A bacterial CARD-NLR immune system controls the release of gene transfer agents biorxiv.org/content/10.110… #biorxiv_micrbio

We performed a dedicated search of anti-CRISPR proteins targeting the model E. coli Type IE CRISPR-Cas system and revealed AcrIE9 as a potent inhibitor and the most widespread anti-CRISPR protein in enteric bacteria. biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Design and development of lysyl tRNA synthetase inhibitors, for the treatment of tuberculosis biorxiv.org/content/10.110… #biorxiv_micrbio

Multiobjective learning and design of bacteriophage specificity １．This study presents a landmark demonstration of multiobjective machine learning to design bacteriophages with tunable infectivity, precise host specificity, and broad generality, optimizing over 26 complex tasks

Elucidating the mechanisms of action and evolutionary history of phage anti-defence proteins biorxiv.org/content/10.110… #biorxiv_micrbio

New pre-print(s) from the Sternberg Lab in collaboration with Leifu Chang! We uncover an unprecedented molecular mechanism of CRISPR-Cas12f-like proteins, which drive RNA-guided transcription independently of canonical promoter motifs. Full story here: tinyurl.com/mr3fd493

Our new preprint is live! doi.org/10.1101/2025.0… In collaboration with Sternberg Lab, we determined the cryo-EM structure of a dCas12f-σE-RNAP complex from F. taeanensis, revealing an RNA-guided transcription mechanism that bypasses canonical promoter motifs.

The great phage escape: Activating and escaping lactococcal antiphage systems | PNAS pnas.org/doi/abs/10.107…

Our review on the versatile roles of phage-encoded tRNAs is out. Great work Daan F van den Berg authors.elsevier.com/a/1lHYB,L%7EyC…

Latest BREX story from the lab - turns out there is a nuclease after all! Congrats to Jenny Readshaw and the whole team, including wonderful collabs Barry Stoddard, Brett Kaiser and Darren Smith. Nucleic Acids Res New England Biolabs Durham BioSciences academic.oup.com/nar/article/53…

Structural insights into type I and type II Lamassu anti-phage systems biorxiv.org/content/10.110… #biorxiv_micrbio

What determines who a phage can infect? We tackled this question for temperate phages of Klebsiella — a bacterial pathogen — using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and a massive protein testing effort. 👇 A thread!

Our new preprint is now available! We found a new Group I intron insertion site in tRNA genes of Patescibacteria. These tRNAs were missed by standard tRNA annotation tools. #microbiology #tRNA #Patescibacteria biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

So happy to share my work José R Penadés lab 🤩 We investigated the efficiency of HGT mechanisms in S. aureus🧬, finding that LT is the most efficient one, and that strains defective in immune systems🛡️act as gateways for inter-clonal complex HGT🔀 biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Molecular basis for anti-jumbo phage immunity by AVAST Type 5 biorxiv.org/content/10.110… #biorxiv_micrbio

Nuclease-NTPase systems use shared molecular features to controlbacterial anti-phage defense biorxiv.org/content/10.110… #biorxiv_micrbio

📢Preprint out! Excited to share my final work from the @Soreklab! We mined phage dark matter using structural features shared by anti-defense proteins (viral tools that help phages bypass bacterial immunity) to guide discovery. Found 3 new families targeting immune signaling!

RptR is a new addition to the growing collection of phage defence-associated transcriptional regulators. Congrats to YuGeng Zhang Tang Lab, Oxford Marion Schuller Ivan Ahel Lab and thank you, it was a pleasure to help out the study! New England Biolabs. academic.oup.com/nar/article/53…

Excited to share our new work—PhageMaP, a high-throughput platform for genome-wide knockout screening in diverse phages across multiple hosts. PhageMap reveals essential, non-essential and conditionally-essential genes, interactors with host anti-phage defenses & enables rational

A Phage Ejectosome Protein Moonlights to Inhibit CBASS Anti-Viral Defense System biorxiv.org/content/10.110… #biorxiv_micrbio