New article online: Modulation of archaeal hypernucleosome structure and stability by Mg2+ In this work, we dissect the effects of Mg2+ on hypernucleosomes formed by the canonical histones from M. fervidus (HMfA and HMfB) and T. kodakarensis (HTkA and HTkB). www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Soon available in my group: 1 PhD position to investigate prokaryotic histones. See our recent work that highlights the existence and diversity of prokaryotic histones (e.g. Schwab et al., TIBS, 2025; Schwab et al., Nat Comm, 2024; Hu et al., Nucl Acids Res, 2024). Please DM for informal enquiries.

📝New preprint! #MicroSky 🕰️We chart the full, synchronized lifecycle of a predatory bacterium using Hi-C, RNA-seq, ChIP-seq & microscopy. 🧬We uncover dramatic shifts in nucleoid architecture & transcription, tightly coordinated with predation. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

pip install ipsae from www.linkedin.com/in/ullah-sam... www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5ph... PyPI pypi.org/project/ipsae/ His github fork github.com/ullahsamee/I... My github github.com/DunbrackLab/... Paper www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... For designed protein binders www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Archaea are often surrounded by bacteria. But is there ever active conflict between the two? Can archaea kill bacteria? If so, how do they do it? Work by @romainstrock.bsky.social shows that some archaea can kill bacteria by secreting peptidoglycan hydrolases. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Scaling down protein language modeling with MSA Pairformer https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.02.668173v1

And the story is published now!🍾 www.nature.com/articles/s41... Open access link: rdcu.be/exnOc Many years in the making, great collaboration with @archaellum.bsky.social & @tunglejic.bsky.social Thanks @ukri.org BBSRC & @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding, reviewers & editor!! 🙏 #microsky #archaeasky

Next up from our lab - a ring nuclease with a novel fold which cleaves all cOA species involved in Type III CRISPR defence. It's also found in plasmid and phage genomes, where it presumably functions as an anti-CRISPR. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Because of a lack of separation of the time scales for TF binding/unbinding and fluctuations in active TF levels, non-equilibrium gene regulation may be common in bacteria. Check out this nice piece by ‪@philipcball.bsky.social‬ on our new publication in PRX Life. physics.aps.org/articles/v18...

I am pleased to share our new review on the role of bacterial nucleoid-aasociated proteins in mediating responses to changes in environment. Important: some NAPs can directly ‘sense’ physico-chemical changes. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @pingzhuangge.bsky.social

Now online - the Review "Histone-mediated chromatin organization in prokaryotes and viruses" from @samuelschwab.bsky.social‬ @vikramalva.bsky.social @damelab.bsky.social‬ and co. #histones #DNAorganization #chromatin #eukaryogenesis Read it here 👉 authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

A must-read for histone afficionados: our new review on 'Histone-mediated chromatin organization in prokaryotes and viruses' www.cell.com/trends/bioch... @samuelschwab.bsky.social @vikramalva.bsky.social

Ready to meet some Nobel Laureates 😄

We’ve uncovered Asgard chromatin structures formed by a Hodarchaeal histone : closed hypernucleosome conserved in archaea and an open form resembling the H3-H4 eukaryotic octasome. Fantastic work by @harshranawat.bsky.social! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM

Hitomezashi stitch patterns: samuelschwab.com/hitomezashi-...

Excited to share our new preprint on HLp—a bacterial histone from Leptospira perolatii that forms stable tetramers and wraps ~60 bp of DNA: "DNA Wrapping by a Tetrameric Bacterial Histone" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social

ChimeraX daily builds can predict small complexes of proteins, nucleic acids and small molecules using Boltz on your Mac, Windows or Linux computer without Nvidia graphics. www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/dat...

Chromatin aficionados take note: Second of two special issues on Prokaryotic Chromosome Organization now published! (6 review/perspective articles and 2 research articles) Guest edited by @damelab.bsky.social #MicroSky #Chromatin onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/13652958...

📢 Interested in chromosomes and microbes thriving at the edge of life?PhD project in York-UK on chromosome segregation in #Archaea. Supervised by me, @Steve Quinn & @georgerheath.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Open to Applicants Worldwide! 📅 January 6, 2025 #microsky #archaeasky