Tracy Palmer

We are recuiting two new Associate Professors here in Oxford Biochemistry. Come join us! Reach out to me if you have any questions. Please repost! tinyurl.com/mr3m7bd3

Hearing about similarly large increases across some of the long-term fellowship schemes in the UK. Will be important to understand where this surge comes from, whether likely to be transient etc

Finally, someone has solved a real problem with AI! No more having to take a paper in the format for a journal that rejected you, and reformat it for a new journal. Well done!! formatmypaper.com

Thinking about the bigger picture – People – EMBO Learn about newly elected EMBO Member Ruth Massey and her research

Learn about EMBO Member Ruth Massey and her #research at University College Cork #Ireland: https://www.embo.org/people/thinking-about-the-bigger-picture/ 🧪

#LifeSciences #community #funding #opportunities

1/3 To those interested in microbial iron & metal transport: In 1992, the late JB Neilands (UCB), the pioneer in the study of Fe transport entrusted me with his collection of purified siderophores from a wide range of microbes—many of them unique chemical species that can no longer be reproduced

The CCP4 Northern Structural Biology Meeting is back again in Newcastle 6-7th November 2025. If you are a structural biologist/biochemist in the North of the UK please register and submit abstracts by this Friday 17th.

nusbf.ncl.ac.uk/ccp4-norther...

DEPRESSING - the situation for UK universities is very challenging

VOM-UK Conferences - NU-OMICS Viruses of Microbes UK (VoM-UK) Conference The Virus of Microbes UK (VoM-UK) Conference is hosted by Microbiome Excellence Peak of Excellence at Northumbria University. This two-day conference takes place annually at the end of January/beginning of February and is a chance for researchers to gather and share their knowledge. The VoM-UK conference is designed to […]

hosting.northumbria.ac.uk/nu-omics/vom...

#phagesky #phage #microsky

Come and join us for Viruses of Microbes UK 2026 at @northumbriauni.bsky.social ! Fantastic chance for ECRs to showcase their work 🙂

Open position to work on Type IX secretion (#T9SS) in our lab, in collaboration withe the group of Eric Reynolds at the Dental School of the University of Melbourne. Please spread the word, and forward to anyone potentially interested ! Apply here:
emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Docto...

That person you meet when you attend a scientific conference and want to quickly get breakfast alone before returning to your room to prepare your presentation

🧐Checkout our preprint revealing the stepwise firing💥 mechanism of a Contractile Injection System @xujwet.bsky.social&@chipericson.bsky.social trapped the complex by structure-guided engineering🧪 in multiple intermediate states and imaged them by multimodal #cryoEM❄️🔬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Intracellular glutamine fluctuates with nitrogen availability and regulates Mycobacterium smegmatis biofilm formation | Journal of Bacteriology A subset of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), including Mycobacterium abscessus, are opportunistic pathogens that can cause severe pulmonary infections. Biofilm formation renders M. abscessus more tolerant to antibiotics; hence, the ability to inhibit NTM biofilm formation could help us better prevent and treat NTM infections. However, the regulatory systems controlling NTM biofilm formation, which could include targets for anti-biofilm therapeutics, are poorly understood. The significance of this work is that it reveals intracellular glutamine as an important node controlling the initiation of biofilm formation in the model NTM Mycobacterium smegmatis. Building on this foundation, future studies will investigate how NTM biofilms can be dispersed by altering glutamine levels and will describe how NTM translates intracellular glutamine to the alteration of surface adhesins.

Intracellular glutamine fluctuates with nitrogen availability and regulates Mycobacterium smegmatis biofilm formation

#JBacteriol

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Check it out! A proper team effort from past and present group members and a great collaboration with @sergemostowylab.bsky.social

A new paradigm for outer membrane protein biogenesis in the Bacteroidota - Nature Structural and biochemical studies of the β-barrel-assembly machinery from Flavobacterium johnsoniae reveal a subunit composition and assembly that are distinct from those of the canonical Escherichia coli complex.

A new paradigm for outer membrane protein biogenesis in the Bacteroidota www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs

Yay congratulations 🎉

Structure of a distinct β-barrel assembly machinery complex in the Bacteroidota - Nature Microbiology Structural and functional characterization of the β-barrel assembly machinery complex in Bacteroidota reveals a distinct, seven-component complex with a large extracellular domain that may enable β-barrel–surface lipoprotein complex assembly.

Our paper on the Bacteroidota BAM complex is out in @natmicrobiol.nature.com! With @madejmar.bsky.social

We found that BAM in Bacteroides and Porphyromonas gingivalis has a distinct architecture from BAM in Proteobacteria.

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Become my colleague @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social !
2 Associate Professorships in the areas of
- prokaryotic/eukaryotic microbiology
- metabolism

my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

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! 👩‍🔬🤓

woman writing on a flipchart. Text highlighting that our next self-leadership for women scientists online course on 14-16 October still has places available

The @embo.org self-leadership for women scientists course focuses on 4 pillars of experience as a human being + researcher: self-awareness, self-acceptance, self-management + self-growth. Places still available on 14-16 October online course: www.embolableadership.org/course/self-... #SelfLeadership

New in JB: DiMaggio, Yeo & Brinsmade show a link between nucleotide metabolism and the activity of the Sae two component regulatory system via SaeS kinase activity and membrane integrity in S. aureus
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology

Bolam looks like he’s at the dentist 🤣

Spending some time collecting memories of Harry today 🥺 - this is when he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. If anyone in the #glycotime universe has pictures or memories of Harry Gilbert they want to share please send them my way 💚

Fun times though!

We will have soon an Open position for a PhD thesis position to work on bacterial secretion systems !

Stay tuned !!

Oak tree

Close up of acorns

View through oak tree branches

View through oak tree branches of Raby Castle gatehouse

Magnificent old oak tree, Raby Castle

Widespread deployment of the human CD38 ADP-ribosyl cyclase fold in antibacterial and anti-eukaryotic polymorphic toxins Bacterial polymorphic toxins are modular weapons that mediate inter-microbial competition and host interactions by delivering diverse cytotoxic domains through specialized secretion systems. Here, we ...

Happy to share our work on a T6SS effector with ADP ribose cyclase activity, published in JBC @asbmbjournals.bsky.social
Great work of Julius Martinkus @jmartinkus.bsky.social and (always) great collaboration with @dukasju.bsky.social and @laurentterradot.bsky.social
www.jbc.org/article/S002...

A global view of morphogenetic peptidoglycan synthases across the domain Bacteria Abstract. Bacteria define their heritable cell shape using membrane integral glycosyltransferases (GTases) of the shape, elongation, division and sporulati

A global view of morphogenetic peptidoglycan synthases across the domain Bacteria Open Access

@femsjournals.bsky.social microLife by Francisco García-del Portillo et al

academic.oup.com/microlife/ad...

Exciting postdoc opportunity with a fab PI in beautiful Basel

Nasal Staphylococcus aureus carriage promotes depressive behaviour in mice via sex hormone degradation - Nature Microbiology Nasal colonization by Staphylococcus aureus is linked with depression in a human cohort and shown in a mouse model to cause decreased serotonin and dopamine in the brain.

#NewResearch

Nasal colonisation by S. aureus is linked with depression in a human cohort and shown in a mouse model to cause decreased serotonin and dopamine in the brain

#MicroSky #Depression

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

Fab 😊😊 many congratulations!