Karen Maxwell

🚨Preprint! Happy to share the research from my PhD “Genome delivery of a contractile tailed phage and its superinfection exclusion mechanism”. We use cryoEM to study the genome ejection of the phage T4, revealing how the tape measure protein regulates the process.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Antiviral Defence is a Conserved Function of Diverse DNA Glycosylases Bacteria are frequently attacked by viruses, known as phages, and rely on diverse defence systems like restriction endonucleases and CRISPR-Cas to survive. While phages can evade these defences by cov...

Excited to share: DNA glycosylases are diverse antiviral effectors. They recognize phage base modifications and initiate genome destruction. A structure‑guided approach made the scope of this discovery possible! 🧪 #phagesky doi.org/10.1101/2025... #phage #microbiology

I created my account here so long ago and have been dragging my heels changing over (I'm feeling my age with my reluctance to learn something new! 😂).

Integrons are anti-phage defence libraries in Vibrio parahaemolyticus Nature Microbiology - Integrons are genetic elements that capture and store gene cassettes in Vibrio species. Bioinformatic and molecular techniques show that these regions can be hotspots of phage...

It’s out! Brand new work from my PostDoc in @themaxwelllab.bsky.social exploring anti-phage defence in V. parahaemolyticus: Integrons are anti-phage defence libraries in Vibrio parahaemolyticus
rdcu.be/d7EsN

This study led by @landongetz.bsky.social shows that anti-phage defences are stored in Vibrio integrons. It was so much fun to work with Landon and his team on this exciting project!