Tamara Basta

📢 Save the date! #Biophychrom2027 will take place at Paris-Saclay in July 2027. More details coming soon!

Mark your calendars for the next incarnation of the Biology and Physics of the Prokaryotic Chromosome meeting to be held in Paris on July 6-9, 2027.

See the web site for further information biophychrom2027.sciencesconf.org

A reminder to sign up for the 2026 EMBO archaeal meeting im Cambridge: meetings.embo.org/event/26-arc.... Registration is open. We are looking forward to hosting you!

Iron Sulfides Produced by Thermococcales: An Iron Detoxification Mechanism Thermococcales, archaea from hydrothermal vents, promote iron sulfide precipitation, enabling survival in iron-rich environments. Some cells become encrusted in pyrite and do not survive mineralizati...

Iron Sulfides Produced by Thermococcales: An Iron Detoxification Mechanism enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Calling all archaeal enthusiasts! 🔬🔥 From molecular machines to microbial communities, Archaea never fail to surprise us!
We are excited to announce the 2026 EMBO Workshop on the Molecular Biology of Archaea, 6–10 July in Cambridge, UK!
Sign up here: meetings.embo.org/event/26-arc...
#ArchaeaSky

Are you a long-time fan of Archaea, an extremophile-phile, or are you simply curious?

Either way, we have good news.
We’re delighted to announce the 2026 EMBO Workshop on Archaea, 6–10 July.

Sign up: meetings.embo.org/event/26-arc...

We look forward to seeing you in Cambridge, UK.

Please repost!

Are you a long-time fan of Archaea, an extremophile-phile, or are you simply curious?

Either way, we have good news.
We’re delighted to announce the 2026 EMBO Workshop on Archaea, 6–10 July.

Sign up: meetings.embo.org/event/26-arc...

We look forward to seeing you in Cambridge, UK

Please repost!!

Thank you Patrick!

Thank you Tung!

Localised activity of reverse gyrase at gene regulatory elements DNA topoisomerases are essential enzymes found in all cells, where they regulate DNA supercoiling. Reverse gyrase (RG) is a unique type of topoisomerase that introduces positive supercoils into DNA an...

Please also check out the excellent complementary work from Tamara Basta @tamarabasta.bsky.social and Laura Baranello’s group.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Reverse gyrase and 3D genome architecture suppress hyperthermophile genome instability arising from horizontal gene transfer Reverse gyrase (Rgy), a distinctive topoisomerase conserved in all hyperthermophiles, has the unique ability to introduce positive DNA supercoils. It has long been hypothesized that Rgy overwinds geno...

Delighted to share our latest preprint on reverse gyrase, a unique topoisomerase found exclusively in thermophiles!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Reverse gyrase and 3D genome architecture suppress hyperthermophile genome instability arising from horizontal gene transfer Reverse gyrase (Rgy), a distinctive topoisomerase conserved in all hyperthermophiles, has the unique ability to introduce positive DNA supercoils. It has long been hypothesized that Rgy overwinds geno...

Please check also the excellent parallel study from @naomichitakemata.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Localised activity of reverse gyrase at gene regulatory elements DNA topoisomerases are essential enzymes found in all cells, where they regulate DNA supercoiling. Reverse gyrase (RG) is a unique type of topoisomerase that introduces positive supercoils into DNA an...

Delighted to share our new preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We address a longstanding question about the role of the topoisomerase reverse gyrase in hyperthermophiles. Great collaboration with Baranello and @tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social groups. #Archaeasky #Microsky

Open FSEP position in our team 📣
Nous recrutons un/e Ingénieur/e d’étude en biologie.
Profil : être titulaire d’un poste permanent au CNRS (IE) et avoir envie d’étudier la chromatine bactérienne 😉
Date limite : jeudi 15 janvier.
Détails et candidature ici :
mobiliteinterne.cnrs.fr/ords/afip/ow...

Last chance to apply for one of the LSI PhD projects intake Sept 2026! Deadline tomorrow, 26.11.2025, noon. www.exeter.ac.uk/research/ins... @exeter.ac.uk @lsiexeter.bsky.social

Archaeal cells whose DNA has been stained with a blue dye. Zoomed-in images of mutant cells that display chromosome segregation defects.

High-resolution images of DNA-protein complexes obtained with atomic force microscopy. Upon binding, the protein bridges distant sites, forming loops.

📢 Interested in #chromosomes 🧬 & #archaea thriving at the edge of life? PhD project in York,UK on how archaea pass on their genome to daughter cells.Friendly supervisors: me, @steve-quinn-lab.bsky.social & @georgerheath.bsky.social

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
📅 January 7, 2026
Please RP🙏thx!

Congratulations Olivier !

The Thermococcales as a model system: historical perspectives and emerging tools | Journal of Bacteriology The exploration of life in extreme environments gained prominence with Thomas Brock’s “Life at High Temperatures” (1), and his subsequent isolation of Thermus aquaticus with Hudson Freeze in 1969 (2) ...

A very nice review on my favorite archaea. The Thermococcales as a model system: historical perspectives and emerging tools | Journal of Bacteriology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Modulation of archaeal hypernucleosome structure and stability by Mg2+ DNA-wrapping histone proteins play a central role in chromatin organization, gene expression and regulation in most eukaryotes and archaea. While the …

New article online: Modulation of archaeal hypernucleosome structure and stability by Mg2+

In this work, we dissect the effects of Mg2+ on hypernucleosomes formed by the canonical histones from M. fervidus (HMfA and HMfB) and T. kodakarensis (HTkA and HTkB).

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The Thermococcales as a model system: historical perspectives and emerging tools | Journal of Bacteriology The exploration of life in extreme environments gained prominence with Thomas Brock’s “Life at High Temperatures” (1), and his subsequent isolation of Thermus aquaticus with Hudson Freeze in 1969 (2) ...

The Thermococcales as a model system: historical perspectives and emerging tools | Journal of Bacteriology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Our work on ribosome hibernation in archaea is out!
We identified Hib, a new hibernation factor broadly distributed across archaea.
Check out the preprint 👉 biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.11.676729v1
(1/🧵)

ribosomologists take note 👇

archaeal ribosome hibernation factors aRDF, Dri, ...and now: Hib (see ALT)
#Archaea #ArchaeaSky

Cryo-EM resolves the structure of the archaeal dsDNA virus HFTV1 from head to tail This structure of an archaeal tailed virus (arTV) provides detailed insights into arTV assembly and infection mechanisms.

Out in Science Advances: Our #cryoEM structure of HFTV1, a virus infecting the halophile #archaea. *First full atomic structure (containing all structural proteins) of any tailed virus!* Congrats and thanks to all co-authors and our fantastic collaborators! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Du 2 au 5 décembre 2025, Université Paris-Cité
Congrès « Enzymes, Proteolysis & Metabolism at the crossroads of Biochemistry », premier congrès commun de trois Groupes Thématiques de la SFBBM.

gts-sfbbm-2025.sciencesconf.org?lang=fr

Become my colleague @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social !
2 Associate Professorships in the areas of
- prokaryotic/eukaryotic microbiology
- metabolism

my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

#BioPhyChrom25 gala dinner at the 14th century #Hospitium venue in York, and @agnesnoy.bsky.social talk. Lots of discussion and ideas for BioPhyChrom2027… Great vibes and atmosphere!
@biophychrom.bsky.social @damelab.bsky.social @vslioy.bsky.social @graingerlab.bsky.social @biochemsoc.bsky.social 🧬

Group photo

That’s a wrap for The Biology and Physics of Prokaryotic Chromosomes VII 2025. A big thank you to all those who attended 🧪 #BioPhyChrom2025 #BiochemEvents

#Biophychrom2025 is over, but we spent four exciting days discussing the biology and physics of prokaryotic chromosomes. Congratulations to all the attendees for making this conference a success.
@biochemsoc.bsky.social
@danielabarilla.bsky.social
@graingerlab.bsky.social
@damelab.bsky.social