We partially originate from viruses! This week I found out that part of the mitochondrial replication machinery (polymerase and helicase-primase) has its ancestry in bacteriophages. 🤯

Most viruses rely on the host to provide the entire translation machinery. However, giant viruses have evolved to encode part of the machinery themselves. Latest discovery: mimivirus (APMV) encodes its own initiation factor (vIF4F) and specifically promotes translation of viral mRNA!

Check it out if you are at Imperial! The AWA always hosts great events!!

Studying viruses helps us understand cellular processes: the breakthrough discovery of RNA splicing in 1977 was achieved by studying adenovirus (AdV) biology. They used mRNA/ DNA hybridization and electron microscopy.

Excited for my new chapter at ETHZ

Meet #postdocs who recently joined the D-BSSE @ethz.ch: Mélanie Roschewitz | lab of @michaelmoor.bsky.social advancing medical image analysis using AI tools > u.ethz.ch/auXVR & Anita Meier @anitafmeier.bsky.social | lab of #MartinFussenegger working on gene therapies > u.ethz.ch/8dFrx

Some of the weirdest viruses: Multipartite viruses have segmented genomes that are enclosed in different capsids, which are independently transmitted. All segments have to meet in the same host cell for complementation. The evolutionary benefit for this lifestyle is unclear.

Zika virus induces nanotube formation 👾 in the host cell to facilitate viral spread. ZIKV even uses them to acquire mitochondria from neighbouring uninfected cells!

Epstein-Barr virus encodes a protein called EBNA1, which physically tethers 🤝 the viral DNA to the host chromosome so it doesn't get lost during mitosis. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

💥 We have 3 positions open in my lab in Basel, Switzerland🇨🇭: #nanopores #smFRET #biomolecular #dynamics #singleMolecules We’re looking for talented & ambitious new colleagues enthusiastic about biomolecular dynamics & single-molecule tech. Please share broadly, thank you!🤝 schmid.chemie.unibas.ch

Application deadline for up to 5 @mrc-lms.bsky.social postdoc positions in developmental epigenetics closes soon - don’t miss out! Positions across both experimental and computational projects. Come and join our fantastic team science community!

Don't forget to sign up to reserve your spot! 🍿🥂🍪Signing up now will also ensure that we order enough drinks and snacks!

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infections dramatically change the architecture of the host nucleus. HSV-1 specifically recruits certain host factors (e.g. RNAPII) to promote its replication. HSV-1 actively rewires the human genome! 😲Look at how the host genome gets squeezed!!

We have a 3-year funded postdoc position to work on structures of #amyloid filaments. If you are an expert in protein biochemistry, structural biology or #cryoEM / #cryoET, this could be for you! Feel free to email me with any questions. Come join us! 🤩 www.nature.com/naturecareer...

#JobAlert! We have an opening for a postdoctoral scientist in #CancerMetabolism in my lab @mrc-lms.bsky.social. If you're interested in the role of metabolism in drug response and resistance in cancer, and would like to work in a fun and friendly team, check it out: lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...

💥Our next AWA event is all about networking, mentorship and how to do it in a way that is right for you.😌 Sign up and come along. Everyone from Imperial/ MRC welcome! Limited spaces available, drinks and snacks included 🥂🧀

🌟 The next event of the Academic Women Association (AWA) is happening! Registration and details here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/academic-w...

This is a tupanvirus, ~450nm in diameter ~1.2um in length, clearly one of the giant viruses. It encodes for the most complete translational machinery found in viruses with only the ribosome lacking. Most (non-giant) viruses don't encode any components required for translation. It's so fluffy!! 😱

Blows my mind 🤯 that it is possible to capture the structural dynamics of viral capsid contraction by thawing and re-freezing the ice within the electron microscope! Anyone interested in microsecond time-resolved cryo-EM should check out this paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Weird virus fact: Bacteriophage 29 (Phi29) uses RNA to help package genomic DNA 🤯. This so-called packaging RNA (pRNA) is an essential part of the packaging motor, which is part of the newly formed viral capsid. Check out the pRNA (pink) in the beautiful structure: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Weird virus fact: Papillomaviruses can make their host cell immortal 🧟‍♂️ by activating telomerase (together with other mechanisms). The viral protein E6 regulates and directly interacts with hTERT and telomeric DNA.

Weird virus fact: Adeno-associated viruses (AAV) can only replicate if the same host cell is infected with a helper virus. AAV will remain in the host cell (latently infecting it) until a helper virus such as HSV or AdV comes along. www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/12...

Weird virus fact: HIV-1 and other retroviruses hijack cellular tRNA and use it as primer to initiate reverse transcription of their RNA genome. They exploit the same tRNA terminal 3′-OH group used by the host for aminoacylation and peptidyl transfer.

Weird virus fact: In order to overcome the end replication problem, adenovirus DNA replication starts at a protein, rather than an RNA primer. The viral polymerase couples the first nucleotide (dCTP) to a serine on the terminal protein, which assures full replication by a jump-back mechanism. 😎

I fear the consequences of this move...

Weird virus fact: The SV40 polyomavirus dsDNA genome is wrapped around cellular histones within the viral capsid. Most #viruses don't contain histones in their virions. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Image credit: viralzone.expasy.org/148

Great opportunity for people at Imperial/ LMS too meet and network. Sign up if interested!

Weird virus fact: Herpesvirus (HSV-1) assimilates the cellular motor kinesin-1 to travel within the cell. HSV-1 takes it up into the tegument to use it for future infection: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

There’s still time to apply to the LMB’s Rising Talent Fellowship for Black heritage scientists. With this 3-year postdoc position we want to enable scientists of Black heritage to learn & grow their experience. Application deadline: 23 March More info: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/recruitment/...

Weird virus fact: Influenzaviruses chop off the 5'-mRNA cap of nascent host mRNA and use it for their own mRNA. This is called cap-snatching Further reading: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Anyone looking for a PhD: the second deadline of the Yorkshire DTP closes this Friday, the 14th. Get in touch asap if you are interested in working with me on condensin complexes! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Scary... “For all this talk about free speech, this is direct censorship of scientific research.” Lisa Fazio

In an unprecedented move, the US National Institutes of Health has begun mass terminations of research grants that fund active scientific projects because they no longer meet “agency priorities”. https://go.nature.com/4bpG2It

Are you at #bps2025 and want to hear about: HSV-1 DNA replication, DNA looping, #smFRET, TIRF, optical tweezers or cryoEM? Come and talk to me at my poster B175 on Wed, 10.30am!

For anyone that was too busy at the end of last year to think about PhDs or are still looking for the right project/place, I have a project available in the second round of the Yorkshire Biosciences DTP scheme looking at the dynamics of human condensin: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...