Our latest work is out in PNAS!🎉 We show that nonequilibrium polysome dynamics help drive sister chromosomes apart. The closing division septum also contributes via steric interactions.👇 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #MicroSky #Microbiology #Biophysics #CellBiology

🚨 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...

Sub-cellular chemical mapping in bacteria using correlated cryogenic electron and mass spectrometry imaging Congrats Hannah Ochner and authors on this important paper! Strong collaboration with @kiranrpatil.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... @mrclmb.bsky.social @wellcometrust.bsky.social

Great collaboration with @guo-lab.bsky.social to determine an in situ architectural model of the Tad pilus machine. Be on the lookout soon for a preprint on the same topic by Grant Jensen and @viollierpat.bsky.social. #microsky

An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Now online! journals.plos.org/plospathogen... #MicroSky

Genome-wide screen identifies novel factors for surface protein cross-wall trafficking and cell envelope homeostasis in Staphylococcus aureus https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.03.686427v1

Methanobrevibacter smithii: Trends in Microbiology www.cell.com/trends/micro...

#microsky #phagesky #phage defence Novel bacterial ubiquitination-like pathway! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

📢 Postdoc position: Cell Biology of Cyanobacteria in my group, as part of the Excellence Cluster "Microbes for Climate" (M4C) in Marburg, Germany. More information at shorturl.at/wNnDT (see Project 2) 🔗Apply at shorturl.at/VsEDl 📅Deadline: Nov 16, 2025 Please repost. #Postdoc

Interested in a PhD at the intersection of biophysics and microbiology? Apply for this MRC-funded opportunity at Newcastle University to do cutting-edge microscopy in Mycobacterium tuberculosis! 🔬🦠 Closing 4 Dec! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

How did life begin, and why does it matter? Scientists are tracing early microbial life–from LUCA to multicellularity–to unlock insights for biotech, climate science and even space exploration. Read the article: asm.org/articles/202...

Excited to share my latest postdoctoral work in the Shen Lab at Tufts! In this study, we follow up on an exciting finding by former grad student @shailab.bsky.social that C diff uses its Class A PBP (PBP1) to drive cell division (unlike previously studied bacteria)! journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

Fast assembly and in vivo coalescence of ParB biocondensates involved in bacterial DNA partition https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.27.684735v1

JB Editor's Choice: Peng, Lyman & Schmitt characterize zinc-binding proteins in the cell wall of Corynebacterium diphtheriae - their work suggests an uncharacterized mechanism whereby these proteins are localized. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology

Nucleoid structure and dynamics influence natural chromosomal transformation in Bacillus subtilis: the role of EbfC url: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

FlAsH-ID: A short peptide tag for live cell photoproximity labeling https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.24.684417v1

PhD project available in my lab. Email me with CV if interested www.findaphd.com/phds/project... #microsky #bioimaging

This is a model strain we use in the lab. It's from a Kenyan fungus growing plant-ant nest and has ~60 biosynthetic gene clusters, many of which look novel. It's also amenable to genome editing, which is unusual in our environmental strain collection. www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

First time posting on Bluesky! 🥳 We discovered a new pilus family in cyanobacteria. The pilin has a novel protein fold that forms a super-tight double-layer tube. Similar gene clusters exist in a few cyanobacterial orders. A great collaboration with John and others! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #microsky

New paper with my (amazing) friend and mentor @jrpenades.bsky.social Really looking forward to see what plasmid aficionados think of this one!! With @asantoslopez.bsky.social @wfigueroac3.bsky.social Akshay Sabins and others www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Chromosome replication and cell division cycles are not synchronized in Staphylococcus aureus, with cells exhibiting two segregated origins of replication at the start of the cell cycle #bacteria #microbiology

With the functional link! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

New in JB: Bhattacharya, Zhang, & Yu review the current state of knowledge around protein trafficking across the membrane by gram-positive bacteria with a focus on the model organisms Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology

JB Editor's Choice: Huffines & Kiedrowski show that the phenol soluble modulins produced by S. aureus have dispersal activity vs. corynebacteria journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology

ICYMI: New online! Bacterial cell envelope-targeting antibiotics

We’re excited to announce the incredible speaker line-up for the Prokaryotic Cell Biology Conference! Join the leading researchers as they explore the latest advances in Nanoimaging, Cell Growth and Cellular Structures. Join our speakers & register today! ➡️https://bit.ly/47rtkbw #ProkaryoticCellBio

#NewResearch Prion-like proteins in Escherichia coli trigger an abortive infection mechanism in response to phage infection—a process similar to amyloid-mediated immune signalling in fungi and animals. #MicroSky 🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Episode 112 of #MattersMicrobial! Dr. Petra Levin joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss bacterial cell size, pH, and antibiotic sensitivity. PLEASE spread the #GoodMicrobialWord. Petra is inspirational. @univpugetsound @asmicrobiology @microbe.tv youtu.be/YPNAvJYAq-s?...

Don’t miss the first APH meeting of the season this coming Wednesday!

Why Do Filamentous Actinomycetota Produce Such a Vast Array of Specialized Metabolites? www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Our paper on chromosome segregation in the archaeon Sulfolobus Acidocaldarius has been published in PNAS! This has been a great collaboration with @joeparham19.bsky.social and the rest of @buzzbaum.bsky.social's team. Stay tuned for more to come!😉 @istaresearch.bsky.social doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Very excited to share the latest work from our lab, which was published today in Nature! nature.com/articles/s41... PhD graduate and now post-doc Sofia Dahlman, along with co-senior author Sam Forster from The Hudson and other researchers from our lab and others.

Our latest work reveals that arbitrium phages cross-communicate across species! These tiny viruses “listen” to signals from others, coordinating lysis-lysogeny decisions across species. Original idea from @albertomarina.bsky.social and, as usual, he was right. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

MCDB Assistant Professor Faculty Search. Please Repost! Applications Due Oct 15th (TOMORROW!) We welcome applications from all areas of physiology and neuroscience - spanning molecular, cellular, systems, and organismal levels. More information can be found HERE: lsa.umich.edu/mcdb/news-ev...

Strain-resolved CRISPRi-Seq reveals conserved antibiotic vulnerabilities in Staphylococcus aureus https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.13.682098v1

We have a PhD opportunity available in our group @johninnescentre.bsky.social through the NRP Doctoral Training Partnership. Help us uncover the Hidden Diversity of Bacterial NLRs. Start date: October 2026. For more information and how to apply👉 biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/bey...

New paper alert! We used our fav technique, genetic suppression, to understand how FimX controls function of the T4P PilB motor ATPase in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Great collab with the Ellison lab at U Georgia who helped with some fancy microscopy to capture pilus dynamics! doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Bacterial cell envelope-targeting antibiotics www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs

Unique structural and ligand binding properties of the Staphylococcus aureus serine hydrolase FphE https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.12.681921v1

and Staphylococcus story in this paper.... www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour... All dependent on friends in @universityofhull.bsky.social Michelle Rudden, Holly Wilkinson and Matt Hardman & co., & Unilever colleagues Barry Murphy, Jo Hunt & Rob Cornmell & Yorkies @seanmeaden.bsky.social

Delighted to share our latest paper - A host-directed adjuvant sensitizes intracellular bacterial persisters to antibiotics. Excellently led by Dr. Kuan-Yi Lu. We think it's a great proof-of-concept that altering immune cell behavior can make antibiotics work better www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New paper from the Voss lab! RLip, a secreted lipase, helps pathogenic Rickettsia thrive inside host cells. Grateful our work in the Goley lab building a R. parkeri transposon library could support this discovery. 🦠 🔬 journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

A Lyt at the end of the tunnel? Unraveling the complex interactions of the N-acetylglucosaminidase LytG in cell wall metabolism RSC Chemical Biology pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

hosting.northumbria.ac.uk/nu-omics/vom... #phagesky #phage #microsky Come and join us for Viruses of Microbes UK 2026 at @northumbriauni.bsky.social ! Fantastic chance for ECRs to showcase their work 🙂

Defined roles for the Staphylococcus aureus POT transporter DtpT in di/tripeptide uptake and glutathione utilisation inside human macrophages

How do SMC complexes load onto DNA to get ready for loop extrusion? @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social & co discovered that Wadjet, an SMC complex involved in bacterial DNA immunity, performs some impressive molecular gymnastics 🤸‍♂️🤸‍♂️🤸‍♂️. Check out the new paper: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

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

Direct single-molecule detection and super-resolution imaging with a low-cost portable smartphone-based microscope www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs