Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Julia Frunzke @frunzkelab.bsky.social · 4d

Please RT:
We have an opening for a junior group leader position in „Phage Biology & Biotechnology“.
www.fz-juelich.de/de/karriere/...

Interested candidates are encouraged to contact me via email for further details.

@spp2330.bsky.social; @mibinet.bsky.social

Junior Group Leader - Phage Biology & Biotechnology

As a leading research institution for microbial biotechnology the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences - Biotechnology (IBG-1, https://www.fz-juelich.de/de/ibg/ibg-1 ) at the Forschungszentrum Jülich foc...

www.fz-juelich.de

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VAAM e.V. @vaam-microbes.bsky.social · Aug 25

Join us at the VAAM Annual Conference🌟 22.-25.3.2026 in Berlin 👥!

✏️Registration is now open - benefit from early bird fees🏃‍♀️!
📝 Submit your abstract &
🎓 Apply for student travel grants until
🗓️ 7 November 2025.

All details & more info 👉https://t1p.de/zazfv

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Zedler Lab @synbiojazz.bsky.social · Mar 6

Happy to join BlueSky with new work on improving heterologous P450s in Synechocystis. Efficient thylakoid targeting makes a big difference: higher protein amounts and up to 18x more product using a fusion protein engineering approach. #lightdrivencatalysis #teamgreen
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Thylakoid Targeting Improves Stability of a Cytochrome P450 in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

Plants produce a large array of natural products of biotechnological interest. In many cases, these compounds are naturally produced at low titers and involve complex biosynthetic pathways, which often include cytochrome P450 enzymes. P450s are known to be difficult to express in traditional heterotrophic chassis. However, cyanobacteria have shown promise as a sustainable alternative for the heterologous expression of P450s and light-driven product biosynthesis. In this study, we explore strategies for improving plant P450 stability and membrane insertion in cyanobacteria. The widely used model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was chosen as the host, and the well-studied P450 CYP79A1 from the dhurrin pathway of Sorghum bicolor was chosen as the model enzyme. Combinations of the P450 fused with individual elements (e.g., signal peptide, transmembrane domain) or the full length cyanobacterial, thylakoid-localized, protein PetC1 were designed. All generated CYP79A1 variants led to oxime production. Our data show that strains producing CYP79A1 variants with elements of PetC1 improved thylakoid targeting. In addition, chlorophyll-normalized oxime levels increased, on average, up to 18 times compared to the unmodified CYP79A1. These findings offer promising strategies to improve heterologous P450 expression in cyanobacteria and can ultimately contribute to advancing light-driven biocatalysis in cyanobacterial chassis.

pubs.acs.org

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leizhong.bsky.social @leizhong.bsky.social · Jul 4

#Suessmuth_Lab #Synpepbio
We are delighted and grateful to see our recent work highlighted on the #American_Peptide_Society website.
americanpeptidesociety.org/aps-news/pot...

Potent Antifungal Lipopeptide

americanpeptidesociety.org

Elke Dittmann @dittmannelke.bsky.social · Jul 4

Nice work!

leizhong.bsky.social @leizhong.bsky.social · Jul 4

#Suessmuth_Lab #Synpepbio
We are delighted and grateful to see our recent work highlighted on the #American_Peptide_Society website.
americanpeptidesociety.org/aps-news/pot...

Potent Antifungal Lipopeptide

americanpeptidesociety.org

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Simons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org · Jul 3

Congratulations to our six new 2025 Simons Early Career Investigators in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution! See full list: www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/07/01/a... #science @systemsecology.bsky.social @daniel-petras.bsky.social @kendraturkkubo.bsky.social

Announcing the 2025 Simons Early Career Investigators in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution

The Simons Foundation and Simons Foundation International have named six scientists as 2025 Simons Early Career Investigators in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution. The two-year awards are intend...

www.simonsfoundation.org

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Tri Kaloudis @trikaloudis.bsky.social · Jun 25

Woo-hoo! Our MetaboArt proposal won a prize in AI art at #Metabolomics2025. 🥰
Title: #Cyanobacteria Metabolomics
Big thanks to @emn-metsoc.bsky.social
#MetaboArt #Metabolomics2025 #MetSoc25

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Timo Niedermeyer @niedermeyer-lab.bsky.social · May 22

Interested in natural product producing microorganisms? 🦠 See you in Berlin... 😀

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ICTC13 @ictc13.bsky.social · May 9

Our group photo ❤️. Big thanks to all participants for their contributions.

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Nature Chemical Biology @natchembio.nature.com · Apr 25

Soil-dwelling Actinomyces bacteria have been found to synthesize hypermethylated ribosomal peptides, which serve as surface-active agents and promote the growth of aerial, reproductive structures

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Peptide surfactants with post-translational C-methylations that promote bacterial development - Nature Chemical Biology

Soil-dwelling Actinomyces bacteria have been found to employ an iterative B12-dependent radical S-adenosylmethionine metalloenzyme to synthesize hypermethylated ribosomal peptides. These amphiphilic p...

www.nature.com

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Yagut Allahverdiyeva-Rinne @yagut.bsky.social · Apr 24

If you have a background in #photosynthesis, N₂-fixing cyanobacteria, or photosynthetic biotechnologies, consider applying for a postdoctoral position in @photomicrobeslab.bsky.social group @utu.fi, Finland. tinyurl.com/4b4nvyn6

Postdoctoral researchers (3-4 positions) in a variety of fields related to research of sustainable materials in the fields of energy, health and manufacturing

Turku region with its 320,000 people is a major urban area and a leading hub for technological development and economic growth in Finland. This former capital, located in the southwestern Finland, has...

ats.talentadore.com

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Cyanotrans @cyanotrans.bsky.social · Apr 21

Mixing and Matching of Hybrid Megasynthases is a Hub for the Evolution of Metabolic Diversity in Cyanobacteria onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Mixing and Matching of Hybrid Megasynthases is a Hub for the Evolution of Metabolic Diversity in Cyanobacteria

Modular megasynthases, such as polyketide synthases (PKSs) and non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), are molecular assembly lines that biosynthesize many pharmaceutically and ecologically import....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Gerry Wright @gdwantibiotics.bsky.social · Mar 26

The latest discovery from the lab and great colleagues at McMaster and U Illinois, Chicago. Lariocidin, a new lasso peptide antibiotic that inhibits the ribosome. rdcu.be/efdha

A broad-spectrum lasso peptide antibiotic targeting the bacterial ribosome

Nature - A new lasso peptide antibiotic exhibits broad-spectrum activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria by interfering with bacterial protein synthesis, is unaffected by common...

rdcu.be

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Amel Latifi @latifilab.bsky.social · Mar 13

📢We are hiring :
Are you skilled in microfluidics and fluorescence microscopy in biological contexts? We're seeking a postdoctoral researcher to delve into the spatio-temporal dynamics of carboxysomes . Join us in advancing the frontiers of microbial biology through innovative research!

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Elke Dittmann @dittmannelke.bsky.social · Mar 10

The symbiotic Nostoc strain PCC 73102 gives up its autonomy under inorganic carbon limitation. Please find our latest study here: rdcu.be/ecRjj

Competition and interdependence define interactions of Nostoc sp. and Agrobacterium sp. under inorganic carbon limitation

npj Biofilms and Microbiomes - Competition and interdependence define interactions of Nostoc sp. and Agrobacterium sp. under inorganic carbon limitation

rdcu.be

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Elke Dittmann @dittmannelke.bsky.social · Mar 7

Nice work!

Zedler Lab @synbiojazz.bsky.social · Mar 6

Happy to join BlueSky with new work on improving heterologous P450s in Synechocystis. Efficient thylakoid targeting makes a big difference: higher protein amounts and up to 18x more product using a fusion protein engineering approach. #lightdrivencatalysis #teamgreen
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Thylakoid Targeting Improves Stability of a Cytochrome P450 in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

Plants produce a large array of natural products of biotechnological interest. In many cases, these compounds are naturally produced at low titers and involve complex biosynthetic pathways, which often include cytochrome P450 enzymes. P450s are known to be difficult to express in traditional heterotrophic chassis. However, cyanobacteria have shown promise as a sustainable alternative for the heterologous expression of P450s and light-driven product biosynthesis. In this study, we explore strategies for improving plant P450 stability and membrane insertion in cyanobacteria. The widely used model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was chosen as the host, and the well-studied P450 CYP79A1 from the dhurrin pathway of Sorghum bicolor was chosen as the model enzyme. Combinations of the P450 fused with individual elements (e.g., signal peptide, transmembrane domain) or the full length cyanobacterial, thylakoid-localized, protein PetC1 were designed. All generated CYP79A1 variants led to oxime production. Our data show that strains producing CYP79A1 variants with elements of PetC1 improved thylakoid targeting. In addition, chlorophyll-normalized oxime levels increased, on average, up to 18 times compared to the unmodified CYP79A1. These findings offer promising strategies to improve heterologous P450 expression in cyanobacteria and can ultimately contribute to advancing light-driven biocatalysis in cyanobacterial chassis.

pubs.acs.org

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Cyanotrans @cyanotrans.bsky.social · Feb 19

A group leader position to work on cyanobacteria is open at Paris Saclay University, France. Further information in the attached image.

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Danillo O. Alvarenga @danilloalvarenga.bsky.social · Feb 14

Wow, they found fungal hyphae inside the sheaths of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria! Usually with these types of symbiosis it's the other way around, with bacteria growing inside their host. This is supercool!🧪

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A thallus-forming N-fixing fungus-cyanobacterium symbiosis from subtropical forests

Fungus lives within cyanobacterial sheaths in a thallus-forming symbiosis, named “phyllosymbia.”

www.science.org

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Marc Chevrette @wildtypemc.bsky.social · Jan 12

~5y ago, Barbara, Serina, @marnixmedema.bsky.social & I teamed up to make a better NRPS A-domain specificity predictor. The Challis group & others joined along the way to add some very cool insights.

Very proud of this work. Check it out now on biorxiv!

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

PARAS: high-accuracy machine-learning of substrate specificities in nonribosomal peptide synthetases

Nonribosomal peptides are chemically and functionally diverse natural products with important applications in medicine and agriculture. Bacterial and fungal genomes contain thousands of nonribosomal p...

doi.org

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Elke Dittmann @dittmannelke.bsky.social · Jan 7

We are pleased to share our new paper in which we have investigated the role of microcystin in a synthetic community of Microcystis and phycosphere bacteria.
#ISMEcomms
#cyanobacteria

academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...

Microcystin shapes the Microcystis phycosphere through community filtering and by influencing cross-feeding interactions

Abstract. The cyanobacterium Microcystis causes harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) that pose a major threat to human health and ecosystem services, particula

academic.oup.com

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Wolfgang Hess @cyanolab.bsky.social · Dec 8

Cytosine N4-methylation by the DNA methyltransferase M.Ssp6803II is required for the proper expression level of protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase, HemJ. All details in our new paper in DNA Research: academic.oup.com/dnaresearch/...

Epigenetic control of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis by m4C DNA methylation in a cyanobacterium

Abstract. Epigenetic DNA modifications are pivotal in eukaryotic gene expression, but their regulatory significance in bacteria is less understood. In Syne

academic.oup.com

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Nadine Ziemert @nadineziemert.bsky.social · Nov 29

Excited to share that our latest review on glycopeptide antibiotic biosynthesis has been published! This article is written with non-experts in mind, providing an accessible overview of the biosynthesis of these fascinating natural products. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#NatProd #SecMet

Animating insights into the biosynthesis of glycopeptide antibiotics

The realm of natural product (NP) research is constantly expanding, with diverse applications in both medicine and industry. In this interdisciplinary…

www.sciencedirect.com

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ICTC13 @ictc13.bsky.social · Nov 26

#Microcystins can be modified with click chemistry to turn into potential anticancer drugs. By the @timoniedermeyer.bsky.social lab.
@niedermeyer-lab.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1021/acs....

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ICTC13 @ictc13.bsky.social · Nov 23

The 13th International Conference on Toxic #Cyanobacteria, 4-8 May 2025, #Chania, #Crete, #Greece.
Abstract submissions 20 Dec 2024.
Follow us to get updates about #ICTC13.
www.ictc13.gr
#cyanotoxins #water #lake #teammassspec #ecology #waterquality #sequencing #multiomics #metabolomics #genomics

ICTC13 | 13th International Conference on Toxic Cyano Bacteria – 4-8 May 2025 | Chania, Crete, Greece

www.ictc13.gr

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Elke Dittmann @dittmannelke.bsky.social · Nov 22

It would be great if you included me.

1

Wolfgang Hess @cyanolab.bsky.social · Nov 22

We have a DFG-funded Phd position for 3 years to study gene regulation in cyanophages. This is at Cyanolab in beautiful Freiburg/Germany, from Jan 2025, or later. More details here: cyanolab.de/index.php

Cyanolab

cyanolab.de

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Elke Dittmann @dittmannelke.bsky.social · Nov 18

I have now decided to join the blue universe after all. I would like to network with everyone who is interested in #cyanobacteria, #natural_products, #biosynthesis and #microbial_interactions.🦠

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Cyanotrans @cyanotrans.bsky.social · Nov 18

It's Monday, November 18. We have left twitter and from now onwards, we start posting all kind of cyanobacteria-related content here in Bluesky: articles, preprints, research calls, fellowship calls, PhD and post-doc positions... If you have anything relevant for cyanobacteriologists, PM or tag us.

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