Major Chinese funder to stop paying fees for 30 pricey open-access journals | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

🚨 Group Leader Opportunity Alert! 🚀 Apply by February 15 and join us in Würzburg. ⬇️

I’m thrilled to share our work on phage triggers of the bacterial immune system in its final form @natmicrobiol.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

NLR-like immunity in bacteria A new study from the Alex Gao lab. The scope of this work is incredible!!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Nature Microbiology turns 10! 🎂 As a special treat, we take you back to the editorial team that started it all and then fast forward to take a peek into the future of microbiology through some brilliant microbiologists. #MicroSky 🦠 www.nature.com/nmicrobiol/v...

Bacterial genomes encode a rich repertoire of antiphage systems, but we still know surprisingly little about when these systems are actually expressed. In this preprint, Lucas Paoli et al, ask what shapes antiphage systems expression in native contexts. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

How does a bacterial small RNA evolve new functions? Our new study reveals the stepwise evolutionary journey of UhpU, a 3′UTR-derived sRNA in E. coli and relatives. It evolved from a metabolically-focused regulator to one with expanded targets and biogenesis manner. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Check this out for the 2026 SISB (phage defense) meeting in NYC. Mark your calendar! (and note the Zoom option, if needed) sisb2026.rockefeller.edu

Sharing the link to our updated Vibrio preprint, where we compare and contrast Ecospecies with other genetic structures, and using the opportunity to fix typos and update some bluesky handles! with @danielfalush.bsky.social @whqqq.bsky.social @yjchao.bsky.social @chaooo.bsky.social

Preprint: Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides tinyurl.com/ch3damp We show how molecular byproducts released during virus-induced cell exploitation are used as signals to trigger host immunity Revealed by the amazing Ilya Osterman. See his thread below👇

I'm happy to co-organize the 2nd Microbial RNA Symposium in Shanghai! Looking forward to these inspiring talks this weekend! @rnasociety.bsky.social @natmicrobiol.nature.com @cellpress.bsky.social

1/10 Genome maintenance by telomerase is a fundamental process in nearly all eukaryotes. But where does it come from? Today, we report the discovery of telomerase homologs in a family of antiviral RTs, revealing an unexpected evolutionary origin in bacteria. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🚨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

Combination of large-scale phylogenomic analysis, mouse lethality experiments and bacterial growth assays shows sheds light on how a pandemic clone of Vibrio parahaemolyticus was able to spread worldwide www.nature.com/articles/s41...

tRNA modification profiling reveals epitranscriptome regulatory networks in Pseudomonas aeruginosa 🦠👏High-throughput tRNA epitranscriptome profiling using mass spec on P. aeruginosa transposon insertion library and links with metabolic networks #microsky #rnasky doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

New preprint! We characterise the small, regulatory RNA Arp which controls DNA uptake and twitching motilty in A. baumannii. Led by our Dr Fergal Hamrock @hamrockfergal.bsky.social and in collaboration with @westermannlab.bsky.social and Mike Gebhardt's lab!

Evolution of hunt, kill, devour in a Vibrio ecospecies Great paper 'Molassodon' - genetically distinct ecospecies from typical V. parahaemolyticus, it has evolved a predatory strategy that devour other bacteria in viscous environments @campy-bara.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#NatMicroPicks Vibrio in competition! 🦠💉 An orphan T6SS effector in non-toxigenic Vibrio cholerae targets susceptible strains by disrupting ion balance, shaping Vibrio population dynamics and offering a model for precision antimicrobials. #MicroSky www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Happy to share the preprint from here in Shanghai, together with @danielfalush.bsky.social, as well as with team Zhizhou Jia, Huqi Wen, and Zhe Xie! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

3'UTR-derived small RNA couples acid resistance to metabolic reprogramming of Salmonella within macrophages https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.06.658255v1

Quality over quantity: Small RNA pauses translation elongation to lift protein activity: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Quality over quantity: Small RNA pauses translation elongation to lift protein activity

I'm happy to share the first publication from my lab @hoerlab.bsky.social, now out in @narjournal.bsky.social! I take a look at the biology of RNA phages, focusing on how meta-omics methods are discovering new RNA phage families and bacterial defense strategies. #PhageSky doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

Grant opportunity! 200K USD for 3 years from CAS-ANSO program. Apply by May 20th. Details in here: www.anso.org.cn/programmes/S...

Where science meets culture 🔬🎭 At the Vogel Foundation Dr Eckernkamp’s 25th anniversary gala at the Mainfranken Theater, #HIRI director Jörg Vogel emphasized the vital role of culture for cutting-edge research. Congrats & thank you for supporting our science! ➡️ www.helmholtz-hiri.de/en/newsroom/...

📅🖍️ Mark your calendars: The #HIRI & the Shanghai #RNA Club will host @rnasociety.bsky.social’s next RNA Collaborative Seminar on March 12. HIRI group leader @jenshoer.bsky.social will discuss “Insights into the role of RNA in bacterial immunity and phage replication.” us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

It is finally out! Muntathar Al-Shimary, @doudna-lab.bsky.social , @cresslab.bsky.social and I present a gene knockdown tool that works in diverse bacteriophages: CRISPRi through antisense RNA Targeting (CRISPRi-ART)! Check it out @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🅲🅾🅾🅻 🆃🅴🅲🅷🅽🅾🅻🅾🅶🆈 “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

My collaborators in Shanghai discovered that Within-host evolution of a transcriptional regulator contributes to the establishment of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection: Cell Reports www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Bacterial small RNA promotes gut colonization | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...