Heather Feaga

Ribosome is everything! Everything else just there for ribosome.

Flyer for ASM DC Branch Meeting April 10th at Howard University

Attn DC area microbiologists, please join us for @asmdcbranch.bsky.social Spring Meeting on Fri, Apr 10th from 10-4 at Howard University. Keynote by Dr. Kumaran Ramamurthi. If interested in giving a short or lightning talk, submit abstracts by Mar 25: www.washingtondcasm.org/2026-spring-...

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....

Context-dependent translation inhibition as a cancer therapeutic modality - Nature Communications Robust protein synthesis by the ribosome is required for rapid cancer growth. Here authors present interdictors, small molecule inhibitors of protein synthesis with context-dependent activity that inh...

Incredibly proud of our small but mighty team at Interdict Bio as we bring the interdictor modality closer to the clinic! Check out our first publication that lays the foundation for context-dependent translation modulators as a therapeutic approach for cancer!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We’re hiring a Microscopy Core Director at the Wadsworth Center!
It's a state position (job stability & PENSION!) in a uniquely academic, research-driven environment 😎
Please share 🙏
statejobs.ny.gov/public/vacan...

Giant DNA viruses encode a hallmark translation initiation complex of eukaryotic life @cellcellpress.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

I'm excited to share my first publication! It’s a preview of a research article on oak tree microbiomes, written with my PI, Dr. Tory Hendry. I worked on the background literature review and designed the graphical abstract. - Free access for 50 days here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1mbW96t8JE...

Long in the making, but happy to present the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome!
Cryo-ET🔬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins.
bioRxiv 📖: shorturl.at/q44tG
This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected!
1/n 🧵

Everyone in power is one hundred years old

Starvation-independent alarmone production inhibits translation through GTP depletion:

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

#subtiwiki (p)ppGpp

Starvation-independent alarmone production inhibits translation through GTP depletion
- bioRxiv from @heatherfeaga.bsky.social
#ppGpp #Bsubtilis

Thanks Greg!

rince & JB Editor's Choice: Lin, Prince & Feaga identified sporulation genes via analyzing almost 1500 genomes. They show that that an unusual membrane-localized variant of Spo0B is found throughout Paenibacillaceae.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology

Maybe it’s easier to hold out when you have a lot of Epstein money. Principles!

Hey alpha aficionados - it's almost time for CauloCon 2026! This free, virtual meeting will feature talks from @brunlabcaulo.bsky.social @thanbichlerlab.bsky.social and @lamasonlab.bsky.social with opps for trainee talks. Register using the link below. 👇

The libs are flipping Texas. Hang in there.

Our paper on the structural and functional basis of the human dimeric OS9–SEL1L–HRD1 ERAD complex, together with @qilabuva.bsky.social, is now out! Huge congratulations to Leo, Emir, and Elina!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Half my department will come!

User @backintimeag: The text “Kirsten will be happy when ICE gets the fuck out of Minnesota” over a picture of 1850s immigrant and Minnesota-dwelling doll character Kirsten Larson in the snow.

In case anyone was wondering how it’s going over on American Girl doll Instagram

Come be our colleague--we're hiring! We have an opening for TT Asst. Prof. in Physical Chemistry in the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Interests in spectroscopy, optics, or biophysics broadly defined!

I know we're late to the game, but see our add here: apply.interfolio.com/180223

Please RT!

You too!!

Mamdani taking pride in doing his job and clearly loving it is such a singular bright spot. Inject it straight into my veins.

All I do is not hear about grants I applied for 8 months ago.

We have a lot of interest in culturing the Dino Triops (Cerarium) furca, Protoperidinium, and a couple of others. Only problem is my knowledge of Dino culture is awful. Anyone have any experience or advice? Or want to collaborate :)?

Think about what they were able to accomplish (building democratic societies, improving existing ones, housework with no electricity or mod cons, keeping up with what was New in Hats) without most of the technology we take for granted. Also no amoxicillin: sinus infections for eternity. And yet.

My first first-author paper is posted! Glad to have this out! 🦠🚨🕺

We show that pGpp production depletes GTP, inhibits translation, and remodels the transcriptome faster than (p)ppGpp.

...and more!

Latest work on the Diadema pathogen and its seasonal occurrence at a time series site

"Conflates answers [or outcomes] with learning" - this a is perfect distillation of the shift in how higher ed's value is perceived, and something we need to keep fighting against, particularly in the age of AI.

Mechanistic model for +1 frameshifting suppression. The m¹G37 tRNA modification blocks expanded codon–anticodon interactions, preserving translational fidelity.

A (belated!) highlight from an excellent collaboration with
@dunhamlab.bsky.social and #HouLabTJU.

In this Nat Commun paper, we combine smFRET and cryo-EM to show how the tRNA modification m¹G37 stabilizes the reading frame—and what happens when it’s missing.

Penelope’s new years resolution is to be cozy. Thinks that should be your resolution too.