Persister Cells Form Based on Low Ribosome Content https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.18.695105v1

The FsrA-Mediated Iron-Sparing Response Regulates the Biosynthesis of the Epipeptide EPE in Bacillus subtilis #MolMicrobiol by Sarah Miercke, Rabea Ghandour, Kai Papenfort and Thorsten Mascher onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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/...

it’s the most wonderful time of the year 🎄

Do you think transporters in E. coli contribute to metabolite release? No? Explore the effect of 66 different transporter knockout mutations on the exometabolome dynamics of ~300 metabolites yourself: keio.unil.ch Teaser: Increased proline in ΔputP #microsky #MEvoSky

Unraveling the prevalence and multifaceted roles of accessory peptide deformylases in bacterial adaptation and resistance url: academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... We have a new paper out, led by my PhD student Linda! Ni and Cu are common co-occurring contaminants. They are also synergistic in their toxicity. We examined the mechanisms of this synergism, finding that sulfur assimilation and Fe-S cluster biogenesis are targets.

Not all RelE toxins are created equally. RelE1, E2 cut 16S rRNA, RelE3 degrades mRNA in a ribosome-dependent manner. #MicroSky #Ribosome 🧪 #RNASky ⬇️

The phenotypic landscape of the mycobacterial cell https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.14.688347v1

Bacteria export alarmone synthetases that produce (p)ppApp and (p)ppGpp 🦠🤯 From Boyuan Wang and John Whitney journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

@sacrozhangt.bsky.social and I wrote a commentary on Jordi van Gestel and Carol Gross's latest paper, check it out! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Sadly, the Editors at PNAS rejected our initial introduction, which was a David Attenborough style voice over of the microbial Serengeti (included below)

New paper alert! DNA replication and repair conflicts lead to cell death in gram positive bacteria, possible new targets for novel antimicrobials. @microbiologysociety.org @winterhalterlab.bsky.social www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

Canonical transcription termination mechanisms explain a minority of operons in cyanobacteria https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.10.687660v1

🚨 Publication alert! We are stoked to report the structural basis for activity of a novel class of antimicrobials targeting Gram positive priority pathogens in @natcomms.nature.com. There is something for everyone on this paper, and I will highlight a few things below 👇 1/9 doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Student submitted GRFP despite 'official' transcript reqs! What worked for her: "Open your official transcript in duck duck go. Then hit “print to pdf”. This saves it without putting “copy” on it and removes the “protected status”. I think other browsers could be used, but chrome messes it up."

A sulfur-containing nucleoside antibiotic from Photorhabdus | mBio journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

There’s a 98.67% chance that Chicago’s most famous rat was actually a squirrel, according to a new study.⁠ Learn more: https://scim.ag/3WDE6Fv

Colliding ribosomes are potent signals of cellular stress. But do cells use ‘programmed’ ribosome collisions to regulate gene expression? I’m excited to present a new story from my lab led by Frederick Rehfeld(@fred-rehfeld.bsky.social) which revealed that the answer is YES! Read on to find out how👇

The Peters lab is looking for a new team member! The role transposons play in evolution, basic mechanisms regulating transposition, and applying transposons as tools for genome modification with a special focus on guide RNA-directed transposition. cornell.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/CornellCaree...

I am very happy to share that I have started this week as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine in Harrogate, Tennessee. It has been a beautiful journey from IAAS to Ohio State to Cornell, and now to LMU-CVM.

Has anyone already done the work-kitchen sponge microbiome project?

Cross-species phenotypic profiling uncovers functional determinants of bacterial cold shock adaptation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.22.676666v1

And here is the published version of the work from @selimlab.bsky.social, @mygalperin.bsky.social, Dubnau labs and @thethormannden.bsky.social labs (superb collaboration) ComFB, a widespread family of c-di-NMP receptor proteins www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Spx inhibits expression of the SwrA*DegU master flagellar activator in Bacillus subtilis. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.12.675978v1

I am beyond excited to announce that ggplot2 4.0.0 has just landed on CRAN. It's not every day we have a new major #ggplot2 release but it is a fitting 18 year birthday present for the package. Get an overview of the release in this blog post and be on the lookout for more in-depth posts #rstats

New in JB: There are many ways to regulate transcription. Jayasinghe and Babitzke review the role of RNA polymerase pausing in the control of gene expression in several microbes. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology

Proximity-specific ribosome profiling using light induced BirA. 😎 #Ribosome #RNASky

Check out the first preprint from our lab describing a direct molecular cross-talk between (p)ppGpp and c-di-GMP nucleotide messengers! Great work from first-author Corentin Jaboulay who was a postdoc in our lab, and great collaborations! @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social

The RecBCD complex interacts directly with the DNA sliding clamp in Escherichia coli https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.20.671105v1

Thrilled to share my first last-author paper, just out in #mSystems! A work about #RBPs, #RNA and #sporulation in #subtilis. Special thanks to my brilliant student T. Kaboré who's signing hist first PhD paper and to the whole team @galinier-lab.bsky.social 👉 journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

From bacterial virulence to human disease, researchers gathered in Marburg exploring how Ap₄A and other dinucleoside polyphosphates are rewriting the rules of cellular signaling across life. 🚀 Huge thanks to all speakers, participants, and organizers. 🙌 @synmikro.bsky.social @unimarburg.bsky.social

we are SO back #Phages

Bacterial two-hybrid systems evolved: innovations for protein-protein interaction research | Journal of Bacteriology https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/jb.00129-25?af=R

The wonderful dynamics of (p)ppGpp, big thank you to everyone involved with this story www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Very excited about our work from @jordanthesier.bsky.social and @popomicro.bsky.social et al. We find that Tn7 family elements common in bacteria (that include all of the guide RNA-directed transposons, CAST) are also found across archaea including many in the exciting Asgard group! #MicroSky #TESky

Microbial ecologists! Do you use Unifrac distances? Are you curious about absolute abundances? Then I’ve got a paper for you! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... (1/4)

When sun hits you, what does it *hit*? It rockets into your RNA, and the sound of colliding ribosomes and potholed RNA signals to your body to do something: produce a sunburn. My latest for @quantamagazine.bsky.social. www.quantamagazine.org/rna-is-the-c...

Mutations in fusA lead to drug bound ribosome inactivation and prevent error cluster fomation upon aminoglycoside treatment, limiting proteotoxic stress and further aminoglycoside uptake #ribosome #rnasky #microsky #amr www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The ParA-like ATPase PldP influences the TatA dynamics in Corynebacterium glutamicum https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.02.662783v1

Finally published! Many thanks to the reviewers and editor whose comments & suggestions improved this work significantly more than the first preprint version!!! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Beautiful paper on translation start sites and extented SD motifs in Staph. aureus. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Congrats to colleagues in Strasburg univ.!

Finally had a Saturday without rain, so I got to enjoy my new [to me] solo canoe and fly fish on a new [to me] stream! Summers in Ithaca are the best!! 🦠🌎

🎯 New antibiotic target in TB! 👉 Small-molecule inhibitor targeting PurF, the first enzyme in the mycobacterial de novo purine biosynthesis pathway. 👉 Effective vs drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vivo (in mice) #TBSky #IDSky #MedSky 🧪 @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Here, we show that bacterial ribosomes—often viewed as conserved drug targets—actually vary across species due to extensive sequence variation in their drug-binding residues. In some cases, this divergence may lead to intrinsic drug resistance in certain bacterial clades: doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

Lon protease, a highly conserved ATP-dependent protease, is thought to play a central role in mitigating oxidative stress by targeting damaged and misfolded proteins for degradation. This #JBacteriology review offers some insights: asm.social/2sV

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...

New in JB: Healy, Frank et al. show that two distinct ATP-binding protein of the Pst system of E. faecalis, with one playing a classic role in Pi uptake and the 2nd an accessory role. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology

academic.oup.com/nar/article/... @synmikro.bsky.social @unimarburg.bsky.social

First podcast recording of the day. Guest is Dr. Tory Hendry of Cornell University, chatting about interactions between fluorescent Pseudomonas and aphids!