leahmsmith.bsky.social
Leah Smith
@leahmsmith.bsky.social
37 followers 43 following 3 posts
Research Fellow at University of Otago NZ interested in phages, biofilms, genomics, CRISPR & phage therapy
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Leah Smith
benadler.bsky.social
Ben Adler @benadler.bsky.social · 7d
Today in @nature.com , we highlight how a cousin of CRISPR-Cas10, mCpol, establishes an evolutionary trap in anti-phage immune systems.

Check out @erinedoherty.bsky.social and my work from @doudna-lab.bsky.social lab here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A miniature CRISPR–Cas10 enzyme confers immunity by inhibitory signalling - Nature
Panoptes, an anti-phage defence system against virus-mediated immune suppression, is revealed.
www.nature.com
3 54 110
leahmsmith.bsky.social
Leah Smith @leahmsmith.bsky.social · 23d
Nice write up by Kalani Gast and Rodolphe Barrangou previewing our latest paper 🧫 ✂️ 🧬 out now in @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social
cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social
Cell Host & Microbe @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social · 23d
All systems go: CRISPR crosstalk for enhanced immunity

Barrangou Previews papers led by @peterfineran.bsky.social & Meeske demonstrating CRISPR-Cas systems have unprecedented level of cooperative crosstalk between different subtypes, enabling primed spacer acquisition
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
All systems go: CRISPR crosstalk for enhanced immunity
In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, companion manuscripts from Margolis & Meeske and Smith & Fineran demonstrate that CRISPR-Cas systems have an unprecedented level of cooperative crosstalk between ...
www.cell.com
1
Reposted by Leah Smith
ppgardne.bsky.social
Paul Gardner @ppgardne.bsky.social · Sep 6
Applied research is digging for gold, basic research is figuring out where to dig. Marsden used to fund it all. Each grant is rigorously assessed in 2 rounds by a panel of local & international experts. It is risky research, with potentially high rewards.
te-ara-paerangi.community
Te Ara Paerangi Com - Research Advocacy Capability @te-ara-paerangi.community · Sep 6
More cuts to the Marsden Fund. This time $20 million from the annual budget cut starting next year. This is on top of previous cuts by this government. They are trying to skip the 'priming the pump' step of public research as a driver of the economy. How well that is going to work?
#NZPOL
Fewer Marsden Fund grants after government cuts
A major research fund has been forced to slash its grant allocation by more than $20 million next year.
www.rnz.co.nz
2 15 37
Reposted by Leah Smith
josie-e.bsky.social
Josie Elliott @josie-e.bsky.social · Sep 4
Can CRISPR-Cas systems target any phage? Yes, no, it depends? What does it depend on? The second paper from my PhD came out today in a special issue of Phil Trans B on the ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems
doi.org/10.1098/rstb...
Phage susceptibility to a minimal, modular synthetic CRISPR-Cas system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is nutrient dependent | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
CRISPR-Cas systems can provide adaptive, heritable immunity to their prokaryotic hosts against invading genetic material such as phages. It is clear that the importance of acquiring CRISPR-Cas immunit...
doi.org
3 17 27
Reposted by Leah Smith
gbouras13.bsky.social
George Bouras @gbouras13.bsky.social · Aug 8
Stoked to finally have a preprint out for Phold, our tool that uses protein structural information to enhance phage genome annotation #phagesky 1/n

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Protein Structure Informed Bacteriophage Genome Annotation with Phold
Bacteriophage (phage) genome annotation is essential for understanding their functional potential and suitability for use as therapeutic agents. Here we introduce Phold, an annotation framework utilis...
www.biorxiv.org
5 65 130
leahmsmith.bsky.social
Leah Smith @leahmsmith.bsky.social · Aug 20
In a multi-CRISPR-Cas system host, @peterfineran.bsky.social & I found that type I priming promotes spacer 🧬 uptake & maintenance by a type III system & that multiple systems minimize phage escape ⬇️ @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social @otagomicroimmuno.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Type I CRISPR-Cas immunity primes type III spacer acquisition
CRISPR-Cas systems are diverse, with microbes harboring multiple classes and subtypes. Type I DNA-targeting and type III RNA-targeting systems often c…
www.sciencedirect.com
3 6
Reposted by Leah Smith
sianowen.bsky.social
Siân Owen @sianowen.bsky.social · Jul 25
Still open for applications! We are looking for prospective new faculty doing exciting research in virology or any vector borne diseases
sianowen.bsky.social
Siân Owen @sianowen.bsky.social · Jun 3
The Wadsworth Center is expanding it's research focus on #virology /vector-borne diseases!
www.asmcareerconnections.org/job/research-scientist-5-g-31/78488664/
This is a unicorn assistant prof equivalent position with 12-month hard money salary and no teaching commitments (!)
Reposts appreciated 🙏
9 4
Reposted by Leah Smith
davvi36.bsky.social
David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · Jul 22
Please share! 🦠
Workshop on Phage Therapy in Liverpool on 25th November organised by Stineke van Houte, @jojofoth.bsky.social, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social, & Edze Westra.

Limited FREE tickets & more info here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/vanhoutelab/...

#MicroSky
Conference flyer, all info is on link too
2 14 15
Reposted by Leah Smith
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
1 17 41
Reposted by Leah Smith
mfwhite2.bsky.social
Malcolm White @mfwhite2.bsky.social · Jul 18
Next up from our lab - a ring nuclease with a novel fold which cleaves all cOA species involved in Type III CRISPR defence. It's also found in plasmid and phage genomes, where it presumably functions as an anti-CRISPR.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
3 14 42
leahmsmith.bsky.social
Leah Smith @leahmsmith.bsky.social · Jun 26
Great to see this comprehensive work on phage DNA arabinosylation & defense finally out! 🧬🚫✂️ A major collaborative effort & stellar PhD work by Marina Mahler, whom I had the pleasure of co-supervising at Otago 👩🏻‍🔬 @peterfineran.bsky.social @universityofotago.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social #mm
cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social
Cell Host & Microbe @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social · Jun 26
Phage DNA modifications evade defense

Phage DNA modification adds arabinose to cytosines via hydroxy linkage (5ara-hC) w/ potential double & triple arabinosylation. Arabinosylated phages are protected from DNA-targeting CRISPR-Cas & restriction modification
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
Phage arabinosyl-hydroxy-cytosine DNA modifications result in distinct evasion and sensitivity responses to phage defense systems
Mahler et al. describe a phage DNA modification that adds arabinose to cytosines via a hydroxy linkage. This 5ara-hC modification can be further modified to double and triple arabinosylation by phage-...
www.cell.com
1 8