antoniasagona.bsky.social
Antonia Sagona
@antoniasagona.bsky.social
260 followers 260 following 11 posts
Reader (Associate Professor) in School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, UK. Interested in bacteriophages and phage therapy.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Antonia Sagona
elliejameson.bsky.social
Ellie Jameson @elliejameson.bsky.social · 1d
Day 7, Share. Inoviruses are filamentous single stranded DNA phages that can be produced continuously and exported by their host without lysis and killing their host. They have a single repeating major coat protein that covers their length and specialised spike proteins. #Drawtober #SciArt #Phagesky
Black and white ink drawing of two long filamentous phages. The one in the background is all the same distance away. In the foreground is a close up of the spike proteins of the closer phage with 5 repeated protein complexes forming what looks almost like a flower, the rest of the inovirus loops around into the background
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
elliejameson.bsky.social
Ellie Jameson @elliejameson.bsky.social · 3d
Day 5, Moon. The physical structures of phages are often compared to the shape and landing action of a lunar lander, with tail fibres reminiscent of the landing struts, to gently settle on the surface of its host. #Drawtober #SciArt #Phagesky
Black and white ink drawing of the moon, with a giant phage on the top right that is half the width of the moon. The moon and phage are white, surrounded by a black circular background of messy, overlapping concentric circles
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
proftracypalmer.bsky.social
Tracy Palmer @proftracypalmer.bsky.social · 4d
Check it out! A proper team effort from past and present group members and a great collaboration with @sergemostowylab.bsky.social
biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social
bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 4d
The Staphylococcus aureus LXG-domain toxins EsxX and SAR0287 do not promote virulence in a zebrafish larval infection model https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.04.680436v1
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
brockhurstlab.bsky.social
Michael Brockhurst @brockhurstlab.bsky.social · 3d
New preprint!

Ever wondered why only a fraction of genomes encode CRISPR immunity? 🧬 🦠

Turns out CRISPR is rarely beneficial against virulent phages, being most beneficial against those for which resistance mutations are rare!

An epic effort by Rosanna Wright

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Resistance mutation supply modulates the benefit of CRISPR immunity against virulent phages
Only a fraction of bacterial genomes encode CRISPR-Cas systems but the selective causes of this variation are unexplained. How naturally virulent bacteriophages (phages) select for CRISPR immunity has...
www.biorxiv.org
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
emmseveri.bsky.social
Emmanuele Severi @emmseveri.bsky.social · 6d
www.cell.com/current-biol...

#phagesky #phage
Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness
Kubota et al. show that bacteria can use their filamentous phage to outcompete other bacteria, but increased phage production enables the evolution of cheater miniphages with truncated genomes. Miniph...
www.cell.com
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
zaminiqbal.bsky.social
Zamin Iqbal @zaminiqbal.bsky.social · 13d
Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n
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brockhurstlab.bsky.social
Michael Brockhurst @brockhurstlab.bsky.social · 13d
Now peer-reviewed, improved and published in @microbiologysociety.org Microbiology - thanks to editor and reviewers!

www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
brockhurstlab.bsky.social
Michael Brockhurst @brockhurstlab.bsky.social · 13d
Recent paper from the lab studying predictors of phage cocktail efficacy against complex clinical Pseudomonas populations

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....

Led by Rosanna Wright with extraordinary MSc (PhD) student Maisie Czernuska
Bacteria–phage infection network structure and genomic defence system content predict efficacy of a phage therapy cocktail against Pseudomonas aeruginosa from chronic lung infections
royalsocietypublishing.org
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
emmseveri.bsky.social
Emmanuele Severi @emmseveri.bsky.social · 14d
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#phagesky #phage defence
The co-localizing Zorya II, Druantia III, and ARMADA II defense systems on O-island 172 confer synergistic anti-phage defense in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
In this study, we show that the enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) strain EDL933 Δ stx1/2 is highly resistant to phages. The genes encoding the three phage defense systems Zorya II, Druantia II...
www.biorxiv.org
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antoniasagona.bsky.social
Antonia Sagona @antoniasagona.bsky.social · 14d
Great work!
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
jeremyjbarr.bsky.social
Jeremy Barr @jeremyjbarr.bsky.social · 14d
Excited to annouce the latest research published by our lab, which is led by Dinesh Subedi and is out today in Nature Microbiology.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Rational design of a hospital-specific phage cocktail to treat Enterobacter cloacae complex infections - Nature Microbiology
The Entelli-02 phage product containing five phages has frontline potential to address infections caused by the multidrug-resistant Enterobacter cloacae complex.
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
jrpenades.bsky.social
José R Penadés @jrpenades.bsky.social · 29d
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 Antonia Sagona
evelienadri.bsky.social
Evelien Adriaenssens @evelienadri.bsky.social · 16d
Incredibly proud of Dr Revathy who is inspiring the next generation of scientists around the world. And even though we can't see them through a foldscope, bacteriophages are still our favourite microbes 🤩

quadram.ac.uk/blogs/inspir...
Inspiring the next generation: exploring the invisible microbial world with students in Koothanoor, India - Quadram Institute
Research Scientist Dr Revathy Krishnamurthy reflects on her visit to the village where she grew up in India and inspiring the next generation to discover the world of science.
quadram.ac.uk
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
mojganrabiey.bsky.social
Mojgan Rabiey @mojganrabiey.bsky.social · 17d
So proud of my MBio student Kieran and my team for this exciting work @DrShannonGreer @warwicklifesci.bsky.social #phage #Pseudomonas #biocontrol doi.org/10.1111/1751...
Understanding Bacterial Antiviral Defence Systems and Phage Receptors to Better Inform Rational Phage Cocktail Design to Treat Bacterial Canker
Correlation between phage host range, antiviral defence systems, and phage receptors revealed the importance of genetic mechanisms underlying phage-bacterial interactions in designing more effective ...
doi.org
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
emmseveri.bsky.social
Emmanuele Severi @emmseveri.bsky.social · 19d
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#phagesky #phage
Phages with a broad host range are common across ecosystems - Nature Microbiology
Proximity-ligation-based sequencing from 111 samples and 5 environments reveals that a substantial proportion of phages infect multiple species.
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
alexclinmicro.bsky.social
Alexis Jaramillo Cartagena, PhD, D(ABMM) @alexclinmicro.bsky.social · 25d
On #WorldSepsisDay, huge thanks to all the clinicians, nurses, lab professionals & researchers working to detect, treat & prevent #Sepsis. Your advances in diagnostics & therapies save lives every day. 💙 #PatientSafety #GlobalHealth #Infection #CriticalCare #MedTwitter
who.int
WHO @who.int · 26d
It’s World #Sepsis Day
Sepsis kills 11 million people each year.

Symptoms incl.:
🔸Fever or shivering
🔸Confusion
🔸Shortness of breath
🔸Rash that does not fade when pressed
🔸Extreme discomfort
🔸Sweaty skin

Seek medical care as soon as possible when an infection is not getting better.
What is sepsis? Sepsis arises when a person has an infection, and the body's reaction to it injures tissues and organs
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
bsvom.bsky.social
Belgian Society for Viruses of Microbes @bsvom.bsky.social · 27d
It begins the 4th annual BSVoM conference with Karen Northshield a survivor of major infection of K. pneumoniae that occurred due to the #Brussles bombings.

Thanks to the group @jeanpaulpirnay.bsky.social and her doctor Anaïs Eskenazi she received life-saving #phage therapy.

Amazing story!
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
hannelorelongin.bsky.social
Hannelore Longin @hannelorelongin.bsky.social · Jul 21
📣 New preprint alert!

Happy to share the first results from our effort to reannotate Pseudomonas #phage proteins of unknown function, using structural bioinformatics.

📄 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Fold first, ask later: structure-informed function annotation of Pseudomonas phage proteins
Phages, the viruses of bacteria, harbor an incredibly diverse repertoire of proteins capable of manipulating their bacterial hosts, inspiring many medical and biotechnological applications. However, t...
doi.org
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
emmseveri.bsky.social
Emmanuele Severi @emmseveri.bsky.social · Aug 31
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#phagesky #phage
Gabija restricts phages that antagonize a conserved host DNA repair complex
Anti-bacteriophage systems like restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas have DNA substrate specificity mechanisms that enable identification of invaders. How Gabija, a highly prevalent nuclease-helica...
www.biorxiv.org
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
emmseveri.bsky.social
Emmanuele Severi @emmseveri.bsky.social · Aug 22
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#microsky
Discovery of a widespread chemical signalling pathway in the Bacteroidota - Nature
The N-acyl-cyclolysine system regulates the expression of co-localized operons encoding diverse secreted molecules in Bacteroidota.
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
aharms485.bsky.social
Alexander Harms @aharms485.bsky.social · Aug 19
Phages on the big screen! 🎬 Premiere of a brilliant film about phage therapy by our friend Thomas Häusler - powerful story, a great panel discussion, and inspiring conversations over the apero. 🧬🥂 #PhageTherapy
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
mcastd.bsky.social
Meaghan Castledine @mcastd.bsky.social · Nov 15
Hello new phage phollowers!

I am shamelessly self-promoting mine and Angus Buckling's relatively new review "Critically evaluating the relative importance of phage in shaping microbial community composition"

www.cell.com/trends/micro...
Critically evaluating the relative importance of phage in shaping microbial community composition
The ubiquity of bacteriophages (phages) and the major evolutionary and ecological impacts they can have on their microbial hosts has resulted in phages often cited as key drivers shaping microbial com...
www.cell.com
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antoniasagona.bsky.social
Antonia Sagona @antoniasagona.bsky.social · Aug 1
Very honoured to be invited speaker in this fantastic conference! Looking forward to it!
bsvom.bsky.social
Belgian Society for Viruses of Microbes @bsvom.bsky.social · Jul 31
Hello BSVoM Blueskyers,

Are you in need of some #phage, #phage therapy and other viruses of microbes conferences?!! 👁️👇🏽

🦠 BSVoM Symposium (Sept 12): Keynotes
from @jeanpaulpirnay.bsky.social and @antoniasagona.bsky.social and more!!

🗓️ Abstracts: Aug 8 | Reg: Sept 1

www.bsvom.be/en/abstract-...
Abstract submission 2nd BSVoM symposium - BSVoM
www.bsvom.be
Reposted by Antonia Sagona
bsvom.bsky.social
Belgian Society for Viruses of Microbes @bsvom.bsky.social · Jul 31
Hello BSVoM Blueskyers,

Are you in need of some #phage, #phage therapy and other viruses of microbes conferences?!! 👁️👇🏽

🦠 BSVoM Symposium (Sept 12): Keynotes
from @jeanpaulpirnay.bsky.social and @antoniasagona.bsky.social and more!!

🗓️ Abstracts: Aug 8 | Reg: Sept 1

www.bsvom.be/en/abstract-...
Abstract submission 2nd BSVoM symposium - BSVoM
www.bsvom.be
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Reposted by Antonia Sagona
fnobrega.bsky.social
Franklin Nobrega @fnobrega.bsky.social · Jul 28
Thrilled to see our Kiwa story out today! A membrane-associated supercomplex that senses infection and blocks replication and transcription.

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Huge congratulations to Yi and Zhiying for bringing it home, to Thomas for starting us off, and to all the collaborators.
Kiwa is a membrane-embedded defense supercomplex activated at phage attachment sites
Zhang, Todeschini, and Wu et al. show that the bacterial defense system Kiwa senses phage attachment at the membrane and assembles a transmembrane complex that halts infection by blocking phage DNA re...
www.cell.com
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