Captain Haddock looking very frazzled, saying, “What a week, huh?” Tintin leans into the frame and says, “Captain, it’s Wednesday.” Snowy aka Milou is very excited about the drink he has found.
Our work on bacterial Schlafens in phage defense is out today @natmicrobiol.nature.com!
Check out the final version here:
rdcu.be/e7Bmz
We are looking for postdocs and students to expand our team! Official postings are coming soon.
Please reach out if you're interested!
#phage #phagesky #microsky
We found a viral Trojan Horse: a virus can hide inside another virus.This one surprised us: deltaviruses don’t just borrow a helper virus. They can travel inside it.
A literal Trojan Horse “virus-in-a-virus” route into cells. 🤯 Kudos to 1st author @viroscope.bsky.social and co-authors !
Nucleic acid-induced NADase activation of a short Sir2-associated prokaryotic Argonaute system: Cell Reports https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(26)00250-0?rss=yes
#microsky #phagesky
On #phage T4:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
CBASS is a cyclic nucleotide-based antiviral system in bacteria that is related to cGAS-STING signaling in animals. One of the big questions is how CBASS is activated during phage infection? We made some progress on this during my final year in the Kranzusch lab.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Out today: We discovered new viral proteins that target immune signaling molecules, solely based on their AlphaFold-predicted shapes
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Congrats Nitzan Tal and coauthors! Thank you Kranzusch lab for the fun collaboration!
Linking below previous thread on our findings
Out now! In collaboration with Leifu Chang, we uncover the molecular and structural underpinnings of CRISPR-Cas12f-like RNA-guided transcription systems!
Links to the published articles:
tinyurl.com/55kpavet
tinyurl.com/sk6djwx3
Previous thread for the preprint:
bsky.app/profile/did:...
New post-doctoral research position in my phage-host interactions (Phi) laboratory in @otagomicroimmuno.bsky.social at @universityofotago.bsky.social New Zealand. The project is focused on defences against jumbo phages. Please share and if interested apply using the link in the comments.
Exciting news:
Our RNA community in @uniregensburg.bsky.social is set to grow!
We are opening a Junior Group Leader position in RNA biochemistry / ribonucleases / RNA stability. A great opportunity to start your own team within our collaborative RNA network.
Details & application 👇
A jumbo cyanophage encodes the most complete ribosomal protein set in the known virosphere www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
With Eugene Koonin, we propose a concept of “the selfish ribosome”, under which evolution of life is viewed as a ribosomal takeover, where the ribosome evolved to consume most of the cell’s resources, while other cellular componentry ensures the propagation of the ribosome. arxiv.org/abs/2602.23268
In our latest work, we characterise the Tmn defence system. We reveal plasmolysis as a new way to block phage infection, dramatically reducing secondary infections.
Protein–protein interactions (PPIs) are key to discovering and interpreting new biological functions.
We’re excited to introduce 𝑭𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉𝑷𝑷𝑰: a new application of gLM2 that uses genomic language modeling to predict proteome-wide PPIs in microbial genomes in minutes.
1/5
Happy by a recent biorxiv pre-print about DARNA (PD-T7-3) anti-phage defense system. This system is activated by binding to ssDNA, presented by phage SSB, to cleave tRNA in the anti-codon loop.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We have an open position for a #PhD student (last week to apply!) & a lab technician/TA. For more information see: www.beuschlab.org/join-us
Interested in understanding post-transcriptional regulation and how #RNA #splicing decisions are made? Then take a look or share with people who might be! 🧪🧫
🧬Call for 11 fully-funded PhD positions in RNA-based medicine! 🧬
The graduate program “RNAmed – Future Leaders in RNA-based Medicine” is recruiting its second cohort of PhD students, starting in 2027: www.helmholtz-hiri.de/en/newsroom/...
📅 Application deadline: March 24
🧵 (1/4)
Thanks Khaled!
Like bacteria, phages use sRNAs to regulate gene expression! Out today in @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social, @mvelascogomariz.bsky.social and I highlight a recent RIL-seq study from the @saharmelamed.bsky.social lab that looked into posttranscriptional regulation of lambda!
tinyurl.com/lambda-RIL-seq
Convergent MurJ flippase inhibition by phage lysis proteins www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🚨Only a few days left to apply for the 10 #PhD positions within the “CURIOSITY IS INFECTIOUS” initiative across the five @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social sites! At #HIRI, we are excited to welcome candidates who are passionate about all things #RNA. ❤️🔥🧬Apply by Feb 28: www.helmholtz-hiri.de/en/jobs-tale...
Looking for a truly unique PhD programme on RNA drugs and therapeutics? We have just opened the call for the second cohort of RNAmed-Future leaders in RNA-based medicine. More details under www.rnamed.de Please spread the word.
Top: A representative modeling example from Chimpanzee CPEB3 HDV-like ribozyme (PDB ID: 7QR3), with models predicted by four better-performing methods (blue cartoons) overlaid on experimental structure (gray cartoons). Left to right: DRFold2, DeepFoldRNA, AlphaFold3, RhoFold. Bottom: Structural visualization of the example from coxsackievirus B3 cloverleaf RNA (PDBID: 8DP3), showing experimental structure (left), AlphaFold3’s best prediction from 100 models (middle), and 5th model of DRfold2 (right), respectively. Structures are rainbow-colored from 5′ (blue) to 3′ (red) end.
Accurate RNA structure prediction remains a challenge, despite recent computational advances. This study presents DRFold2, a #DeepLearning framework that significantly enhances accuracy of de novo #RNAstructure prediction by increasing contact prediction precision @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4aoOQiX
The image shows the structure of the viral polymerase (grey) with the ring-shaped transcription factors VITF-3l (red) and VITF-3s (green). The enclosed DNA is shown in blue. On the right-hand side, a light blue/dark blue factor (D1/D12) is shown. (Image: University of Würzburg)
🦠 How do poxviruses start copying their genes? Researchers at JMU found that a ring-shaped viral protein clamps onto #DNA and positions the copying machinery. The discovery could inspire new antiviral strategies. 🔬 #pox #virus @natcomms.nature.com
➡️ www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/news-and-...
Captain Haddock looking very frazzled, saying, “What a week, huh?” Tintin leans into the frame and says, “Captain, it’s Wednesday.” Snowy aka Milou is very excited about the drink he has found. Viñeta de Tintin El capitán Haddock, sentado a una mesa y con aspecto de estar agotado, dice: "¡Menuda semana, ¿eh?". Tintín, a su derecha, le dice: "Capitán, es miércoles". A la izquierda, Milú mira muy contento la bebida que está en la mesa.
Congratulations to Sonomi Yamaguchi for her paper at @nature.com. Sonomi discovered Clover defense and explained how nucleotide signals control each step of viral sensing, immune regulation, and viral restriction – named for her beautiful "four-leaf" structures 🍀
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Active virus-host system in a Lokiarchaeon culture | bioRxiv https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.13.705702v1?rss=1
The demystification of piRNA clusters
if you wonder how cells generate piRNAs specifically against transposons & you are looking for a weekend read
check out @86dominik.bsky.social's opus magna (or Dominik's great thread)
a shared project with the one and only Rippei Hayashi, lab alumnus & friend
🔔🧬 Quick reminder: If leading your own research group in RNA-based infection research is your goal, now is the time.
🗓 Sunday is the final day to submit your application for the @helmholtz.de Junior Research Group Leader positions. Don’t miss this opportunity! 👇
Great PhD and postdoc opportunities here at the @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social !
👇🏻
