Mart Krupovic

Cryo-EM resolves the structure of the archaeal dsDNA virus HFTV1 from head to tail This structure of an archaeal tailed virus (arTV) provides detailed insights into arTV assembly and infection mechanisms.

Out in Science Advances: Our #cryoEM structure of HFTV1, a virus infecting the halophile #archaea. *First full atomic structure (containing all structural proteins) of any tailed virus!* Congrats and thanks to all co-authors and our fantastic collaborators! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵

(1/9) Latest preprint from our lab at
@uwaterloo.ca conceived predominantly by our very talented #PhD #student Isaac Meza-Padilla:

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Protein Domain Designer tool for the generation of publication-ready protein domain diagrams

New week, new tool: Find our Protein Domain Designer tool to generate publication-ready protein domain diagrams here: domaindesigner.farnunglab.com

“Paraxenoviridae”, a putative family of globally distributed marine bacteriophages with double-stranded RNA genomes Abstract. Metatranscriptome sequencing dramatically expanded the known diversity of the global RNA virome and, in particular, suggested several new candida

“Paraxenoviridae”, a putative family of globally distributed marine bacteriophages with double-stranded RNA genomes
#viruses #bacteriophages #phages
@isme-microbes.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

Time for some insights into our latest #preprint

Using cryo–electron tomography, we peeked inside different #Mtuberculosis strains, and a couple of other mycobacteria.🧐 Surprise: some species, especially the host-adapted ones, build intracytoplasmic membranes (we call them MIMs)! 🦠

It is now on air.
Please look it up and join us!
Great science and wonderful venue👍🏻

www.isdv2026.com

Phages with a broad host range are common across ecosystems - Nature Microbiology Proximity-ligation-based sequencing from 111 samples and 5 environments reveals that a substantial proportion of phages infect multiple species.

You like phages ? In this publication, we use metaHiC and our new version of the MetaTOR pipeline to challenge the traditional view of phages with a narrow host range.
@rkoszul.bsky.social @natmicrobiol.nature.com @cnrs.fr @institutpasteur.bsky.social

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

Happy to share that our story on the bacterial archaellum was published today in @natmicrobiol.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congrats to the authors: @sshamphavi.bsky.social @loumollat.bsky.social @mariejoest.bsky.social Najwa Taib and @sgribaldo.bsky.social

Naiavirus: an enveloped giant virus with a pleomorphic, flexible tail - Nature Communications Rodrigues and Queiroz et al. report the discovery of Naiavirus, the largest enveloped virus, isolated from a Brazil biome. With an oval capsid and flexible tail, its giant genome holds many novel gene...

Naiavirus: an enveloped giant virus with a pleomorphic, flexible tail
nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63463-6

Discovery of a novel double-stranded DNA virus associated with ant labial gland disease reveals its long-term interaction with ants | Journal of Virology Ants, as highly eusocial insects, play vital roles in ecosystems worldwide. While numerous RNA viruses have been documented in ants, no double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) virus has previously been confirmed to infect them. Labial gland disease, reported for decades, lacks a clearly defined cause until now. Here, we identify and characterize a large filamentous dsDNA virus, Camponotus japonicus labial gland disease virus (CjLGDV), from the swollen labial gland of C. japonicus, and a closely related Anoplolepis gracilipes labial gland disease virus in A. gracilipes. Phylogenetic and genomic analyses of the two viruses support the establishment of a new viral family within the order Lefavirales, class Naldaviricetes. The discovery of endogenous viral elements related to CjLGDV in multiple ant genomes suggests the historical infection of CjLGDV-like viruses in ants. These findings broaden the known host range of naldaviricetes and shed new light on the diversity, evolution, and host interaction of large dsDNA viruses in arthropods.

Discovery of a novel double-stranded DNA virus associated with ant labial gland disease reveals its long-term interaction with ants journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

YprA family helicases provide the missing link between diverse prokaryotic immune systems Bacteria and archaea possess an enormous variety of antivirus immune systems that often share homologous proteins and domains, some of which contribute to diverse defense strategies. YprA family helic...

Three new kids on the block. ARMADA, BRIGADE, and TALON. Impressive how multiple labs all come together to contribute to discovery. Great collaboration with Simon, Chase, and Eugene. From the very talented Ryan Bell, together with Thomas Gaudin and our own Yi Wu.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Evolution of antivirus defense in prokaryotes, depending on the environmental virus prevalence and virome dynamics | mBio The virus-host arms race is a major component of the evolutionary process in all organisms that drove the evolution of a broad variety of immune mechanisms. In the last few years, over 200 distinct an...

Sanasar has been digging into how bacterial defense systems shift under different phage attack modes – from long-term infections by similar phages to constantly changing phage assaults. Glad to be part of that story, out today

Programmable antisense oligomers for phage functional genomics - Nature Establishing antisense oligomers as versatile, non-genetic tools to silence phage mRNAs opens applications in basic research and biotechnology, as shown by identifying essential factors for propagatio...

No Genetics? Try ASOs – A non-genetic approach to silence genes at the phage-host interface. We use it to study jumbo phage biology and anti-phage defence.
@jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social
@uni-wuerzburg.de @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social
published now in @nature.com

Latent infection of Caenorhabditis elegans by Orsay virus induces age-dependent immunity and cross-protection Nature Communications - Orsay virus establishes a latent infection in C. elegans, triggering age-dependent immunity and RNAi based cross-protection that limits secondary infections and reveals...

Check the latest publication from our group!
rdcu.be/ey1Fj
@i2sysbio.es @csic.es

We have expanded our ICTV Virus Taxonomy profiles and chapters to include higher ranks, which have been recently introduced and may not be familiar to all virologists.

You can find our 2-page Profiles (citable record) in JGV @microbiologysociety.org
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/ictv...

The ICTV Report chapters, which are linked to the profiles and get updated when the taxonomy changes, can be found on the ICTV website:
ictv.global/report

ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Duplodnaviria 2025 The realm Duplodnaviria includes viruses of archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes, with linear dsDNA genomes. Duplodnavirians share a distinct morphogenetic module of four hallmark genes encoding the HK97-...

Today, I'm excited to announce the publication of the Duplodnaviria realm Profile and Chapter.
The realm includes viruses of archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes and is best known for its inclusion of herpesviruses and tailed phages.

www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

Synthetically designed anti-defense proteins overcome barriers to bacterial transformation and phage infection Bacterial defense systems present considerable barriers to both phage infection and plasmid transformation. These systems target mobile genetic elements, limiting the efficacy of bacteriophage-based t...

Preprint: De-novo design of proteins that inhibit bacterial defenses

Our approach allows silencing defense systems of choice. We show how this approach enables programming of “untransformable” bacteria, and how it can enhance phage therapy applications

Congrats Jeremy Garb!
tinyurl.com/Syttt
🧵

Many interesting PhD projects, including ours. Consider applying!

De novo engineered guide RNA-directed transposition with TnpB-family proteins reveals features of naturally evolved systems Programmable DNA integration using CRISPR-associated transposons (CASTs) offers powerful capabilities for genome engineering. The single effector Cas12k CAST examples evolved from a fixed guide TnpB n...

De novo engineered guide RNA-directed transposition with TnpB-family proteins reveals features of naturally evolved systems www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A call for caution in the biological interpretation of viral auxiliary metabolic genes - Nature Microbiology This Perspective discusses virus-encoded auxiliary metabolic genes and provides a framework for the biological interpretation of these genes.

New paper alert! We suggest caution in the analyses of viral auxiliary metabolic genes and propose a new overarching term - 'auxiliary viral genes' (AVGs) to describe different types of such genes. @simrouxvirus.bsky.social #phagesky #Microsky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

To all friends and colleagues virologists

SAVE THE DATE for the next International Symposium on Single Stranded DNA viruses

Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil
June 15-19 2026

Stay put for more info soon when website goes on air !

#structuralphylogenetics #strphy #3di

See how phi3T phage shifts Bacillus subtilis cell shape in the absence of SPbeta prophage and alters its fitness - our new publication in @commsbio.nature.com from group of @annadragos.bsky.social together with @bramkamplab.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Check out our paper in PLoS Genetics with @umbertorosani.bsky.social and Marco Gerdol on the highly dynamic pangenome of basal chordates. It is enriched in defence and immunity genes (like in prokaryotes) and follows Mendelian inheritanceis rules. @plos.org journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

Cryo-EM identifies F-ENA of Bacillus thuringiensis as a widespread family of endospore appendages across Firmicutes - Nature Communications B. thuringiensis spores contain uncharacterized protein filaments that extend from the surface of the exosporium. Here, the authors show that these filaments feature conserved β-barrel neck domains an...

For over 100 years, Bt spores have been used to protect crops from caterpillars. These spores bear mysterious hair-like ENAs. Thanks to cryoEM, we now know ENAs are robust protein fibers that cluster spores like grappling hooks. Read more in Nature Communications.

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

Cryo-EM identifies F-ENA of Bacillus thuringiensis as a widespread family of endospore appendages across Firmicutes - Nature Communications B. thuringiensis spores contain uncharacterized protein filaments that extend from the surface of the exosporium. Here, the authors show that these filaments feature conserved β-barrel neck domains an...

Many spores from the Firmicutes group are decorated with hair-like structures. Since the 60s, they remained a mystery. @remaut-lab.bsky.social named these fibres ENdospore Appendages (ENAs). Using Cryo-ID, we report the identity, structure and function of F-ENA.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cryo-EM identifies F-ENA of Bacillus thuringiensis as a widespread family of endospore appendages across Firmicutes - Nature Communications B. thuringiensis spores contain uncharacterized protein filaments that extend from the surface of the exosporium. Here, the authors show that these filaments feature conserved β-barrel neck domains an...

Cryo-EM identifies F-ENA of Bacillus thuringiensis as a widespread family of endospore appendages across Firmicutes

@natcomms.nature.com Mike Sleutel et al from Han Remaut
w/ Marina Aspholm @jerryknowsnothing.bsky.social @mkrupovic.bsky.social @dbaquero.bsky.social

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

Archaea produce peptidoglycan hydrolases that kill bacteria Archaea regularly interact with bacteria but reports of archaea killing bacteria are very rare. This study shows that many archaea encode peptidoglycan hydrolases, which specifically target bacterial ...

Archaea are often surrounded by bacteria. But is there ever active conflict between the two? Can archaea kill bacteria? If so, how do they do it?

Work by @romainstrock.bsky.social shows that some archaea can kill bacteria by secreting peptidoglycan hydrolases. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...