Maier Biophysics Lab

Join us as Assistant/Associate/Full Professor Computational Biology at Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) / @leidenscience.bsky.social / @unileiden.bsky.social

Application deadline on 15 March 2026
👇
careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Assistan...

SNIPE is a widespread bacterial defence system that exploits the spatial organization of phage genome injection to specifically target viral DNA, distinguishing self from non-self in prokaryotic immune systems @nature.com @mitpress.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Exciting line up of talks for CauloCon 2026 - includes keynotes from @brunlabcaulo.bsky.social @lamasonlab.bsky.social and @thanbichlerlab.bsky.social! Hear work from Isaac Payne and Trung Nguyen, 2 students in my lab, on Weds and Thurs. 🤩

Looking for a truly unique PhD programme on RNA drugs and therapeutics? We have just opened the call for the second cohort of RNAmed-Future leaders in RNA-based medicine. More details under www.rnamed.de Please spread the word.

JB Editor's Pick: Iglesias, Mongiardini et al. show that loss of the Tad pili of B. diazoefficiens results in enhanced biofilm formation - they propose a regulatory role, perhaps via cdG, for Tad impacting biofilms in this bug.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology

Do you want to be part of a diverse community building a comprehensive understanding of mechanobiology across kingdoms? 🔬🧬

Then join us in Heidelberg or virtually for the #EESMechanobiology symposium: https://s.embl.org/ees26-06-bl

Date: 9 – 12 June
Abstract submission deadline: 3 March

Now with the final graphic ✨
Beautiful artwork by Sonia Monti (scientific-visualization-solutions.com). Design by @embo.org

🧬 The Rules of the Game
📍 @gimmfoundation.bsky.social, Oeiras (PT) | June 2–5, 2026
🗓️ Register by March 1st
👉 meetings.embo.org/event/26-cel...

Image-based bacterial phenotyping and antimicrobial drug discovery using smart high-throughput super-resolution microscopy at University of Warwick on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Image-based bacterial phenotyping and antimicrobial drug discovery using smart high-throughput super-resolution microscopy at University of Warwick, listed on FindAPhD.com

iCASE PhD project available in my lab, combining microscopy method development with high throughput screening of bacteria. Applications to antibiotic drug discovery and screening for new cell division proteins. Collaboration with Cairn Research #microsky #bioimaging
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

✨ We've just joined Instagram! ✨Follow us there for news, updates and insights from #VAAM 📸 www.instagram.com/vaam_microbes/

YouTube video by Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology How bacterial Tc toxins work: secretion, pore formation and host cell disruption.

Our new movie is online, highlighting the assembly, secretion and mechanism of action of bacterial Tc toxins. We hope you enjoy it and use it for teaching purposes or just for fun. Nature is fascinating!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfEf...

We want to thank @stephanwimmi.bsky.social @isahow.bsky.social, Kai Zhou, Marc Hennes, and @sabass-lab.bsky.social for this truly collaborative and interdisciplinary work and all their input and discussions!

Preprint:INSIDE OUT! Experimentally and via computational modelling, we showed that chemical gradients in late-stage N.gonorrhoeae microcolonies induce spontaneous symmetry breaking. Like a jet, the inner core flows towards the periphery, leading to a global eversion and the dissemination of cells.

Structural insights into the assembly and evolution of a complex bacterial flagellar motor - Nature Microbiology Structural, genetic, functional and biochemical analyses of the complex flagellar motor of Campylobacter jejuni reveal structural adaptations with an ancient origin also found more widely across bacte...

This is 😮

Structural insights into the assembly and evolution of a complex bacterial flagellar motor

#microsky

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The distinction between virulent & temperate phages gets fuzzier if one can find so many virulent phages in the sequences of bacterial genomes coming from standard lab "pure" cultures. Check Peter's thread on our work and the N&V by Carson & Hynes: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#phagesky #microsky

Nature Microbiology turns 10! 🎂

As a special treat, we take you back to the editorial team that started it all and then fast forward to take a peek into the future of microbiology through some brilliant microbiologists.

#MicroSky 🦠

www.nature.com/nmicrobiol/v...

Forgot to post the recently published version of this paper on the role of a minor pilin-like protein in surface sensing journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Molecular basis of ParA ATPase activation by the CTPase ParB during bacterial chromosome segregation - Nature Communications ParABS systems partition chromosomal DNA and low-copy plasmids in bacteria. Here, the authors elucidate the mode of interaction between ParA and ParB and clarify how ParB stimulates the ATPase activity of ParA to drive the segregation process.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#microsky

#microsky #mevosky @spp2389.bsky.social

A PhD position is available in my lab to work on:

Emergence and self-organisation of bacterial metabolism in consortia of cross-feeding bacteria.

Please RT

Deadline: 12.11.25

More infos 👇
shorturl.at/rAKAT

@kostchristian.bsky.social has an open PhD position as a part of #SPP2389 !
#microsky #mevosky

Please RT. Post-doc opportunity alert! 💥 closing 10th December.. Come join our team (www.thelowlab.org) at Imperial, London, working on the structure and mechanism of bacterial secretion systems.

For more details and to apply please see

www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

Multiple small, curved, predatory bacteria (Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus) lyse the bacterial prey remnants below. How are they doing this & which predator proteins are involved in this process?

See our newly released research article 📑
=> rdcu.be/eL6gu

🦠 #microsky #bacteria #PredatoryBacteria

Structural characterization of an extracellular contractile injection system from Photorhabdus luminescens in extended and contracted states - Nature Communications Marín-Arraiza and colleagues report the cryo-EM structures of an extracellular contractile injection system from Photorhabdus luminescens in extended and contracted states, providing structural insigh...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#microsky but kinda #phagesky too

Interested in bacterial sensing, signaling and regulation? Come join us in January at the GRC in sunny California! www.grc.org/sensory-tran...

🚨 On Friday 24/10 15:30 EU, Dani Rodríguez Amor (École Normale Supérieure - Paris Sciences et Lettres) will present the talk

Cooperation-driven multistability in synthetic microbial communities

at the Population Dynamics Seminars.

Subscription sites.google.com/view/popdyn/

Beyond Immunity: Uncovering the Hidden Diversity of Bacterial NLRs (SCHLIMPERT_J26DTP) | Doctoral Training Partnership Join us in exploring the hidden functions of ancient immune proteins in bacteria. Bacteria, like plants and animals, have evolved sophisticated systems to detect and respond to threats.

We have a PhD opportunity available in our group @johninnescentre.bsky.social through the NRP Doctoral Training Partnership. Help us uncover the Hidden Diversity of Bacterial NLRs.

Start date: October 2026. For more information and how to apply👉 biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/bey...

The what, when, where, and why of wrinkly morphology in biofilms Wrinkling is a striking emergent behavior that occurs in microbial biofilms across many species. The phenomenon originates from an intricate interplay between e

The what, when, where, and why of wrinkly morphology in biofilms

-in Biophysics Rev

pubs.aip.org/aip/bpr/arti...

Please RT:
We have an opening for a junior group leader position in „Phage Biology & Biotechnology“.
www.fz-juelich.de/de/karriere/...

Interested candidates are encouraged to contact me via email for further details.

@spp2330.bsky.social; @mibinet.bsky.social

📢 A Junior Professorship (W1, tenure track) is open at the Center for Plant Molecular Biology at Uni Tübingen (@zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social) — to work on plant protein biochemistry (composition, structure, dynamics, or regulation of protein complexes). 🌱 Great opportunity — Apply by Oct 17th!

W1TTW2 Professorship in Membrane Biology (m/f/d)

Job alert 📣 Our faculty looks for a Junior Professor W1 with tt to W2 in Membrane Biology! We are looking for #ECRs working on membrane biogenesis,contact sites,composition & other aspects of membranes in 🌱 and other organisms! DM me if you need more details!

jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/f...

We have a fully funded 3y postdoc position open!!!! Come join us @mpi-cbg.de and @poldresden.bsky.social to understand the role of Membranes in Controlling Biogenic Crystallization :) this is part of our #HFSP funded project with @noemijimenezrojo.bsky.social and @vmonje.bsky.social! Applications👇