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Vikram Alva

@vikramalva.bsky.social

440 followers 870 following 12 posts

Departmental Group Leader - Protein Bioinformatics @ Max Planck Institute for Biology - Tübingen @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social Protein evolution // MPI Bioinformatics Toolkit // prokaryotic cell-surface proteins // prokaryotic histones

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Vikram Alva @vikramalva.bsky.social · May 12

Excited to share our new preprint on HLp—a bacterial histone from Leptospira perolatii that forms stable tetramers and wraps ~60 bp of DNA: "DNA Wrapping by a Tetrameric Bacterial Histone" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

@mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social

A snapshot of the HLp tetramer (purple) wrapping ~60 bp of DNA (green).

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Reposted by Vikram Alva

Sonja-Verena Albers @archaellum.bsky.social · 6d

Look at this nice cover: beautiful archaella, image made by @sshamphavi.bsky.social !

Thanks also to Marta Rodeiguez for keeping the EM im shape in @ottlab.bsky.social lab!

At @biologyunifreiburg.bsky.social at @uni-freiburg.de @sfb1381.bsky.social @cibss.bsky.social

Nature Microbiology @natmicrobiol.nature.com · 7d

Some keen Observations in Our October issue!

🦠 Cancer microbiome
🌊 Marine microbes in warming oceans
🌐 broad-range phages
🧬 genetically minimised Salmonella
🔧 Viral infection mechanisms
🧪 Oxaloacetate antiviral defence

and more, here: www.nature.com/nmicrobiol/v...

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Erica Dinatale @ericadinatale.bsky.social · 7d

So happy to see my first first-author paper published! 🎈
A short thread on how Ectocarpus and its TE secrets have kept me busy lately:

rdcu.be/eITQH

Characterization of the transposable element landscape shaping the Ectocarpus genome | Genome Biology

rdcu.be

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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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Khaled_Selim Lab @selimlab.bsky.social · 9d

New Insights Into Bacterial Motility and DNA Transfer:
a small press on our discovery of ComFB signaling family by @claussenarne.bsky.social @hhu.de

www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
w/ @mygalperin.bsky.social @thethormannden.bsky.social
@cmfi.bsky.social @mibinet.bsky.social @sfb1381.bsky.social

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Arnau Sebé-Pedrós @arnausebe.bsky.social · 24d

Registration deadline for @embo.org workshop EvoChromo extended until September 30.

meetings.embo.org/event/24-evo...

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MPI for Biology Tübingen & Friedrich Miescher Laboratory @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social · 14d

Busting myths with @jweir.bsky.social. Did you know you don't inherit exactly 1/4 of your DNA from each grandparent? Or that fertility issues can affect young people, too? Find out more: www.fml.tuebingen.mpg.de/71433/videos #BiologyMyths

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Jaruwatana (Sodai) Lotharukpong @sodail.bsky.social · 19d

Super glad to contribute to this study on chromatin evolution in brown algae! Special thanks to Jeromine Vigneau, @borglab.bsky.social and Susana Coelho for making this happen.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Rewiring of chromatin regulation underlies the evolution of brown algal multicellularity

Chromatin structure plays a central role in regulating transcription, genome stability, and epigenetic inheritance in eukaryotes. Much of our understanding of chromatin architecture and histone post-t...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Vikram Alva

Khaled_Selim Lab @selimlab.bsky.social · 19d

We discovered a new family of c-di-NMP receptors, widespread in bacteria & regulating🦠motility @pnas.org

A great collab. w/ @mygalperin.bsky.social @vikramalva.bsky.social @thethormannden.bsky.social

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

@hhu.de @cmfi.bsky.social
@sfb1381.bsky.social
@mibinet.bsky.social

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Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 19d

And here is the published version of the work from @selimlab.bsky.social, @mygalperin.bsky.social, Dubnau labs and @thethormannden.bsky.social labs
(superb collaboration)

ComFB, a widespread family of c-di-NMP receptor proteins

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

ComFB, a widespread family of c-di-NMP receptor proteins | PNAS

Cyclic dimeric-GMP (c-di-GMP) is a ubiquitous bacterial second messenger that regulates a variety of cellular processes, including motility, biofil...

www.pnas.org

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Sonja-Verena Albers @archaellum.bsky.social · Aug 20

Who would have thought I would ever publish an article about a bacterium?
But here it is, but of course only because Litorilinea aerophilum actually has an archaellum!

Here is what we learned about its cell structure and other surface appendages:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Filamentous growth, cell envelope architecture, and surface appendages of a member of the Chloroflexota, Litorilinea aerophila

Litorilinea aerophila, a filamentous bacterium of the phylum Chloroflexota (class Caldilineae), exhibits unique morphological and cell envelope features that challenge traditional bacterial models. In...

www.biorxiv.org

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Tobias Warnecke @tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social · Aug 14

Archaea are often surrounded by bacteria. But is there ever active conflict between the two? Can archaea kill bacteria? If so, how do they do it?

Work by @romainstrock.bsky.social shows that some archaea can kill bacteria by secreting peptidoglycan hydrolases. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Archaea produce peptidoglycan hydrolases that kill bacteria

Archaea regularly interact with bacteria but reports of archaea killing bacteria are very rare. This study shows that many archaea encode peptidoglycan hydrolases, which specifically target bacterial ...

journals.plos.org

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Karolin Luger @nucleosomepolice.bsky.social · Jul 26

our paper is online! rdcu.be/exXBX . Who would have thought that some #giantviruses not only have #histones, but even histone variants that make weird #nucleosomes (pdb 9CVT). Fantastic work from Ale Villalta and Chelsea Toner, with Hugo Bisio @molbiolgv.bsky.social and Chantal Abergel

Melbournevirus encodes a shorter H2B-H2A doublet histone variant that forms structurally distinct nucleosome structures

Nature Communications - Melbournevirus encodes a conserved shorter H2B-H2A doublet variant. Here the authors report a cryo-EM structure of a nucleosome-like particle reconstituted with viral H4-H3...

rdcu.be

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Géraldine Laloux @lalouxlab.bsky.social · Jul 25

#MicroSky Summer read!

Predatory bacteria kill and eat other bacteria. Their deadly actions come in many flavors, often via direct physical contact between predator &
prey 🧛

How do they do it?
Our review 📖 @coralietesseur.bsky.social @ysantin.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Strategies and mechanisms of contact-dependent predation in bacteria

Predatory bacteria kill other bacteria to acquire nutrients. Among diverse strategies to kill and feed on prey, contact-dependent predation stands out…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Daniela Barillà @danielabarilla.bsky.social · Jul 22

And the story is published now!🍾
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Open access link: rdcu.be/exnOc

Many years in the making, great collaboration with @archaellum.bsky.social & @tunglejic.bsky.social

Thanks @ukri.org BBSRC & @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding, reviewers & editor!! 🙏
#microsky #archaeasky

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Reposted by Vikram Alva

EMBL @embl.org · Jul 22

Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung has committed €7 million to the EMBL Imaging Centre.

That means more opportunities to create groundbreaking, next-gen imaging technologies and provide the necessary support so European life scientists can benefit.

www.embl.org/news/connect...

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Hassan Salem @hassansalem.bsky.social · Jul 17

Grateful to the folks @CurrentBiology.bsky.social for the fun Q&A!

Come for the beetles, stay for the symbionts — and forgive the basketball detour 🪲🦠🏀

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Hassan Salem

Interview with Hassan Salem, who studies beetles and their microbial partners at the Max Planck Institute for Biology.

www.cell.com

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MPI for Biology Tübingen & Friedrich Miescher Laboratory @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social · Jul 8

🎉Congratulations to @caroleduchene.bsky.social, recipient of the 2025 "Grandes Avancées françaises en biologie" from @academiesciences.bsky.social for her research on how microalgae navigate ocean depths. Learn more: s.gwdg.de/FxdLh8
#Microalgae #ScienceAwards
Photos © Académie des sciences

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EMBO @embo.org · Jun 5

EMBO is delighted to announce that this year the EMBO Gold Medal is awarded to Tanmay Bharat @tbharat-lab.bsky.social ‬ @mrclmb.bsky.social and David Bikard @dbikard.bsky.social @pasteur.fr for their remarkable contributions to the #LifeSciences.

www.embo.org/press-releas...
#award 🧪

EMBO Gold Medal 2025 awarded to Tanmay Bharat and David Bikard – Press releases – EMBO

Every year, EMBO awards the Gold Medal to group leaders in the early stages of their careers for their remarkable contributions to the life sciences in

www.embo.org

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Trends in Biochemical Sciences @cp-trendsbiochem.bsky.social · Jul 2

Now online - the Review "Histone-mediated chromatin organization in prokaryotes and viruses" from @samuelschwab.bsky.social‬ @vikramalva.bsky.social @damelab.bsky.social‬ and co.

#histones #DNAorganization #chromatin #eukaryogenesis

Read it here 👉 authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

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Karolin Luger @nucleosomepolice.bsky.social · Jun 27

new preprint alert from the lab: bringing some order into the wide and wild diversity of archaeal histones. Who has acidic histones? who has multiple histones? what histone combinations do archaea employ and why? find all of this and more here
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Vikram Alva @vikramalva.bsky.social · Jun 30

Excited to share our latest review on histone-mediated chromatin organization in prokaryotes and viruses! 🧬 @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social

Dame lab at Leiden University @damelab.bsky.social · Jun 30

A must-read for histone afficionados: our new review on 'Histone-mediated chromatin organization in prokaryotes and viruses' www.cell.com/trends/bioch... @samuelschwab.bsky.social @vikramalva.bsky.social

Histone-mediated chromatin organization in prokaryotes and viruses

Histones are fundamental chromatin-organizing proteins in eukaryotes and archaea, where they assemble into (hyper)nucleosomes that wrap DNA. Recent studies have expanded the known repertoire of histon...

www.cell.com

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Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research @mpipz.bsky.social · Jun 27

📣📣We are #hiring! 📣Please RT! @mpipz.bsky.social has a group leader position available in the broad area of Plant Development and Diversity 🌿. Apply now!🌿 👉http://bit.ly/4nkUvLa #plantsci

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Sjors Scheres @sjorsscheres.bsky.social · Jun 25

We have a 3-year funded postdoc position to work on structures of #amyloid filaments. If you are an expert in protein biochemistry, structural biology or #cryoEM / #cryoET, this could be for you! Feel free to email me with any questions. Come join us! 🤩

www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Postdoctoral Scientist - Structural Studies - Dr Sjors Scheres - LMB 2640 - Cambridgeshire job with MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) | 12840844

Postdoctoral Scientist Starting Salary: £41,344 Fixed term: 3 years MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK We are looking for a postdoc...

www.nature.com

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Tanmay Bharat @tbharat-lab.bsky.social · Jun 23

Structure of the virulence-associated Neisseria meningitidis filamentous bacteriophage MDAphi

Out in @pnas.org

Congrats @janboehning.bsky.social @abultarafder.bsky.social Miles Graham @mathieucoureuil.bsky.social
@mrclmb.bsky.social @hopitalnecker.bsky.social

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Vikram Alva @vikramalva.bsky.social · May 30

Asgard chromatin with both hypernucleosome and octasome-like forms! Brilliant work — congrats to all authors!

Svetlana Dodonova @dodonova-sveta.bsky.social · May 26

We’ve uncovered Asgard chromatin structures formed by a Hodarchaeal histone : closed hypernucleosome conserved in archaea and an open form resembling the H3-H4 eukaryotic octasome. Fantastic work by @harshranawat.bsky.social!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM

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