Susan Schlimpert

Great to see this is out now. Congratulations to all the authors.

Bacteriocin biophysics: From protein-protein interaction models to navigators of the bacterial cell envelope Bacteriocins are toxins deployed by bacteria to kill their competitors. Here, I reflect on my laboratory’s work on protein bacteriocins and their immunity proteins from Gram-negative bacteria. We unco...

A gift of an article from the inimitable Colin Kleanthous as he says a moving farewell to his laboratory. A brave, unrepentant and scientifically brilliant journey is described - please have a read, friends.

www.jbc.org/article/S002...

Plant Pathogens Moonlighting as Beneficial Insect Symbionts Herbivorous insects can shape the epidemiology of disease in plants by vectoring numerous phytopathogens. While the consequences of infection are often well-characterized in the host plant, the extent...

Can plant pathogens boost vector fitness?

Together with @hassansalem.bsky.social, we review how phytopathogens can spread further by moonlighting as insect symbionts 🪲 More on this nifty lifestyle in @annualreviews.bsky.social!

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Horizontal transfer of post-translational modifiers brings evolutionary opportunity and challenges to a conserved translation factor - BMC Biology Background Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a major driver of microbial evolution, yet the influence of host cellular context on the integration and functionality of transferred genes remains underex...

Read our newest work spearheaded by Tess Brewer: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

First results chapter from Kelly-Rose Tulley’s PhD is published. It was a great team effort to get this finished. This work supports previous results on S. coelicolor OrrA and suggests its function is highly conserved. #microsky #streptomyces 1/2

Alison Smith, Author and Emeritus Fellow at the John Innes Centre said, “We were inspired to write this book by the stimulating, creative and supportive environment provided by our JIC and TSL colleagues. It is intended to provide a new generation of plant scientists with an appreciation of the wealth and breadth of radically new knowledge and technologies in plant science. The book also reveals some of the exciting opportunities for fundamental discovery and innovation in plant science to help tackle global challenges including sustainable food production, environmental pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss.”

📢 New plant science textbook

Staff and alumni from our institute and @thesainsburylab.bsky.social have recently published Essential Plant Biology, a new textbook presenting current and comprehensive knowledge of plant biology 🌱

Great review on proline-induced ribosomal stalling and the strategies to overcome these roadblocks during translation in bacteria by @lassak-lab.bsky.social and colleagues. #MicroSky

Check out these tools to detect co-evolution in protein-protein interactions developed by postdoc @chrislbgraham.bsky.social

Very useful as a hypothesis generator, complementing protein interaction prediction from Alphafold.

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

SAVE THE DATE!
The next instalment of the long-running Bacterial and Archaeal Cell Division Conference will take place at www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels..., Italy from the 20th to 23rd of April 2027.
Organisers: me, @s-lab.bsky.social, @awehenkel.bsky.social.
More info soon.

#MicroSky

FEBS Press Circadian clocks have been identified in very few bacterial species, and only the cyanobacterial clock is understood in detail. Bacterial rhythms have primarily been studied in species in isolation o...

so very happy to share this Perspective piece that I wrote with @hollykay1.bsky.social for @febsletters.bsky.social

in this paper we do an extensive (and long overdue) review of rhythms (of all kinds, not just circadian!) in bacteria, and we ask the +

febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Good to see this out - new CRISPRi work from the
@ryanfseipke.bsky.social lab/ #microsky #streptomyces

A platform for CRISPRi-seq in Streptomyces albidoflavus

journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

Happy to share our recent preprint:
"DNA-intercalating antiphage molecules trigger abortive infection through mutual destruction and synergize with bacterial immunity"

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

@spp2330.bsky.social, @mibinet.bsky.social, @dfg.de @hhu.de @fzj.bsky.social

Postdoctoral Researcher (Carella Group) | John Innes Centre An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Carella Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Evo-MPMI (Evolutionary Molecular…

We have an open POSTDOC position to explore Marchantia immune receptor biology that is closing on the 18th of Jan. Apply using the link below, and/or email me for more details. www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...

Just 4 days until our Grants, Early Bird & Talk deadline closes for #ProkaryoticCellBio!
Join Heath Murray, Jie Xiao, Marc Bramkamp and Ethan Garner 13 - 16 July 2026 in Portugal, alongside our fantastic speaker line-up!
More info on how to register here➡️https://bit.ly/4qCDhtw

Diverse bacterial pattern recognition receptors sense the conserved phage proteome Recognition of foreign molecules inside cells is critical for immunity in all domains of life. Proteins of the STAND NTPase superfamily, including eukaryotic nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain ...

NLR-like immunity in bacteria

A new study from the Alex Gao lab. The scope of this work is incredible!!!

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

I vaguely remember seeing a discussion about lab-onboarding etc on Twitter many years ago. This initiative below and the handbook look really valuable. Will implement.

Recombinational repair is the major pathway required to reload the bacterial replicative helicase following introduction of single-strand DNA breaks. A great way to end the year! Big thank you to co-authors from the @heathmurraylab.bsky.social

Rescuing the bacterial replisome at a nick requires recombinational repair and helicase reloading - Nature Communications DNA damage can lead to cell death. Here, the authors show that a simple cut on either strand of DNA can inactivate bacterial chromosome replication. Surprisingly, only a core set of recombination prot...

A cool genetic system to study site-pecific replication fork collapse and repair from the brilliant @winterhalterlab.bsky.social

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

MtrAB activates ectoine production and triggers sporulation in response to osmotic stress in Streptomyces venezuelae The MtrAB two-component system is a master regulator of antibiotic biosynthesis in Streptomyces species. MtrA is also required for sporulation under certain growth conditions, which means that on some...

New preprint. Work led by @ainsley-beaton.bsky.social & Rebecca Devine.

They show the highly conserved Streptomyces MtrAB two component system activates ectoine production and triggers sporulation in response to osmotic stress in Streptomyces venezuelae

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

Streptomyces secretes a siderophore that sensitizes competitor bacteria to phage infection - Nature Microbiology A secondary metabolite sensitizes competitor Bacillus subtilis to a wide panel of lytic phages by sequestering iron and preventing the activation of Spo0A.

Microbes weaponizing secondary metabolites to make rivals vulnerable to phage attack 🧪🦠

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

New opportunity to join our #EvoMPMI group @johninnescentre.bsky.social as a Postdoctoral Researcher working on the mechanistic basis of immunity in diverse plants. Please spread the word, reach out by email, and/or apply if interested! More details here: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...

Too excited by the science to include the link to the paper! Here it is: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Congratulations Tom & team 😀!

Very happy to see this remarkable work published. Led by @tommclean.bsky.social and @ainsley-beaton.bsky.social. We show how Streptomyces bacteria sense & respond to misfolded secreted proteins. A great collaboration with @barriewilks.bsky.social

#microsky

1/2

journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10....

Molecular Microbiology Dept Christmas lunch at the assembly House in Norwich 12/12/25. Blessed to work with great scientists who are also great people. This photo only shows the group leaders but every person in the department is wonderful. #microsky

Just got word that we are a go for the Bacterial Cell Biology and Development GRS and GRC at Southern New Hampshire University!

GRS will be on June 5-6, 2027

GRC will be from June 6-11, 2027

Block off your calendars Prokaryotic Cell Biologists!

More details to come! Please repost!

I wouldn't be where I am now without Mark's support, inspiration and mentorship.

Stable inheritance of the Streptomyces linear plasmid SCP1 by dual ParABS partition systems Low-copy-number plasmids often rely on dedicated maintenance mechanisms, such as partitioning systems, to ensure stable inheritance across generations. These partition systems actively segregate siste...

📄 Delighted to share that the preprint of my main PhD work is out now!

👏 A huge thank you to everyone involved, @tommclean.bsky.social, Govind Chandra, Ngat Tran (both not on BlueSky) and especially my PhD supervisor @tunglejic.bsky.social 👏

🧵 below!

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

Professor Mark Buttner

NEWS - Professor Mark Buttner receives Marjory Stephenson Prize 2026

Professor Buttner, one of our Emeritus Fellows, has received the @microbiologysociety.org Marjory Stephenson Prize for 2026. Congratulations Mark! 👏

Read about his exceptional research and career: www.jic.ac.uk/news/profess...

Check out this work by the amazing @leahmcphillips.bsky.social from during her PhD!!