Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Jörg Vogel @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social · 3d

Two group leader positions available in the broader areas of RNA science, RNA technologies, and RNA medicine. Attractive packages and a great environment. Come and join us at Helmholtz RNA Würzburg, Bavaria.

1 76 64

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Cell Chemical Biology @cp-cellchembiol.bsky.social · 22d

Disruption to the gut microbiome by non-antibiotics is linked to infection risk http://dlvr.it/TN9lNG

2 3 6

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Jörg Vogel @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social · Sep 10

Looking for a new approach to studying or eliminating phages? Check out our study introducing anti-phage ASOs (antisense oligos) out in @Nature today. nature.com/articles/s4158…

4 63 130

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

GSLS - Graduate School of Life Sciences Würzburg @gslsuniwue.bsky.social · Aug 25

PhDs & Postdocs of @uni-wuerzburg.de struggling to finish a project? Join our Long Night Against Procrastination!

✅ Tips on motivation & writing
✅ Pizza & plenty of coffee
✅ Work through the night with peers from all disciplines

📅 Oct 23, 2025 | 5pm–midnight
📍 Graduate Schools Building

3 7

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Emily Goodall @emgoodall.bsky.social · Aug 14

Out yesterday. Using a translation reporter on a mini-tn5 transposon, and high freq. mutagenesis, we looked at translation on whole genome scale independently of genome annotation. academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

PIRT-Seq: a high-resolution whole-genome assay to identify protein-coding genes

Abstract. The advent of high-density mutagenesis and data-mining studies suggest the existence of further coding potential within bacterial genomes. Small

academic.oup.com

4 16 33

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Sternberg Lab @sternberglab.bsky.social · Jul 24

1/16 New pre-print from the Sternberg Lab!
We uncover how temperate phages can use RNA-guided transcription factors to remodel the flagellar composition of their bacterial host and enhance their fitness.
Find the preprint and full story here: tinyurl.com/mshwjd77

3 35 71

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Brochado Lab @brochadolab.bsky.social · Jul 23

Finally out! A small screen helps understand a little more about how E. coli regulates major transporters, and reveals how caffeine induces phenotypical antibiotic resistance. Huge thanks to collab @andrenmateus.bsky.social (Umeå) and Christian L. Müller (Munich)!
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Systematic screen uncovers regulator contributions to chemical cues in Escherichia coli

Transport machineries are crucial for antibiotic resistance, but their regulation by external cues is poorly understood. This study identifies environmental chemicals that regulate transporter transcr...

journals.plos.org

1 14 31

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · Jul 23

How are bacterial transport machineries regulated by external cues? @brochadolab.bsky.social &co identify environmental chemicals that regulate #transporter transcription, identifying the TF Rob as a key modulator of #EffluxPump expression in #Ecoli #AMR @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/46pUM9Q

Left: Compound-promoter interaction network. Fifty-three significant compound-promoter interactions are shown as edges in a Sankey diagram connecting the compounds (left, source nodes) to the promoters (right, target nodes). Edge thickness represents mean Z-scores (n = 8), while node size represents the total number of interactions. Right: Proposed model for the molecular mechanism of caffeine-ciprofloxacin antagonism. Caffeine triggers expression of MicF small RNA in a Rob-dependent manner, which then binds to the 5′-UTR of ompF mRNA to inhibit and decrease OmpF protein levels. This ultimately prevents ciprofloxacin from entering the cell, resulting in caffeine-ciprofloxacin antagonism

1 13 34

Mona Alzheimer @monaalzheimer.bsky.social · Jul 16

🧪We are hiring #MicroSky🧪
Postdoc position in #microbiology #bioinformatics for our @volkswagenstiftung.de funded MOMENTUM project. Join us to study bacterial gene expression with #microfluidics and #microscopy.
➡️ www.uni-wuerzburg.de/fileadmin/03290000/2025/Postdoc_MOMENTUM_Sharma_2025-08.pdf

1 4 14

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg @uni-wuerzburg.de · Jul 14

🎉 Congratulations to @angelifriedmann.bsky.social‬ on receiving an @erc.europa.eu Proof of Concept grant! With his project “SulFex”, he is working on a new strategy for treating a specific form of lung cancer #ERCPoC 📷Andreas Heddergott go.uniwue.de/poc-grant-an...

3 15

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Nature Microbiology @natmicrobiol.nature.com · Jul 1

#NewResearch

🚨Out now

In situ sub-nanometre structure of the Campylobacter jejuni flagellar motor revealing the periplasmic scaffold and basis for torque generation @beebylab.bsky.social

#MicroSky🦠🧫

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

In situ structure of a bacterial flagellar motor at subnanometre resolution reveals adaptations for increased torque - Nature Microbiology

In situ cryoEM and modelling of the Campylobacter jejuni flagellar motor characterize the periplasmic scaffold and the structural basis for increased torque generation.

www.nature.com

9 30

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Sarah Svensson @campy-bara.bsky.social · Jun 30

Happy to share the preprint from here in Shanghai, together with @danielfalush.bsky.social, as well as with team Zhizhou Jia, Huqi Wen, and Zhe Xie!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Evolution of hunt, kill, devour in a Vibrio ecospecies

Bacterial ecospecies are a recently recognized genetic structure that is hypothesized to arise by complex adaptation to a new niche. Using coadaptation analysis as a foundation for laboratory experime...

www.biorxiv.org

1 15 28

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Helmholtz Institute Würzburg @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social · Jun 17

The study was published in the journal @cp-cellreports.bsky.social‬: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Low-input RNA-seq suggests metabolic specialization underlying morphological heterogeneity in a gut commensal bacterium

Isogenic bacteria can be phenotypically diverse. This heterogeneity is evident in the Bacteroidota, a predominant phylum of the human gut microbiota. …

www.sciencedirect.com

1 4 8

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Zeynep Baharoglu @zeynepbaharoglu.bsky.social · Jun 12

New study with an organoid model uncovering the role of tRNA modifications and codon usage in Shigella infection 🦠 #rnasky #microsky 💫💫 www.nature.com/articles/s41... Congrats @mldm.bsky.social

A scalable gut epithelial organoid model reveals the genome-wide colonization landscape of a human-adapted pathogen - Nature Genetics

A genome-wide screen using human gut epithelial organoids combined with transposon-directed insertion sequencing identifies over 100 Shigella flexneri genes required for epithelial colonization.

www.nature.com

2 13

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Nature Communications @natcomms.nature.com · May 28

Into the Nucleoid:

Single-molecule localisation 🔬 and live-cell imaging reveal fine details of chromosomal organisation in the bacterium E. coli 🦠

@michriscopy.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de @heilemannlab.bsky.social @goetheuni.bsky.social
#microbiology

BPoD | Into the Nucleoid

Into the Nucleoid - Biomedical pictures for April 2025.

bit.ly

9 26

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg @uni-wuerzburg.de · May 22

Erfolg auf ganzer Linie: zwei Exzellenzcluster für Würzburg! 🥂🚀
Im Rahmen der #ExStra wird nicht nur der Quantenphysik-Cluster ctd.qmat weiterhin gefördert. Mit NUCLEATE, einem Forschungsprojekt zu Nukleinsäuren, kommt noch ein zweiter Cluster hinzu!
➡️ go.uniwue.de/xstra25

Freude über den Doppelerfolg: Zwei Würzburger Forschungsvorhaben haben sich im Exzellenzwettbewerb durchgesetzt und erhalten Mittel aus der begehrten Millionenförderung. Von links: Caroline Kisker (Würzburger Koordinatorin von NUCLEATE und Vizepräsidentin), Cynthia Sharma (Würzburger Speakerin von NUCLEATE), Ralph Claessen (Würzburger Speaker von ctd.qmat) und Universitätspräsident Paul Pauli (Bild: Jonas Blank / JMU)

2 15 46

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft @dfg.de · May 22

The #ClustersOfExcellence have been selected: today, the Excellence Commission approved 70 projects for funding. 45 clusters will continue and 25 will be newly established. Funding starts on 1 Jan 2026 for 7 years, with €539 million per year. The full list: www.dfg.de/resource/blo... 1/3

Map of Germany with the Clusters of Excellence

2 45 120

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

MPI Dortmund @mpi-dortmund.bsky.social · May 19

With great sadness and deep regret, we have to inform you that our department director and highly esteemed colleague Philippe Bastiaens @maxplanck.de passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on 15th of May.

3 7

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Informationsdienst Wissenschaft - idw @idw-online.de · May 8

Analysing the gene activity of every single bacterial cell in a colony? A new technique of single-cell transcriptomics developed in Würzburg can do this much more efficiently than other methods....
weiterlesen

The cartoon illustrates how single-cell transcriptomics works: all mRNA molecules are recorded and characterized from countless bacterial cells, which are shown here in survival size on a conveyor belt through the laboratory. - Copyright Scigraphix

1 1 2

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Melanie Blokesch @mblokesch.bsky.social · Apr 25

Join the Blokesch lab (@EPFL) as a postdoc in Molecular Microbiology 🤩
Study Vibrio cholerae defense systems (phage/plasmid) in a dynamic, collaborative environment in Lausanne close to Lake Geneva in 🇨🇭!
Please visit my lab's webpage for details about the position and how to formally apply.

2 100 68

Mona Alzheimer @monaalzheimer.bsky.social · Apr 11

So cool to see this out! Congrats to all authors 🎉

Nature Protocols @natprot.nature.com · Apr 9

New Article! Transcriptomic profiling of individual bacteria by MATQ-seq

Transcriptomic profiling of individual bacteria by MATQ-seq

Nature Protocols, Published online: 09 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41596-025-01157-5Bacterial single-cell sequencing via MATQ-seq combines index sorting, random priming and rRNA depletion, and offers high cell retention and transcript capture rates, making it ideal for experiments with limited starting material.

bit.ly

2

Mona Alzheimer @monaalzheimer.bsky.social · Apr 8

New preprint from @westermannlab.bsky.social about a pair of antagonistic #Salmonella sRNAs. Check it out 👇🏻

bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · Apr 8

Intramacrophage RIL-seq uncovers an RNA antagonist of the Salmonella virulence-associated small RNA PinT https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.07.647523v1

5 6

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Sharma Lab @sharmalab.bsky.social · Apr 4

New preprint on our #Campylobacter Tn-seq screen in a 3D tissue model revealing a #smallprotein crucial for motility by @monaalzheimer.bsky.social @kathrinfroschauer.bsky.social @campy-bara.bsky.social together with the Beeby & Hendrixson labs: 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@uni-wuerzburg.de

Functional genomics of Campylobacter-host interactions in an intestinal tissue model reveals a small lipoprotein essential for flagellar assembly

Campylobacter jejuni is currently the most common cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. However, its genome provides few clues about how it interacts with the host. Moreover, infection screens...

www.biorxiv.org

5 11

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Sharma Lab @sharmalab.bsky.social · Apr 1

We are happy to share our new paper on the #Campylobacter translatome out now in @naturecomms.bsky.social. Many congrats to @kathrinfroschauer.bsky.social & @campy-bara.bsky.social and all collaboration partners! #SPP2002 #smallproteins @uni-wuerzburg.de

www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-58329-w

Complementary Ribo-seq approaches map the translatome and provide a small protein census in the foodborne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni - Nature Communications

Bacterial genomes still contain many hidden and uncharacterized genes. Using complementary Ribo-seq approaches, Froschauer, Svensson et al. here annotate start and stop codons of Campylobacter jejuni,...

www.nature.com

20 33

Reposted by Mona Alzheimer

Christophe Zimmer @chzimmer.bsky.social · Apr 1

We are now looking for postdocs or PhD students with expertise in :
- metabolomics (Boneca team)
- chemical biology and medicinal chemistry (Brönstrup team)
- computational biology, AI, physics or related fields (Zimmer team).

2 4