Molecular basis for anti-jumbo phage #immunity by AVAST type 5.
Avs5 detects an early jumboβphage activator and halts infection by rapidly hydrolyzing NAD+.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #phage #bacteriophage #MicroSky
07.02.2026 19:26 β π 19 π 12 π¬ 1 π 0
Amazing findings in geometry-based immune activation! Two bacterial defence systems detect phage-encoded ring oligomers, assemble high-order molecular complexes, and trigger abortive infection.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
04.02.2026 18:24 β π 52 π 25 π¬ 1 π 1
A DNA damage-activated kinase controls bacterial immune pathway expression https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.02.703251v1
04.02.2026 04:16 β π 10 π 7 π¬ 0 π 0
Highly recommended
31.01.2026 15:59 β π 12 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Chemical inhibition of a bacterial immune system
Bacteriophages are promising alternatives to antibiotics for treating bacterial infections.
However, bacteria possess immune systems that neutralize bacteriophages. Zang et al.
discover small molecule...
Chemical inhibition of a bacterial immune system
Small molecules inhibit type II Thoeris anti-phage systems from diverse bacteria. One compound, IP6C, improves phage-therapy against P. aeruginosa & is effective against Thoeris in polymicrobial communities
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
30.01.2026 17:20 β π 20 π 11 π¬ 0 π 1
Multiple protein structure alignment at scale with FoldMason
Protein structure is conserved beyond sequence, making multiple structural alignment (MSTA) essential for analyzing distantly related proteins. Computational prediction methods have vastly extended ou...
FoldMason is out now in @science.org. It generates accurate multiple structure alignments for thousands of protein structures in seconds. Great work by Cameron L. M. Gilchrist and @milot.bsky.social.
π www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
π search.foldseek.com/foldmason
πΎ github.com/steineggerla...
30.01.2026 06:11 β π 297 π 147 π¬ 4 π 3
Our study reveals new layers in the NAD-centric arms race between bacterial defense systems and phage counter-defenses
Read the thread by the one and only Ilya Osterman, who discovered all this
bsky.app/profile/oste...
29.01.2026 15:34 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Using an Alphafold co-folding screen, we found that some phages also encode small proteins that directly bind the defensive RES domain and inhibit aRES ability to cleave NAD
29.01.2026 15:34 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
Then, we found that some phages evolved an extended NARP1 pathway, which includes a phosphatase. This phosphatase removes the additional phosphate from ADPR, and now NARP1 can work again
29.01.2026 15:34 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Now, we found defense genes that rely on RES domains, which also cleave NAD+ but leave a phosphate group on ADPR
This mode of NAD+ cleavage renders phage NARP1 inactive, because the pathway cannot use ADPR-1P as a substrate
So this system, named aRES, defends from phages even if they encode NARP1
29.01.2026 15:34 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Two years ago we discovered that many phages encode a pathway that can rebuild NAD directly from ADPR and Nam, the debris left after NAD was broken by bacterial defenses. We called this pathway NAD reconstitution pathway 1 - NARP1 (Osterman, Nature 2024)
29.01.2026 15:34 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Many bacteria degrade their entire NAD+ pool when they sense phage infection. NAD depletion deprives the phage of this essential molecule and prevents it from replicating
The bacterial defense systems typically break NAD into two molecules: ADPR and Nam
29.01.2026 15:34 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Bacterial defense via RES-mediated NAD+ depletion is countered by phage phosphatases
Many bacterial defense systems restrict phage infection by breaking the molecule NAD+ to its constituents, adenosine diphosphate ribose (ADPR) and nicotinamide (Nam). To counter NAD+ depletion-mediated defense, phages evolved NAD+ reconstitution pathway 1 (NARP1), which uses ADPR and Nam to rebuild NAD+. Here we report a bacterial defense system called aRES, involving RES-domain proteins that degrade NAD+ into Nam and ADPR-1β³-phosphate (ADPR-1P). This molecule cannot serve as a substrate for NARP1, so that NAD+ depletion by aRES defends against phages even if they encode NARP1. We further discover that some phages evolved an extended NARP1 pathway capable of overcoming aRES defense. In these phages, the NARP1 operon also includes a specialized phosphatase, which dephosphorylates ADPR-1P to form ADPR, a substrate from which NARP1 then reconstitutes NAD+. Other phages encode inhibitors that directly bind aRES proteins and physically block their active sites. Our study describes new layers in the NAD+-centric arms race between bacteria and phages and highlights the centrality of the NAD+ pool in cellular battles between viruses and their hosts. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, ERC-AdG GA 101018520 Israel Science Foundation, MAPATS grant 2720/22 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SPP 2330, grant 464312965 Minerva Foundation with funding from the Federal German Ministry for Education and Research research grant from Magnus Konow in honor of his mother Olga Konow Rappaport Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, https://ror.org/05aycsg86 Clore Scholars Program
We found a new mode by which bacteria deplete NAD+ to protect from phages. And then we found how phages overcome this defense
Discovered by talented biochemist Dr Ilya Osterman, read the preprint: tinyurl.com/Narp-ap
A thread π§΅
29.01.2026 15:34 β π 44 π 15 π¬ 2 π 0
Today @nature.com, it's #AlphaGenome, to decipher and determine functionality of the regulatory (very challenging) variants in our genome.
Another big step of AI for advancing life science
nature.com/articles/s41...
28.01.2026 16:19 β π 73 π 27 π¬ 1 π 1
Another cool finding of nucleotides activating antiphage defense ππ½
5β²-phosphorylated deoxydinucleotides arising during host genome degradation activate the doughnut shaped ApeA oligomer, to cleave host
tRNAs and abort infection
βοΈπ§¬β‘οΈπ©β¨β‘οΈβοΈβ οΈπ¦
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
27.01.2026 13:13 β π 25 π 7 π¬ 0 π 0
Model bacteria that lack (or have minimal) defense systems have been crucial for understanding bacterial immunity. Now, there is a model defenseless plant. One may expect that this model can accelerate discoveries on plant immunity
26.01.2026 13:03 β π 24 π 4 π¬ 1 π 0
Congratulations on your new lab Sam! Exciting times, looking forward to your future discoveries on viruses and their hosts
22.01.2026 23:47 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Extremely well deserved! Congratulations Philip!
22.01.2026 16:36 β π 17 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Our latest CRISPR ring nuclease paper focusses on Csx15 - which seems to act as of a sponge as well as a canonical phosphodiesterase. Great work led by @haotianchi.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
22.01.2026 08:57 β π 36 π 20 π¬ 0 π 0
Loved this from @simonmaechling.bsky.social - chemistry FTWβ¦
@dereklowe.bsky.social @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social
19.01.2026 14:08 β π 95 π 24 π¬ 1 π 3
N1-Methylpseudouridine directly modulates translation dynamics
Nature - N1-Methylpseudouridine enhances the translation of synthetic mRNAs, independently of innate immunity.
Our new paper is out in Nature π. We show that m1Ξ¨ in mRNA vaccines doesnβt just quiet immunity, it also directly enhance translation by reshaping ribosome dynamics in a sequence-dependent way π§¬
Full paper : rdcu.be/eY5gx
15.01.2026 11:56 β π 56 π 24 π¬ 0 π 1
Assistant Professor at University of Utah studying host-virus interactions
http://hobbs.biochem.utah.edu/
Group Leader VIB and Assistant Professor VUB Brussels, Belgium - Biochemist - Structural biologist - interested in #MembraneProteins #cryoEM - nature - paragliding
Research interests: Bacterial replication, antimicrobials, and Lyme disease. Stanford, HHMI.
Science and fun from the lab of Tony Hyman at the MPI-CBG @mpicbg.bsky.social. Tweets by Hymanlab members.
https://hymanlab.org/
Interested in quantitative understanding of microbial decision making, signal transduction, motility, physiology and evolution.
https://www.mpi-marburg.mpg.de/sourjik
Computational microbiologist
I like to post about: microbial genomics, microbial ecology, evolution, micro+plant biotechnology, climate, symbiosis, virology, ag, sci publishing and policy
PhD student at the Sorek lab.
Immune proteins.
Postdoc @ KU Leuven | Virus evolution π§¬π¨βπ»
Everything phage biology and bacterial immunity
Assistant professor at Skoltech, Russia
Harvard Medical School, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
https://kranzuschlab.med.harvard.edu
Paleontologist. Developmental Biologist. Anatomist. Polar wanderer. Telling people that they are fish since 2008.
UC-Berkeley Postdocπ», Edison Scientific Consultantπ¨π½βπ», Evomics Workshop Codirectorπ§¬
prev Vanderbilt PhD, FutureHouse, Latch, MantleBio (acquired)
π² https://linktr.ee/jlsteenwyk
π https://jlsteenwyk.com/
We advance science and technology to benefit humanity.
http://microsoft.com/research
Assistant Professor at Tel Aviv University. I research plants, microbes, and their fascinating interactions.
The scientific editors of Cell Host & Microbe, a Cell Press journal, bring you the latest information and insights from the forefront of host-microbe research.
Having fun with microbial genomics and machine learning
