Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Rob Edwards @linsalrob.bsky.social · Aug 23

Welcome @isvm-society.bsky.social to bsky, the International Society for the Viruses of Microorganisms. Check the new look website isvm.org and become a member for free!

#phagesky #microsky

2 3 7

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Paul Hoskisson 🧫 🦠🐸 @paulhoskisson.bsky.social · 8d

Come and work with me and @ariannebabina.bsky.social on #Streptomyces evolution and antibiotic production

Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces

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

please repost

University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Centres for Doctoral Training - NorthWest Biosciences - Our Projects - Underpinning Bioscience - Paul A Hoskisson

www.gla.ac.uk

53 34

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Dan Sloan @sloanevolab.bsky.social · Sep 8

The Department of Biology at Colorado State University is hiring an Assistant Professor in the area of plant-microbe interactions! Please spread the word!

jobs.colostate.edu/postings/165...

Assistant Professor Plant-Microbe Interactions

We seek a creative, collaborative, and visionary plant biologist to establish an internationally recognized research program at the forefront of plant-microbe interactions aimed at understanding how t...

jobs.colostate.edu

140 73

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Cell Host & Microbe @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social · 23d

Type I CRISPR-Cas immunity primes type III spacer acquisition

Priming by type I CRISPR-Cas aids spacer maintenance by co-occurring type III. Concurrent DNA&RNA-targeting minimize phage escape for population benefit

@peterfineran.bsky.social @leahmsmith.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Type I CRISPR-Cas immunity primes type III spacer acquisition

Smith and Fineran describe how priming by type I CRISPR-Cas systems facilitates adaptation and spacer maintenance by a co-occurring type III system, which normally induces abortive infection. While ty...

www.cell.com

1 8

Reposted by Peter Fineran

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

2 9

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Eduardo Rocha @epcrocha.bsky.social · Sep 8

Willing to join us @pasteur.fr for a PhD for a project on how interactions between mobile genetic elements shape bacterial adaptation? Subject to be tailored to candidates with keen interest in evolution, genomics, computational biology, microbiology. Check www.pasteur.fr/en/education...

58 45

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Alice Maestri @alicemaestri.bsky.social · 26d

We're looking for a technician at Institut Pasteur for experimental work on satellite-phage-bacteria interactions, working directly with @jmouradesousa.bsky.social and myself in the lab of @epcrocha.bsky.social ! ANR funded.

Link to the job emploi.pasteur.fr/offre-de-emp...
Thx for sharing!

INSTITUT PASTEUR - Technicien de recherche Microbiologie H/F

emploi.pasteur.fr

19 13

Reposted by Peter Fineran

joe-wade.bsky.social @joe-wade.bsky.social · 27d

Check out our new paper: a review of translational coupling, the phenomenon where translation of one prokaryotic gene can promote translation of the gene downstream. We cover the history, and delve into the mechanism, which is still not fully understood. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Translational coupling of neighboring genes in prokaryotes | Journal of Bacteriology

Prokaryotic genes are arranged in operons, with functionally related genes often located adjacent to one another (1). There are several ways in which the operonic organization of genes facilitates the...

journals.asm.org

14 24

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Milan Gerovac @gerovac.bsky.social · 27d

No Genetics? Try ASOs – A non-genetic approach to silence genes at the phage-host interface. We use it to study jumbo phage biology and anti-phage defence.
@jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social
@uni-wuerzburg.de @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social
published now in @nature.com

Programmable antisense oligomers for phage functional genomics - Nature

Establishing antisense oligomers as versatile, non-genetic tools to silence phage mRNAs opens applications in basic research and biotechnology, as shown by identifying essential factors for propagatio...

www.nature.com

17 61

Reposted by Peter Fineran

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

50 99

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Vivek Mutalik @vivekmutalik.bsky.social · Sep 8

The ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems'.

#phage #phagesky

A bunch of interesting reviews

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Preface: the ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Can't sign in? Forgot your password?

royalsocietypublishing.org

1 8 24

Peter Fineran @peterfineran.bsky.social · Sep 6

Thanks Ákos!

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · Sep 5

Phage defence-system abundances vary across environments and increase with viral density

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B by @seanmeaden.bsky.social, Edze Westra and @peterfineran.bsky.social

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Phage defence-system abundances vary across environments and increase with viral density | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

The defence systems bacteria use to protect themselves from their viruses are mechanistically and genetically diverse. Yet the ecological conditions that predict when defences are selected for remain ...

royalsocietypublishing.org

2 9 25

Peter Fineran @peterfineran.bsky.social · Aug 30

@leahmsmith.bsky.social

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Cell Host & Microbe @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social · Aug 29

Type I CRISPR-Cas immunity primes type III spacer acquisition

Priming by type I CRISPR-Cas aids spacer maintenance by co-occurring type III. Concurrent DNA&RNA-targeting minimize phage escape for population benefit
@leahmsmith.bsky.social‬ ‪@peterfineran.bsky.social‬
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Type I CRISPR-Cas immunity primes type III spacer acquisition

Smith and Fineran describe how priming by type I CRISPR-Cas systems facilitates adaptation and spacer maintenance by a co-occurring type III system, which normally induces abortive infection. While ty...

www.cell.com

1 1 7

Peter Fineran @peterfineran.bsky.social · Aug 20

@leahmsmith.bsky.social

Reposted by Peter Fineran

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

Peter Fineran @peterfineran.bsky.social · Aug 18

Thanks @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social

Peter Fineran @peterfineran.bsky.social · Aug 18

Check out the cool related study by Shally Margolis and Alex Meeske www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Crosstalk between three CRISPR-Cas types enables primed type VI-A adaptation in Listeria seeligeri

CRISPR-Cas systems confer adaptive immunity to their prokaryotic hosts through the process of adaptation, where sequences are captured from foreign nu…

www.sciencedirect.com

2 1

Peter Fineran @peterfineran.bsky.social · Aug 18

@leahmsmith.bsky.social

1

Peter Fineran @peterfineran.bsky.social · Aug 18

Ever wondered why some bacteria have multiple CRISPR-Cas systems? Our new study led by Leah Smith shows how type I CRISPR systems can promote the acquisition and retention of new spacers into a co-occuring type III system. 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

5 25 62

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Luuk Loeff @lloeff.bsky.social · Aug 18

We’re building a team! 🔬I currently have open positions for a lab technician/ manager and a PhD candidate. I’m also always happy to hear from curious, motivated scientists interested in microbial defense, molecular machines, or structural biology.

Please get in touch! 🚀

1 1 4

Reposted by Peter Fineran

Ellinor Alseth @ellinoralseth.bsky.social · Aug 8

Feels surreal to say but: I'm hiring! If you are or know anyone interested in looking at the evolution of phage resistance using A. baumannii and natural transformation, then this might be for you
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

Research position in Microbial Pharmacology and Population Biology (282139) | UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Job title: Research position in Microbial Pharmacology and Population Biology (282139), Employer: UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Deadline: Wednesday, August 27, 2025

www.jobbnorge.no

1 65 68

Reposted by Peter Fineran

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

Reposted by Peter Fineran

bioprotection.bsky.social @bioprotection.bsky.social · Aug 5

Can leaf MICROBES help protect MAIRE TAWAKE from MYRTLE RUST? In our next Rangahau Rising kōrero @hanareiaehau.bsky.social shares research into the microbiome of this endangered tree and what it could mean for forest resilience in Aotearoa
Wed 20 Aug | 12–1 PM | Zoom
🔗 Register: tinyurl.com/25x2jwae

1 4 5