Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Stephen Garrett @stephenrgarrett.bsky.social · 2d

Some really cool work from @shelbyeandersen.bsky.social in the @duerkoplab.bsky.social using a new approach to identify novel phage defence systems.

bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 2d

Serine recombinases are conserved genetic markers of antiphage defense systems https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.07.681051v1

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Giusy Mariano @giusym1990.bsky.social · 9d

🚨PhD Opportunity Alert🚨 Join me, @suzieh.bsky.social and @walllabuoglasgow.bsky.social to investigate how environment shapes anti-phage defences & prophage–prophage conflict in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Apply here:
www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Justine Rudkin @scousemicrobe.bsky.social · 10d

PhD opportunity to come and work in Glasgow, developing advanced tissue culture models to study Staphylococcus aureus colonisation and infection #microsky #PhD #DTPprogram

Enquiries from potential applicants are welcome.

www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

www.findaphd.com/phds/program...

University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Centres for Doctoral Training - NorthWest Biosciences - Our Projects - Understanding Pathogens, from Molecules to Phenotypes - Justine Rudkin

www.gla.ac.uk

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Stephen Garrett @stephenrgarrett.bsky.social · 25d

Really excited to share my first paper from the Whitney lab, alongside an amazing grad student, Polina. Here we identify a chaperone family required for the folding of a central domain of T7SS toxins, and solve the structure of the chaperone-toxin complex. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

A widespread family of molecular chaperones promotes the intracellular stability of type VIIb secretion system–exported toxins | PNAS

To survive in highly competitive environments, bacteria use specialized secretion systems to deliver antibacterial toxins into neighboring cells, t...

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Alexander Belyy @alexanderbelyy.bsky.social · 26d

In our new article, we show how P. aeruginosa, a major cause of chronic respiratory infections in #cysticfibrosis (CF), uses the Type VI Secretion System #T6SS and specific #toxins to eliminate competing bacteria
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
#cryoEM @dshatskiy.bsky.social @jakecolautti.bsky.social

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

José R Penadés @jrpenades.bsky.social · Sep 9

Thrilled to share our two latest papers with the @tcostalab.bsky.social
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Chimeric infective particles expand species boundaries in phage-inducible chromosomal island mobilization

Capsid-forming PICIs (cf-PICIs) produce their own capsids and exploit phage tails from unrelated species to transfer their DNA across bacterial hosts. This tail piracy enables broad dissemination and ...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Amy Conte @amyconte.bsky.social · Jun 4

Excited to share that my work in the @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social lab describing chaperone-mediated phage sensing by a bacterial NLR-related protein is out in @plosbiology.org!

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · Jun 4

Bacteria encode homologs of the human NACHT proteins that form inflammasomes and use them to defend against phage #infection. @amyconte.bsky.social @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social &co show that bNACHT25 detects diverse phages indirectly through interaction with the host chaperone DnaJ. 🧪
plos.io/4koXP60

DnaJ mediates phage sensing by the bacterial NLR-related protein bNACHT25

Bacteria encode homologs of the human NACHT proteins that form inflammasomes, and use them to defend against phage infection. This study shows that the NLR-related protein bNACHT25 detects diverse pha...

plos.io

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Joel MJ Tan @joelmjtan.bsky.social · Apr 30

Excited to share my PhD work in the Kranzusch Lab published in @nature.com!

Two key discoveries:
- Nucleotides can act as negative regulators of antiviral immunity
- Ion channel activation is gated by DNA

Thank you to our all collaborators! @soreklab.bsky.social

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

A DNA-gated molecular guard controls bacterial Hailong anti-phage defence - Nature

Nature - A DNA-gated molecular guard controls bacterial Hailong anti-phage defence

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Sorek Lab @soreklab.bsky.social · Apr 30

Out in Nature today: A new immune signaling molecule, His-ADPR, is produced by defensive TIR domain proteins in bacteria to protect from phage

Joint work with the Tamulaitienė and Kranzusch labs

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

Congrats Carmel Avraham, Dziugas Sabonis, Renee Chang and co-authors!

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

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.

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Cox Lab UoG @geocox44.bsky.social · Apr 22

Postdoctoral Fellow position–Investigating the Escherichia coli efflux network and cell envelope to advance next-generation antimicrobial development in the Cox lab, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, UoG, Canada. Please share! www.coxlab.ca/job-opportun... @uofguelph.bsky.social

Job Opportunities — Cox Lab

www.coxlab.ca

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Eduardo Rocha @epcrocha.bsky.social · Apr 16

New postdoc position in our lab (2 y+): evolutionary genomics of integrons and MGEs with focus on vibrio-phage interactions. Great environment @pasteur.fr for science, career building. Super collaborators @celineloot.bsky.social @amazeld.bsky.social @fredoleroux.bsky.social 3 weeks to apply!

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Stephen Garrett @stephenrgarrett.bsky.social · Apr 14

As far as I know the strains that have ABP have been isolated from different sources including the environment and food, but I’m not sure if there’s correlation to any of the specific serotypes of Lmo.

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Stephen Garrett @stephenrgarrett.bsky.social · Apr 14

However we think that it’s definitely possible that bacteria could have orphan immunities which protect against toxins that they don’t themselves produce, although that doesn’t seem to be the case for these species.

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Stephen Garrett @stephenrgarrett.bsky.social · Apr 14

Thanks Filipe! As far as I know neither EGDe or 10403S have an ABP, however other Listeria species definitely do. But you’re right, the immunity proteins are highly specific for each of the variable toxin domains.

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · Apr 8

The BASEL collection of E. coli #phages is limited by its host strain. @humollidorentina.bsky.social @damienpiel.bsky.social @aharms485.bsky.social &co use a modified host to add 36 new phages, revealing roles of O-antigen in recognition & R-M systems in immunity @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4jirGvX

A fanciful depiction of BASEL phages on a roadmap. Credit: Fabienne Estermann

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Stephen Garrett @stephenrgarrett.bsky.social · Apr 14

Really excited to share this story from Jake in the lab! We have found bacterial protein toxins that can enter Gram positive bacterial cells without the need for a receptor resulting in broad spectrum antibacterial activity.

bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · Apr 14

Proteolytically activated antibacterial toxins inhibit the growth of diverse Gram-positive bacteria https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.13.648598v1

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

José R Penadés @jrpenades.bsky.social · Mar 27

If you are interested in phage satellites, we hope you'll enjoy this. Fun collaboration with the Rocha, Seed, Bikard, and Chen labs! rdcu.be/efkvG

Genetics, ecology and evolution of phage satellites

Nature Reviews Microbiology - In this Review, Penadés et al. explore the genetics, potential origins and life cycle of phage satellites, and they discuss the impact of these elements on the...

rdcu.be

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Nature Reviews Microbiology @natrevmicro.nature.com · Mar 27

New online! Genetics, ecology and evolution of phage satellites

Genetics, ecology and evolution of phage satellites

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 27 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01156-zIn this Review, Penadés et al. explore the genetics, potential origins and life cycle of phage satellites, and they discuss the impact of these elements on the evolution of other mobile genetic elements and their host bacteria.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Charles Winterhalter @winterhalterlab.bsky.social · Mar 11

Excited to share with you the story that enabled me to start my own lab: what happens when the bacterial DNA replication machinery encounters single-strand discontinuities on template DNA? What is required for break repair and replication restart?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Rescuing bacterial genome replication: essential functions to repair a double-strand break and restart DNA synthesis

Many antibiotics indirectly generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can damage bacterial genomes. Oxidised nucleobases become genotoxic when they are targeted for repair through excision, generati...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Liam Rooney @liam-rooney.bsky.social · Feb 25

First senior-author paper is out today in the Journal of Microscopy! 🧪🔬

We present the first 3D printed microscope where both the optics & frame are entirely 3D printed - a low-cost, accessible, and reproducible tool for histological imaging!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jmi.13398

An exploded view of the 3D-printed microscope. A front-facing (A), oblique (B), and side-facing view (C) of the microscope are presented, with the chassis coloured in grey and the positions of additional components highlighted with different colours (orange = LED light source, magenta = 3D-printed condenser lens, blue = 3D-printed objective lens, green = CMOS camera). A scale bar is presented in (a) to provide a visualisation of the size of the microscope setup.

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Michael Brockhurst @brockhurstlab.bsky.social · Feb 24

📣Just 1 week left to apply for 2x 5-year researcher posts in experimental evolution #mevosky #microsky in @mermanchester.bsky.social @official-uom.bsky.social

+ 3-year research tech post www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

ERC project: how MGEs and defence systems control genome evoluton

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Giusy Mariano @giusym1990.bsky.social · Jan 24

🚨We are hiring! A MRC-funded PDRA position to study novel anti-phage systems & their evolutionary dynamics in P. aeruginosa, in collaboration with @friendlymicrobe. If you are passionate about phage-bacteria interactions & evolution, apply now ! tinyurl.com/bddz4z44

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

Michael Ormsby @michaeljormsby.bsky.social · Feb 21

🚨 #PhD opportunity 🚨
Interested in the environmental persistence of bacterial pathogens 🦠 & quantifying the role of climate change in virulence and #AMR? Come and join us! @uofglasgow.bsky.social @sbohvm.gla.ac.uk
www.findaphd.com/phds/projectdetails.aspx?PJID=182832
Please share!

Funded PhD: Evaluating the health risks of zoonotic diseases in agricultural run-off: implications for human and animal well-being in the context of climate change at University of Glasgow on FindAPhD...

PhD Project - Funded PhD: Evaluating the health risks of zoonotic diseases in agricultural run-off: implications for human and animal well-being in the context of climate change at University of Glasg...

www.findaphd.com

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Reposted by Stephen Garrett

University of Glasgow School of Infection & Immunity @uofgsii.bsky.social · Feb 21

📌 WE ARE HIRING!

@uofgsii.bsky.social is seeking to appoint a Research Associate in Molecular Microbiology.

⏺️ Vacancy Ref: 164773
⌛️ Closing date: 24 Feb 2025
📧 Informal Enquiries: Dr @giusym1990.bsky.social [email protected]

More Info | How To Apply: www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research...

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