José R Penadés
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jrpenades.bsky.social
José R Penadés
@jrpenades.bsky.social
320 followers 20 following 9 posts

Frustrated football player, I moved to a less relevant work: microbiologist interested on mobile genetic elements

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Biology 59%
Environmental science 21%
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Reposted by José R. Penadés

biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social
bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 1d
Arbitrium systems control lysis/lysogeny through the regulation of small antirepressor proteins https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.23.689978v1

Reposted by José R. Penadés

emmseveri.bsky.social
Emmanuele Severi @emmseveri.bsky.social · 2d
#microsky #phagesky #phage

Anyone who’s tried deleting prophages in the lab by HR knows the difficulties of the task. Here we have an example of how HR-mediated natural transformation might hit the same hurdle in a more native context.

academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
Chromosomal Curing Drives an Arms Race Between Bacterial Transformation and Prophage
Abstract. Transformation occurs when bacteria import exogenous DNA via the competence machinery and integrate it into their genome through homologous recom
academic.oup.com

Reposted by Simon Roux, Mart Krupovìč, Mya Breitbart , and 2 more

aharms485.bsky.social
Alexander Harms @aharms485.bsky.social · 5d
🚨Preprint alert - this is a big one! We transfer the revolutionary power of TnSeq to bacteriophages.

Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms.

A thread 1/8

Reposted by José R. Penadés

cnb-csic.bsky.social
Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB) @cnb-csic.bsky.social · 5d
👏 Dos proyectos del #CNB seleccionados en la convocatoria de Investigación en Salud 2025 de la @caixaresearch.bsky.social

Ambos abordan un gran reto global: la resistencia a los antimicrobianos.

#HealthResearch #FundaciónlaCaixa
@sanmillan.bsky.social @jaescudero.bsky.social

f.mtr.cool/jejatlbssz

Reposted by José R. Penadés

caixaresearch.bsky.social
caixaresearch.bsky.social @caixaresearch.bsky.social · 5d
1/ Antibiotic resistance causes ➕ than 1 M deaths each year and understanding why this happens is key to stopping it.

With #HealthResearch support, @sanmillan.bsky.social is investigating how different plasmids (DNA fragments) coexist in bacteria and confer resistance.

https://tinyurl.com/3bysv6cr

Reposted by Jesse M. Shapiro, Simon Roux, José R. Penadés , and 1 more

ellinoralseth.bsky.social
Ellinor Alseth @ellinoralseth.bsky.social · 6d
Very happy to see this piece out in @plosbiology.org, on the bacterial immune systems and microbial communities. It was a great team effort with Rafael Custodio, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social , @brownlab.bsky.social, and Edze Westra! 🦠🧫 #phagesky #mevosky

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Bacterial immune systems as causes and consequences of microbiome structure
Bacterial immune systems have evolved in response to diverse molecular "parasites", yet their ecological roles remain poorly understood. This Essay explores how interactions between mobile genetic ele...
journals.plos.org

Reposted by José R. Penadés

evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social
Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 16d
The hitchhiker’s guide to cross-species DNA delivery

@cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social Spotlight by Kotaro Kiga and Rodrigo Ibarra-Chávez

www.cell.com/trends/micro...
The hitchhiker’s guide to cross-species DNA delivery
Microbial hitchhikers are rewriting the rules of horizontal gene transfer. He, Patkowski, et al. reveal how phage satellites assemble chimeric infective particles that deliver DNA across species bound...
www.cell.com

Reposted by José R. Penadés

craigmaclean.bsky.social
Craig MacLean @craigmaclean.bsky.social · 19d
New paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Klebs can evolve resistance to Colistin through mgrB mutation or by acquiring the mcr-1 gene. Both routes have similar fitness costs against a bacterial competitor, but mgrB mutations are associated with enhanced virulence.
mgrB inactivation confers enhanced pathogenicity and immune evasion over mcr-1 expression in colistin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae
Colistin is one of the last treatment options against human infections caused by multi-drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Colistin resistant K. pne…
www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Simon Roux, Mart Krupovìč, José R. Penadés

soreklab.bsky.social
Sorek Lab @soreklab.bsky.social · 19d
Preprint: Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides

tinyurl.com/ch3damp

We show how molecular byproducts released during virus-induced cell exploitation are used as signals to trigger host immunity

Revealed by the amazing Ilya Osterman. See his thread below👇

Reposted by José R. Penadés

Reposted by José R. Penadés

lowlab.bsky.social
Harry Low’s Lab @lowlab.bsky.social · 21d
Please RT. Post-doc opportunity alert! 💥 closing 10th December.. Come join our team (www.thelowlab.org) at Imperial, London, working on the structure and mechanism of bacterial secretion systems.

For more details and to apply please see

www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

Reposted by José R. Penadés

biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social
bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 27d
Antiviral Defence is a Conserved Function of Diverse DNA Glycosylases https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.29.685425v1

Reposted by José R. Penadés

Reposted by José R. Penadés

paulbrainey.bsky.social
Paul Rainey @paulbrainey.bsky.social · 28d
@prczhaoyansong.bsky.social’s deep dive into the dark matter of compost communities is now out 🎉 Genomic islands hijack jumbo phages—whose capsids enable transfer of large tracts of DNA—shedding new light on the scale & scope of phage-mediated gene flow 😎

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Jumbo phage–mediated transduction of genomic islands | PNAS
Bacteria acquire new genes by horizontal gene transfer, typically mediated by mobile genetic elements (MGEs). While plasmids, bacteriophages, and c...
www.pnas.org

Reposted by José R. Penadés

craigmaclean.bsky.social
Craig MacLean @craigmaclean.bsky.social · 29d
New pre-print: Plasmid dependent phage effectively eliminate AMR bacteria and block plasmid transmission in the chicken gut microbiome

Fun collaboration with Tao He lab (JAAS) and @brockhurstlab.bsky.social lab (Manchester)
#phagesky#microsky

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Plasmid dependent phage eliminate pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance plasmids from the chicken gut microbiome
Conjugative plasmids are a key reservoir of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in commensal and pathogenic bacteria within the gut microbiome. Plasmid-dependent phage (PDPs) are a promising therapeutic op...
www.biorxiv.org

Reposted by José R. Penadés

natmicrobiol.nature.com
Nature Microbiology @natmicrobiol.nature.com · Oct 24
New article alert: Bacterial TIR-based immune systems sense phage capsids to initiate defense

Out now in Nature Microbiology by Cameron G. Roberts, Chloe B. Fishman, Zhiying Zhang, Dalton V. Banh, Dinshaw J. Patel & Luciano A. Marraffini

#microsky

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Bacterial TIR-based immune systems sense phage capsids to initiate defense - Nature Microbiology
After sensing capsids, the Thoeris antiphage defense system triggers a cascade that leads to NAD+ cleavage and cell arrest, which are dynamics that are mirrored in some mammalian immune pathways.
www.nature.com

Reposted by José R. Penadés

Reposted by José R. Penadés

asantoslopez.bsky.social
Alfonso Santos Lopez @asantoslopez.bsky.social · Oct 22
Do plasmids really move around that much? Well, maybe not always

Thrilled to have contributed to this story with two of my favourite microbiologists: @jrpenades.bsky.social & @sanmillan.bsky.social

This great work was led by Akshay Sabnis & @wfigueroac3.bsky.social

www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Non-conjugative plasmids limit their mobility to persist in nature
Sabnis et al. explain why non-conjugative plasmids move at a low rate in nature. While increased mobility can easily evolve by incorporating phage DNA into plasmids, this is disadvantageous because it...
www.cell.com

Reposted by José R. Penadés

Reposted by Jesse M. Shapiro, José R. Penadés

sanmillan.bsky.social
Alvaro San Millan @sanmillan.bsky.social · Oct 22
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...
Non-conjugative plasmids limit their mobility to persist in nature
Sabnis et al. explain why non-conjugative plasmids move at a low rate in nature. While increased mobility can easily evolve by incorporating phage DNA into plasmids, this is disadvantageous because it...
www.cell.com

Reposted by José R. Penadés

imperiallifesci.bsky.social
Imperial Life Sciences @imperiallifesci.bsky.social · Oct 20
New paper just out from #OurImperial @tcostalab.bsky.social

The assembly of a hybrid type IV secretion system by a Crohn’s disease-associated Escherichia coli strain.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The assembly of a hybrid type IV secretion system by a Crohn’s disease-associated Escherichia coli strain - Nature Communications
Adherent-invasive strains of E. coli are commonly isolated from patients with Crohn’s disease. Here, the authors show that an AIEC harbours a hybrid Type IV secretion system (T4SS) that mediates pilin...
www.nature.com

Reposted by José R. Penadés

epcrocha.bsky.social
Eduardo Rocha @epcrocha.bsky.social · Oct 14
Two intensive sampling periods of oyster-associated vibrio and their phage, 4 years apart, and many surprises. Despite being washed by the Atlantic, wide tides, and vibrio (almost?) disappearing most of the year, we can find the exact same virulent phages 4 years later (down to 0 SNP)! preprint👇
Lytic phages form modular isolation networks and exhibit long-term genetic stability

jrpenades.bsky.social
José R Penadés @jrpenades.bsky.social · Oct 14
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...
Phages communicate across species to shape microbial ecosystems
Arbitrium is a communication system that helps bacteriophages decide between lysis and lysogeny via secreted peptides. In arbitrium, the AimP peptide binds its cognate AimR receptor to repress aimX ex...
www.biorxiv.org

Reposted by José R. Penadés