New insights about antiviral immunity! We show that a TIR–SAVED effector from a Type II #CBASS system can function independently of its cyclase, by sensing a host-conserved signal, previously linked to osmotic stress. Upon sensing this signal, the effector depletes NAD⁺ and helps clear a chronic viral infection. biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/… #Archaea #CBASS #AntiviralDefense #ProkaryoticImmunity

Phages invented sgRNAs before humans!! Obviously, for mischief… 😈 Loved seeing this story unfold! biorxiv.org/content/10.64898…

🔔 New Preprint 🎉 from phagefoundry.org/ 🥳 Super excited to share our work on generating systematic 95 phage-99 MDR P. aeruginosa strain interaction dataset & use of ML to predict phage susceptibility & phage cocktails from target genome sequences alone, w validations.

My first podcast is out today with @markwbudde, CEO of @plasmidsaurus. Plasmidsaurus took whole-plasmid sequencing from $600 to $15 and turned a "boring" service company idea into a hugely successful company that now serves >70,000 scientists. We talked about what it means to build a "boring" company, whether the Plasmidsaurus idea could apply to other technologies (like CRISPR screens), and why Plasmidsaurus isn't expanding into China. This podcast is made possible by @AsteraInstitute. 00:00 – Enter Plasmidsaurus 01:21 – Reducing sequencing costs by 40x 04:17 – Scaling Oxford Nanopore technology 06:29 – Venture capital and building a "boring" company 13:03 – Plasmidsaurus vs. traditional CROs 22:25 – On selling customer data 30:10 – Building a moat 37:08 – 50-minute results 39:26 – Logistics and the UPS partnership 48:42 – The Chinese market 50:20 – Playbook for new biotech founders 52:31 – The future of biological reasoning and AI You can find the podcast, THE NEW BIOLOGY, on YouTube, Spotify, and everywhere else.

🎉Exciting! We (#mLife and @mbiojournal ) launch this joint award to recognize outstanding early-career researchers in microbiology. If you’re driving innovation in the field, apply or nominate by July 31 @ASMicrobiology : 🔗 journals.asm.org/mbio/mlife-…

We built an AI that will tell you what will get your grant rejected. It’s a tough critique, but it’s better to know when you can still do something about it 👇 @qedScience

In @MolecularCell: RNA polymerase, the enzyme that synthesizes RNA from DNA during transcription, has been captured mid-reaction for the first time by scientists in Seth Darst's lab at Rockefeller. 🔗: bit.ly/4ur3Vaz

My lab at @ChanakyaUni is seeking applications for a JRF to explore Archaeal vs. Bacterial lipid machineries using protein biochemistry & genetic engineering tools. Visit shorturl.at/1zTXH for details. #lipids #Biochemistry #evolution Help spread the word! RT appreciated.

New Asgard paper dropped yesterday. This is only the third Asgard archaeon to be cultured in the laboratory (the first took 10 years of work.) Many microbiologists think that the Asgard archaea are the closest living relatives of the ancestor that gave rise to eukaryotic cells. They have cellular features that "bridge" bacterial and eukaryotic cells. And this new Asgard species, found off the coast of Western Australia, is interesting for a couple reasons: 1. The Asgard buds off extracellular vesicles, like many other organisms. But these vesicles remain "tethered" to the main cell via a thin fiber. You can see this clearly in the cryotomography images below. I've never seen other examples of this (but maybe microbiologists on Twitter have.) 2. Asgards cannot be cultured on their own. All of the species cultured thus far can only be grown in the presence of a syntroph. This Asgard can only be cultured with a microbe, called S. nilemahensis. The Asgard makes acetate, formate, and lactate for the bacterium; the bacterium, in exchange, makes amino acids and vitamins for the Asgard. (The archaeon seems to entirely lack metabolic pathways for arginine, proline, phenylalanine, and tryptophan.) These nutrients are exchanged via hollow tubes that physically context the Asgard --> bacterium. (See the images below.)

PostDoc position available! (links in post below) Feel free to share!

The archaeal roots of eukaryotic life | PNAS pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.25…

Our new paper in @cellhostmicrobe include 1. a global atlas of human bacterial pathogens in soils 2. Soil biodiversity negatively linked with human pathogens 3. Many pathogens to increase in future climates 4. Positive link between pathogens & mortality authors.elsevier.com/a/1msNK…

🔥 Archaea are rewriting microbiology. From the origin of eukaryotes to life in extreme environments—these #mLife publications reveal how archaea shape evolution, ecology, and biotechnology. 🧵Explore 10 key papers below ⬇️

Submit your environmental metagenomics data to our new collection at @ScientificData Essential #data from #terrestrial and #marine ecosystems, as well as environments relevant to human #health such as water quality and #agriculture are welcome. nature.com/collections/ahiaj…

Still better. At least their English will improve Maithil parents try to discourage kids from speaking #Maithili ( their mother tongue) as well as English (perceived foreign language) while themselves promoting improper Hindi (perceived national language)😂 Na ghar k Na ghaat k

A team led by molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler has created a host of viral assassins that can be triggered to neutralize bacteria using cues that the team has programmed in: bit.ly/4bDN3qF Their research has applications for medical treatments and to clear out the bacteria after they are done cleaning up oil spills.

Archaea Assemble!!! Archaea Power Hour returns next WEDNESDAY, March 18th at 11AM EST / 4PM CET. We will be having a special APH edition about science policy & reproducibility with the American Society for Microbiology and the protocol-sharing platform archaea.bio:

Our 2 papers on RNA-guided transcription are now out @Nature. This mechanism re-writes the traditional concept of bacterial transcription and allows RNA transcripts to be generated de novo from potentially any cellular DNA sequence. 🧬 See below for links and thread 🧵

CBASS limits bacteriophage production while maintaining cell viability in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biorxiv.org/content/10.64898… #biorxiv_micrbio

Check out our latest preprint reporting a widespread group of phage-encoded anti-CRISPRs that bind specifically to cas gene coding regions to block transcription! Congrats to Edith @edithmsawyer and the whole team!

📣new preprint from the phagefoundry.org team 🎉 Jessica Trinh and @cmageeney !! Systematic analysis of prophages from ~1000 Acinetobacter baumannii isolates, induction & screening. We found this 😎 looking phage with bunch of 💍💍