Malcolm White
@mfwhite2.bsky.social
Molecular microbiologist at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. My scientific interests include: CRISPR, antiviral defence, cyclic nucleotide signalling, archaea, nucleases.
Reposted by Malcolm White
My lab is hiring postdocs! We combine AI, protein structure prediction and comparison, and high-throughput virology to study the virus-host conflict.
You can read more about my lab's research here: jasonnomburg.com/research/
Apply here to join us in lovely Vienna! aithyra.onlyfy.jobs/job/0khkxp82
You can read more about my lab's research here: jasonnomburg.com/research/
Apply here to join us in lovely Vienna! aithyra.onlyfy.jobs/job/0khkxp82
The Starting Principal Investigators at #AITHYRA the Research Institute for Biomedical Artificial Intelligence of the OeAW in Vienna invite outstanding candidates to apply for postdoctoral positions in the field of AI/ML & Life Sciences.
www.oeaw.ac.at/aithyra/post...
Please apply by 20 Nov 2025!
www.oeaw.ac.at/aithyra/post...
Please apply by 20 Nov 2025!
October 20, 2025 at 1:03 PM
My lab is hiring postdocs! We combine AI, protein structure prediction and comparison, and high-throughput virology to study the virus-host conflict.
You can read more about my lab's research here: jasonnomburg.com/research/
Apply here to join us in lovely Vienna! aithyra.onlyfy.jobs/job/0khkxp82
You can read more about my lab's research here: jasonnomburg.com/research/
Apply here to join us in lovely Vienna! aithyra.onlyfy.jobs/job/0khkxp82
Hot, but very cool!
Introducing ** Incendiamoeba **, a eukaryote that can live at temperatures well beyond what we thought possible. 63C!!
Read @hbrappap.bsky.social thread to see what we’ve already started to learn from this amazing organism!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#MicroSky #protistsonsky 🧪 #evobio
Read @hbrappap.bsky.social thread to see what we’ve already started to learn from this amazing organism!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#MicroSky #protistsonsky 🧪 #evobio
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
#protistsonsky 🧵
November 26, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Hot, but very cool!
Reposted by Malcolm White
Now online at @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social from co-first authors @erinedoherty.bsky.social & @jnoms.bsky.social
Work I co-led with @jnoms.bsky.social is now online at
@cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social ! We revealed a previously unrealized diversity of viral immune-evasion proteins that selectively destroy different cyclic nucleotide signals used in bacterial immunity.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social ! We revealed a previously unrealized diversity of viral immune-evasion proteins that selectively destroy different cyclic nucleotide signals used in bacterial immunity.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Divergent viral phosphodiesterases for immune signaling evasion
Cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) and other short oligonucleotides play fundamental roles in immune system activation in organisms ranging from bacteria to …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Now online at @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social from co-first authors @erinedoherty.bsky.social & @jnoms.bsky.social
Reposted by Malcolm White
Reposted by Malcolm White
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Malcolm White
🚨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
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
November 20, 2025 at 8:40 PM
🚨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
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 Malcolm White
Is it a flagellate? A tiny ball with tentacles? Contamination in my ciliate culture? NEW SUPERGROUP OF EUKARYOTES? Yes to all 4! Meet Solarion - just out in #Nature doi.org/10.1038/s415... Huge congrats to Marek Valt, Cepicka Lab & the star team! Very happy to be part of this project. #ProtistsOnSky
November 19, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Is it a flagellate? A tiny ball with tentacles? Contamination in my ciliate culture? NEW SUPERGROUP OF EUKARYOTES? Yes to all 4! Meet Solarion - just out in #Nature doi.org/10.1038/s415... Huge congrats to Marek Valt, Cepicka Lab & the star team! Very happy to be part of this project. #ProtistsOnSky
Reposted by Malcolm White
🚨 PhD opportunity! 🚨
Join us at St Andrews to study how multiple prophages shape bacterial behaviour & AMR.
Co-supervised with @tatianadimitriu.bsky.social
This is a competition-based EASTBIO PhD.
Full details and the application link are in the advert 👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Join us at St Andrews to study how multiple prophages shape bacterial behaviour & AMR.
Co-supervised with @tatianadimitriu.bsky.social
This is a competition-based EASTBIO PhD.
Full details and the application link are in the advert 👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
EASTBIO: When Phages Collide: Understanding How Multiple Prophages Shape Bacterial Behaviour at University of St Andrews on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - EASTBIO: When Phages Collide: Understanding How Multiple Prophages Shape Bacterial Behaviour at University of St Andrews, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:13 PM
🚨 PhD opportunity! 🚨
Join us at St Andrews to study how multiple prophages shape bacterial behaviour & AMR.
Co-supervised with @tatianadimitriu.bsky.social
This is a competition-based EASTBIO PhD.
Full details and the application link are in the advert 👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Join us at St Andrews to study how multiple prophages shape bacterial behaviour & AMR.
Co-supervised with @tatianadimitriu.bsky.social
This is a competition-based EASTBIO PhD.
Full details and the application link are in the advert 👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Reposted by Malcolm White
PhD studentship opportunity! Join us at St Andrews to study the factors controlling plasmid transmission in the gut. Competition-funded as part of the EASTBIO DTP, co-supervised with Dr Jaclyn Pearson. Please share & pass on to anyone interested! 🦠🧫 Deadline 15th December👇
www.findaphd.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:41 AM
PhD studentship opportunity! Join us at St Andrews to study the factors controlling plasmid transmission in the gut. Competition-funded as part of the EASTBIO DTP, co-supervised with Dr Jaclyn Pearson. Please share & pass on to anyone interested! 🦠🧫 Deadline 15th December👇
Reposted by Malcolm White
Meet Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social, EMBO Young Investigator at @pasteur.fr #France: “The EMBO Young Investigator Programme has been developed by and for researchers,” she says. “It gives us access to some of the best #research infrastructures in the world.” 🧪 www.embo.org/people/build...
Building bridges – People – EMBO
Meet Aude Bernheim, Institut Pasteur, Paris | EMBO Young Investigator
www.embo.org
July 18, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Meet Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social, EMBO Young Investigator at @pasteur.fr #France: “The EMBO Young Investigator Programme has been developed by and for researchers,” she says. “It gives us access to some of the best #research infrastructures in the world.” 🧪 www.embo.org/people/build...
Reposted by Malcolm White
Akin to bacterial SIR2 antiphage proteins, human SIRal, also known as FAM118b, forms filaments that are essential for its NAD processing activity.
Awesome to see structures of these filaments that differ from bacterial ones.
Congrats to the authors on this beautiful study.
Awesome to see structures of these filaments that differ from bacterial ones.
Congrats to the authors on this beautiful study.
Very happy to share our collaborative project on FAM118 proteins - noncanonical sirtuins that form filaments and process NAD in human and other vertebrate cells.
Filament formation and NAD processing by noncanonical human FAM118 sirtuins
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - Baretić and Missoury et al. identify vertebrate proteins FAM118B and FAM118A as sirtuins similar to bacterial antiphage enzymes and show that...
rdcu.be
November 17, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Akin to bacterial SIR2 antiphage proteins, human SIRal, also known as FAM118b, forms filaments that are essential for its NAD processing activity.
Awesome to see structures of these filaments that differ from bacterial ones.
Congrats to the authors on this beautiful study.
Awesome to see structures of these filaments that differ from bacterial ones.
Congrats to the authors on this beautiful study.
Just been trying out Nature Research Assistant beta, which analyses your manuscript drafts and suggests "improvements". Strong sub-editor vibes for me and I worry it will homogenise the literature - anyone else had a look?
November 17, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Just been trying out Nature Research Assistant beta, which analyses your manuscript drafts and suggests "improvements". Strong sub-editor vibes for me and I worry it will homogenise the literature - anyone else had a look?
Reposted by Malcolm White
Amazing piece of work from @rtoshiro.bsky.social
& Kim Seed at UC Berkeley. 🙌
Played a tiny role in this work.
Surviving phage attack dynamically regulates bacterial immunity to defeat counterdefenses
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
& Kim Seed at UC Berkeley. 🙌
Played a tiny role in this work.
Surviving phage attack dynamically regulates bacterial immunity to defeat counterdefenses
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
bsky.app
November 15, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Amazing piece of work from @rtoshiro.bsky.social
& Kim Seed at UC Berkeley. 🙌
Played a tiny role in this work.
Surviving phage attack dynamically regulates bacterial immunity to defeat counterdefenses
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
& Kim Seed at UC Berkeley. 🙌
Played a tiny role in this work.
Surviving phage attack dynamically regulates bacterial immunity to defeat counterdefenses
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Malcolm White
Our nuclease-protease story is out! We explored a fascinating case of coevolution and modularity in prokaryotic immune systems: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Thanks to wonderful coauthors/collaborators/friends, the whole @doudna-lab.bsky.social and everyone at @innovativegenomics.bsky.social
Thanks to wonderful coauthors/collaborators/friends, the whole @doudna-lab.bsky.social and everyone at @innovativegenomics.bsky.social
Recurrent acquisition of nuclease-protease pairs in antiviral immunity
Antiviral immune systems diversify by integrating new genes into existing pathways, creating new mechanisms of viral resistance. We identified genes encoding a predicted nuclease paired with a trypsin...
www.science.org
November 13, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Our nuclease-protease story is out! We explored a fascinating case of coevolution and modularity in prokaryotic immune systems: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Thanks to wonderful coauthors/collaborators/friends, the whole @doudna-lab.bsky.social and everyone at @innovativegenomics.bsky.social
Thanks to wonderful coauthors/collaborators/friends, the whole @doudna-lab.bsky.social and everyone at @innovativegenomics.bsky.social
"incredibly humbled" is a phrase I'd hoped would have stayed over on X and not migrated to Bluesky.
November 13, 2025 at 5:15 PM
"incredibly humbled" is a phrase I'd hoped would have stayed over on X and not migrated to Bluesky.
Reposted by Malcolm White
📣 Calling all senior microbiology postdocs! The University of St Andrews is inviting applications from outstanding visionary Research Fellow and Future Leader candidates to attend a Biomolecular Science Fellowship Day. Applications due by 12th Dec, see link for full details: tinyurl.com/4n3na8vn
Exciting Opportunity: Biomolecular Science Fellowship Day
The School of Biology at the University of St Andrews is inviting applications from outstanding visionary Research Fellow and Future Leader candidates to attend the Biomolecular Science (BMS) Fello…
biology.st-andrews.ac.uk
November 5, 2025 at 9:57 AM
📣 Calling all senior microbiology postdocs! The University of St Andrews is inviting applications from outstanding visionary Research Fellow and Future Leader candidates to attend a Biomolecular Science Fellowship Day. Applications due by 12th Dec, see link for full details: tinyurl.com/4n3na8vn
Better to know, I guess - great work from the Hobbs lab @uniofstandrews.bsky.social
📣New preprint alert! We report the alarming finding that stringent response mutations found in clinical isolates increase the frequency of donation of multiresistance plasmids in S. aureus 😱 Great team effort @microclaire.bsky.social @paulrjohnston.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 13, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Better to know, I guess - great work from the Hobbs lab @uniofstandrews.bsky.social
Thanks! It was a very enjoyable visit and I learned a lot!
Super seminar from @mfwhite2.bsky.social thank you for visiting us in Newcastle!
Brilliant to have Prof Malcolm White from the University of St Andrews giving a Newcastle University Biosciences Institute seminar (hosted by @heathmurraylab.bsky.social) #microbiology #phage #bacteriology
November 12, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Thanks! It was a very enjoyable visit and I learned a lot!
Thinking about your first steps to independent research? We'd love to hear from you. More details below, or contact me directly for details - reposts appreciated!
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
Biomolecular Science Fellowship Day - St Andrews, Fife (GB) job with UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS | 12848597
The School of Biology at the University of St Andrews is inviting applications from outstanding visionary Research Fellow and Future Leader candida...
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Thinking about your first steps to independent research? We'd love to hear from you. More details below, or contact me directly for details - reposts appreciated!
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
www.nature.com/naturecareer...
This is something that is within our power
‘Embrace non-profit publishing to tackle largest science crisis’.
Stockholm Declaration promotes shift to models encouraging high quality and restoration of trust.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-worl...
Stockholm Declaration promotes shift to models encouraging high quality and restoration of trust.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-worl...
‘Embrace non-profit publishing to tackle largest science crisis’ - Research Professional News
Stockholm Declaration promotes shift to models encouraging high quality and restoration of trust
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
This is something that is within our power
This has to be one of the most subtle signals activating a DS, it blows my mind that there are two different effectors capable of achieving this molecular recognition
Bacteria can sense when a virus starts shredding their genome — by detecting methylated mononucleotides.
Here’s the story of how we discovered the Metis defense system 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Here’s the story of how we discovered the Metis defense system 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 6, 2025 at 6:52 AM
This has to be one of the most subtle signals activating a DS, it blows my mind that there are two different effectors capable of achieving this molecular recognition
Reposted by Malcolm White
Hi everyone, a few years ago, we started a list of labs studying bacterial immunty for students, editors, conference organizers... (currently n=79).
Update time ! Send me a message to 1) add your lab or others 2) Correct info
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
#Phagesky #Microsky
Update time ! Send me a message to 1) add your lab or others 2) Correct info
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
#Phagesky #Microsky
Labs in bacterial immunity
docs.google.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Hi everyone, a few years ago, we started a list of labs studying bacterial immunty for students, editors, conference organizers... (currently n=79).
Update time ! Send me a message to 1) add your lab or others 2) Correct info
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
#Phagesky #Microsky
Update time ! Send me a message to 1) add your lab or others 2) Correct info
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
#Phagesky #Microsky
Very cool.
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
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...
doi.org
October 31, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Very cool.
Reposted by Malcolm White
I’m thrilled to share our Retron Eco8 paper published in Molecular Cell today. Thanks all Fu lab members and our collaborators.
👉Phage SSB detection by retron Eco8 msDNA unleashes nuclease-mediated immunity. www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
👉Phage SSB detection by retron Eco8 msDNA unleashes nuclease-mediated immunity. www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Phage SSB detection by retron Eco8 msDNA unleashes nuclease-mediated immunity
The cryo-EM structure of the retron Eco8 system reveals an autoinhibited 4:4:4 complex
of RT, msDNA, and OLD nuclease. Phage SSB binding to msdDNA unleashes non-specific
nuclease activity to restrict ...
www.cell.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:06 PM
I’m thrilled to share our Retron Eco8 paper published in Molecular Cell today. Thanks all Fu lab members and our collaborators.
👉Phage SSB detection by retron Eco8 msDNA unleashes nuclease-mediated immunity. www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
👉Phage SSB detection by retron Eco8 msDNA unleashes nuclease-mediated immunity. www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Malcolm White
Been working on a really strange retron bacterial immune system, here's the preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Type VI retrons are unlike any other. Phage infection triggers reverse transcription of a DNA fragment that activates translation of a toxin to kill the infected cell.
Type VI retrons are unlike any other. Phage infection triggers reverse transcription of a DNA fragment that activates translation of a toxin to kill the infected cell.
October 23, 2025 at 7:32 PM