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Jamie Blaza

@jnb-lab.bsky.social

2K followers 1.7K following 160 posts

PI of York Bioenergetics Lab in YSBL/ Department of Chemistry, University of York. Interested in biophysical methods to explore bioenergetics and microbiology, especially in tuberculosis lab website : bioenergetics.site ORCID: 0000-0001-5420-2116

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Jamie Blaza @jnb-lab.bsky.social · Mar 20

Our work putting bioenergetics back into the earliest stages of spore germination is now on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social. Read below for @poojag96.bsky.social excellent thread and link

Pooja Gupta @poojag96.bsky.social · Mar 18

The preprint is out now - we describe how Bacillus spores restart energy metabolism as they exit dormancy! Dormant spores are dehydrated, very robust for long periods, but when they sense nutrient availability, they can germinate rapidly to make the most of the favourable environmental conditions 1/

bioRxiv Biophysics @biorxiv-biophys.bsky.social · Mar 16

Bioenergetic metabolism restarts alongside germinant sensing and hydration in bacterial spore germination https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.13.642030v1

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Edwin Antony @professorantony.bsky.social · 12h

Spread the word if you can.
We have an unused stopped flow accessory from Applied Photophysics. We traded in our Chirascan CD instrument so we have no use for this anymore. Reach out if you are interested and can find a home for this setup. Will ofcourse only work with a Chirascan!

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 3d

I am leaving Rochester NY after attending the retirement fest of four giants in the field of evolutionary biology including my PhD advisor. This visit gave me a chance to revisit old haunts and reflect on my own somewhat unlikely origin story. 1/n

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

cryoEM papers @cryoempapers.bsky.social · 3d

Structural and mechanistic insights into translation initiation on the enterovirus Type 1 IRES www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.04.680434v1 #cryoem

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Rhys Grinter @rhyswg.bsky.social · 18d

The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria blocks many antibiotics. Our latest work reveals that L-type pyocins bypass this barrier by inactivating the BAM complex, killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa without entering the cell, providing a new blueprint for beating antibiotic resistance.

A Protein Antibiotic Inhibits the BAM Complex to Kill Without Cell Entry

Many antibiotics are ineffective against Gram-negative pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa because they cannot penetrate the bacterial outer membrane. Here, we show that protein antibiotics calle...

www.biorxiv.org

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Jamie Blaza @jnb-lab.bsky.social · 5d

Deleted old post because of stupid typo!

Jamie Blaza @jnb-lab.bsky.social · 5d

It is mad but just a clarification: English and Welsh universities don’t set domestic fees, they’re set by the government and have been eroded over the last 10+ years due to inflation as their nominal value (£9.25k a year) hasn’t changed

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Jamie Blaza @jnb-lab.bsky.social · 5d

New group leader: one to follow!

Dipak Kathyat @kathayatdipak.bsky.social · 5d

I am very happy to share that I have started this week as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine in Harrogate, Tennessee. It has been a beautiful journey from IAAS to Ohio State to Cornell, and now to LMU-CVM.

Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Brian Teague @brian.teague.bio · 6d

Interested in joining the Biology faculty at selective liberal arts college with a rising national profile? Come be my colleague at Trinity University! We are searching for TWO positions this year! (1/3)

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Augustinas Silale @augustsilale.bsky.social · 6d

Our paper on the Bacteroidota BAM complex is out in @natmicrobiol.nature.com! With @madejmar.bsky.social

We found that BAM in Bacteroides and Porphyromonas gingivalis has a distinct architecture from BAM in Proteobacteria.

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Structure of a distinct β-barrel assembly machinery complex in the Bacteroidota - Nature Microbiology

Structural and functional characterization of the β-barrel assembly machinery complex in Bacteroidota reveals a distinct, seven-component complex with a large extracellular domain that may enable β-barrel–surface lipoprotein complex assembly.

doi.org

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Rosana Zenil-Ferguson @roszenil.bsky.social · 7d

The Department of Biology at the University of Kentucky is hiring a Microbiologist (broadly defined). Microbial eco-evo folks, this is your sign to come work with us. Not in the search committee, but happy to answer questions.
ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/600...
#microbiology #ecology

Assistant or Associate Professor in Microbiology

The Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY seeks to fill a tenure-eligible faculty position at the Assistant or Associate Professor le...

ukjobs.uky.edu

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Cornelius Gati @gati.bsky.social · 10d

Thrilled to share that I’ll be joining the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania! Our lab will be relocating to the Department of Pharmacology in Jan ’26. We’re hiring at all levels—reach out if you’re interested! @isbupenn.bsky.social @pennmedicine.bsky.social

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Ben Engel @cellarchlab.com · 8d

EXCITING NEWS!! We're searching for a new professor colleague at the Biozentrum🇨🇭. Ideal candidates are exploring novel biological questions with structure, biophysics, or high-resolution imaging. 🧪 🧶🧬 🔬

The call closes Nov 3. Please get in touch if you would like more information. Come join us! 👩‍🔬🤓

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Jamie Blaza @jnb-lab.bsky.social · 12d

Good luck with it! It’s weird seeing your career in such a form

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Jamie Blaza @jnb-lab.bsky.social · 12d

This applies to all structural biology projects! Seeing the features you ought to see at a nominal resolution is the best falsification you can do

Sjors Scheres @sjorsscheres.bsky.social · 12d

I feel some responsibility, as we develop the software. But helical reconstruction is prone to getting stuck in local minima, and unfortunately still requires a lot of self-criticism. The most important one: if you don't see expected features in the map, don't trust it!

Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Oli Clarke @olibclarke.bsky.social · 13d

Initial attempt at replicating in relion (parameters in next post). This is for Aca2-RNA, using a 100k subset of the 2D-classified particles (no prior 3D cleanup).

A 1-class ab initio in relion, then local refinement in relion (1.8deg searches+blush) gives a nominally 3.3Å map; 3.5 Å w/out blush.

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Olivier Neyrolles @oneyrolles.bsky.social · 15d

Excited to share Wendy Le Mouëllic’s PhD work, now published in @pnas.org!
It reveals that M. tuberculosis depends on inorganic sulfate import to survive inside host cells—fueling essential processes such as redox balance and stress resistance.
Huge congrats to Wendy & colleagues!
shorturl.at/WbFQC

Inorganic sulfate is critical for Mycobacterium tuberculosis lung tissue colonization and redox balance | PNAS

Tuberculosis remains the deadliest infectious disease caused by a single pathogen, highlighting the urgent need for novel therapies. A deeper under...

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 23d

FT piece on the decline of Chemistry (from January). www.ft.com/content/563f...

Graph showing decline in the number of courses for various STEM subjects, relative to 2020 levels. Chemistry drops the most rapidly, but overall decline is also seen in Biosciences, Physics, and General Sciences.

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Cryo Mariena @cryomariena.bsky.social · 15d

Congratulations to this fantastic group of people: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#sheliveson #tcbf

Dose-efficient cryo-electron microscopy for thick samples using tilt- corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy - Nature Methods

Tilt-corrected bright-field scanning transmission electron microscopy offers enhanced cryogenic electron microscopy contrast and substantial improvement in dose efficiency for thick samples such as bacterial cells and large organelles, while still being able to perform single-particle analysis.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 16d

My department at UC Davis is hiring a mycologist, broadly interpreted. Please repost, share, and consider applying. recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07339

Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology

University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ucdavis.edu

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Sjors Scheres @sjorsscheres.bsky.social · 17d

These results are truly impressive! But I do worry that #cryoEM is moving into a phase where progress is made by optimizing parameter settings for black box programs. The devil is often in the details, and I am not sure how this could be implemented in #relion, as stated, without more info.

Oli Clarke @olibclarke.bsky.social · 26d

This one is a bit of a departure from the usual and definitely a work in progress!

We found that by using ab initio reconstruction at very high res, in very small steps, we could crack some small structures that had eluded us - e.g. 39kDa iPKAc (EMPIAR-10252), below.

Read on for details... 1/x

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Jamie Blaza @jnb-lab.bsky.social · 18d

Great to see a) stunning tomography and b) eLife’s newish publication model working well with big hitters like @cellarchlab.com and @profmattjohnson.bsky.social using it

eLife @elife.bsky.social · 18d

🌱 Using ‘compelling’ methods, including #CryoET, researchers mapped spinach thylakoid membranes at single-molecule precision, revealing how photosynthetic complexes are organised and settling long-standing debates on chloroplast architecture.
buff.ly/j3TSIkn

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Katsu Funai @katsufunai.bsky.social · 20d

Still true

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Prof Tanya Parish @proftanya13.bsky.social · 21d

My news is that I will be joining the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine! I'm very excited to join an organization that shares my passion for improving global health, at the same time I'm sad to leave all of the wonderful colleagues here at SCRI who I've enjoyed working with over the past ~6y 🦠🧪

LSTM welcomes three leading global health therapeutics experts with support from UKRI

Dr Jeremy Burrows, Professor Tanya Parish, and Dr Ami Patel will bring unique expertise in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, vaccinology and antibody-based therapeutics into LSTM, enhancing its

www.lstmed.ac.uk

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Sazanov Lab @sazanovlab.bsky.social · 20d

How the twin-arginine translocase (Tat) system manages to transport folded proteins across membranes without any leaks? To answer this fundamental question we solved the first structure of TatB3C3 complex with bound cargo. Please check out new preprint!
t.co/962Kj9pt6F

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.16.676506v1

t.co

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Reposted by Jamie Blaza

Samuel King @samuelhking.bsky.social · 21d

Many of the most complex and useful functions in biology emerge at the scale of whole genomes.

Today, we share our preprint “Generative design of novel bacteriophages with genome language models”, where we validate the first, functional AI-generated genomes 🧵

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