Was great to be hosted recently by Rafa Pinilla-Redondo in Copenhagen. Fun mini symposium and meet new people and friends and colleagues.