Frances Yap

Mike Cashel: magic spot magician | Journal of Bacteriology In July 2025, we lost Mike Cashel, a gifted scientist and critical contributor to the bacterial research community, after a long illness. Through his studies on (p)ppGpp and its modes of action, Mike ...

"Mike Cashel: magic spot magician"

journals.asm.org/doi/full/10....

Indeed. New grants are not getting funded, already funded grants are not getting paid, and non-competitive renewals are being held up.

Focusing on the top line budget, instead of looking at what is really happening on “the ground” is deeply misguided.

It was first reported in a conference abstract (!) in 2018 academic.oup.com/mam/article/...

rRNA expansion segments mediate hibernating ribosome formation. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... and www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #Ribosome 🧪

Bacterial metabolic remodeling by convergent evolution unlocks nutrient availability after a host switch Staphylococcus aureus has undergone metabolic remodeling to adapt to the dairy niche.

Insights into how #Staph aureus adapts to the bovine host by unlocking nutrients from the dairy niche. Great work by Amy Pickering, Jamie Gorzynski and others in the group. Bacterial metabolic remodeling by convergent evolution after a host switch.|Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The giant viruses surprised us at almost every turn of this project, but ultimately led us down a very rewarding path. Happy to share this work is now available online 🧪

Mechanisms linking cytoplasmic decay of translation-defective mRNA to transcriptional adaptation Transcriptional adaptation (TA) is a genetic robustness mechanism through which mutant messenger RNA (mRNA) decay induces sequence-dependent up-regulation of so-called adapting genes. How cytoplasmica...

This is a fascinating paper that reveals defined and clear mechanism for a phenomenon that for some seemed unbelievable- the up regulation of genes paralogous to those with specific types of inactivating mutations. This is called transcriptional adaptation 1/ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller?

Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase.
1/n

Another NIH institute loses its director Health department declines to renew Lindsey Criswell, head of arthritis institute, to another 5-year term

The chief of NIAMS, Lindsey Criswell, has told her staff that her 5-year leadership appointment had not been renewed, meaning 16 out of 27 NIH institutes and centers will be operating without a permanent director. https://scim.ag/4cr5wHI

🧵 🔽 an explanation for the extra extension in the chlororibosomal proteins #Ribosome #RNASky 🧪

🧪🧬 New preprint!
What if the same biosensor could reveal how cysteine is regulated across life domains?

We introduce Cystector, a genetically encoded fluorescent biosensor for real-time cysteine monitoring in living cells.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

🧵A thread ⬇️

Scientists worry finalizing ‘Schedule F’ rule will further politicize NIH grant decisions The Trump administration is moving forward with a personnel rule that critics say will subject a broader swath of the federal workforce to political pressure

OPM finalized its schedule F proposal — which could makes thousands of federal workers easier to fire

scientists are worried it could make federally funded science less ambitious and chase away top talent away from govt jobs

www.statnews.com/2026/02/06/n...

BackToBack #PhageSky in @nature.com

A pore-forming antiphage defence is activated by oligomeric phage proteins
-from Maxwell & Norris
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Bacterial immune activation via supramolecular assembly with phage triggers
-from Laub & Ghanbarpour
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

β-Hairpin Antimicrobial Peptides: Class Diversity and Sequence Analysis Interest in antimicrobial peptides has increased dramatically over the last few decades as researchers continue to explore their potential as alternatives to small molecules, as well as their applicat...

Our lab has a new review on beta-hairpin antimicrobial peptide diversity out in @pubs.acs.org as part of the special issue celebrating Robert E. W. Hancock. Please have a look and share!

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Circularization of 23S rRNA but not 16S rRNA within archaeal ribosomes - Genome Biology Background Processing of archaeal 16S and 23S rRNAs is believed to involve excision of individual rRNAs from polycistronic precursors, circularization of excised rRNAs, and re-linearization before the...

Very interesting observation on the ribosomes of our distant relatives!

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Our new preprint is out!
We describe the unusual wacky enzyme used by trypanosomes to initiate mRNA degradation😉
Funded DE/CZ/PL WEAVE-UNISONO @ncn.gov.pl
👉The trypanosome mRNA decapping enzyme ALPH1 prefers caps without m7G methylation and produces diphosphate-RNA doi.org/10.64898/202...

Wonder if same is true (subtle changes) for mitoribosomes of NMR and tuco-tuco.

Structures of naked mole-rat, tuco-tuco, and guinea pig ribosomes—is rRNA fragmentation linked to translational fidelity? Abstract. Ribosomes are central to protein synthesis in all organisms. In mammals, the ribosome functional core is highly conserved. Remarkably, two rodent

now online:
academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Phage Portal Proteins Suppress Bacterial Stringent Response to Promote Infection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.27.700999v1

Strep/Enterococcal colleagues!

Streptococcal Biology GRC/GRS are open for applications. Acceptances are underway and the meeting is on track to fill up.

If you’re aiming for a short talk (lots of slots), registering early matters for full consideration.

Share widely!

www.grc.org/streptococca...

Antitoxin-induced auto-phosphorylation neutralizes the nucleotidyltransferase toxin AbiEii from Streptococcus agalactiae to safeguard global translation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.19.700257v1

SBIT & STTR small business grants have gone dark. 🧪 . seed.nih.gov/small-busine...

Archaeal Arc-P & Arc-A ribosome hibernation factors from deep-sea methanogen Methanolobus #ribosome #RNASky

Archaeal ribosome hibernation factors on the roll lately, check out the SriA, C; SirB, D with distinct ribosome binding #ribosome #RNASky

Great to hear that NIH intramural labs can hire again

We are looking for a postdoc to work on mechanisms of #RNA decay in cancer using #cryoEM with #nanobodies and #minibinders! Please RT

I would appreciate if ppl in the leadership positions could come up with some CREATIVE solutions rather than reiterating the obvious problems that have been discussed for decades

Transformative discoveries, such as restriction enzymes, yeast cell-cycle mutants and CRISPR–Cas9, were once considered simply oddities of nature.

Let’s adopt more humility about predicting impact, which can truly be known only in retrospect.

Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Microbiology

Come and join great students and colleagues at Hofstra Biology. Please apply using the link below and/or spread the word!

hofstra.peopleadmin.com/postings/6542

Hypoxia-induced ribosomal RNA modifications in the peptidyl-transferase center contribute to anaerobic growth of bacteria Ishiguro et al. identify stereoselective ribose-backbone methylations in the peptidyl-transferase center of E. coli ribosomes, installed by the cobalamin-dependent enzyme RlmX. These methylations, tog...

Hypoxia-induced D(5S)m2449 and Cm(5S)m2498 modifications in the 23S rRNA promotes protein synthesis #MicroSky #RNASky 🧪 www.cell.com/molecular-ce...