Lovasoa Randriantseheno

Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides Phages often degrade the genome of their bacterial host to individual nucleotides and use these nucleotides to build their own genome. In this study, we describe a bacterial defense system that direct...

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

@soreklab.bsky.social Sorek lab does it again! Such a cool signal to specifically detect the event of genome degradation by a phage

💚 Last night, the Institut Pasteur lit up its historic building in green: the color of Phelan‑McDermid syndrome.

This rare genetic disorder is linked to developmental & language challenges and autism.

It was here that researchers identified SHANK3, the gene behind the syndrome 🧬✨

Pathogen distribution and antimicrobial resistance among neonatal bloodstream infections in Southeast Asia: results from NeoSEAP, a multicentre retrospective study Neonatal sepsis in tertiary hospitals in Southeast Asia is predominantly caused by gram-negative bacteria, with high rates of non-susceptibility to commonly prescribed antibiotics.

Across Southeast Asia most newborn infections are now caused #AMR bugs, making standard treatments for neonatal sepsis ineffective. Without updated, locally informed treatment guidelines and new antibiotic development, infant mortality rates will rise.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

This is amazing! Researchers at McMaster University have discovered an antibiotic that could treat inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn’s Disease without killing beneficial gut bacteria

healthsci.mcmaster.ca/new-antibiot...

I had the great honor of representing Madagascar at the 15th International Symposium on Yersinia in Mongolia, where researchers working on the challenges posed by plague and other yersiniosis presented their work. I also presented some of the results of my PhD on the phylogeography of Y. pestis.

Novltex: A New Class of Antibiotics with Potent Activity against Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Pathogens─Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation Increasing spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria demands antibiotics that combine potent activity with scalable synthesis. Novo29 (clovibactin) is promising but suffers from low yield (1%), dep...

💊 New antibiotic class

Scientists have developed Novltex, a new antibiotic with strong activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria like MRSA. It’s cheaper to make and highly effective in lab tests.

🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

#SciComm #Antibiotics #AMR 🧪

Plague in Madagascar: a new model sheds light on the seasonality of outbreaks A new model has been developed to elucidate the seasonal dynamics of plague in Madagascar. In this country, where the disease remains endemic, and most often occurs between October and March. The asso...

A new model sheds light on the seasonal dynamics of plague in Madagascar — a step toward better prevention through a One Health approach.

🔗 Read more: www.pasteur.fr/en/research-...

@scauchemez.bsky.social
@abrault.bsky.social
@fanohi.bsky.social

Poster with the title "The Hidden Cost of Heat: Falling Productivity." Subtext reads: "Productivity drops by 2–3% for every degree above 20°C." The design shows a worker in an orange-toned outfit and a wide-brimmed hat, bending down as if farming or picking crops.

🌡️ Heat is already hurting billions.

Outdoor & manual workers in agriculture, construction & beyond face rising temperatures that slash productivity & threaten lives.

The new WHO / @wmo-global.bsky.social report shares practical, evidence-based solutions 👉 bit.ly/3JvqKI1 #ClimateAction

California resident tests positive for the plague after camping, officials say South Lake Tahoe resident was probably bitten by infected flea while camping in the area, local health authorities say

Plague is not a disease of the past
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

An exciting negative result!

“In a paper published in Nature Communications, the researchers have shown for the 1st time that mRNA can be delivered into the cells where HIV is hiding, by encasing it in a tiny, specially formulated fat bubble. The mRNA then instructs the cells to reveal the virus.”
The virus can no longer hide!

New study shows that E. coli can evolve antibiotic resistance during treatment This new study, led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, details the rapid evolution of resistance in an E.

New research from LSTM shows E. coli can evolve drug resistance mid-treatment by amplifying an existing gene, not gaining a new one.

A striking reminder of how quickly resistance can emerge.

🔗

Animated Maps with {ggplot2} and {gganimate} In this blog we are creating an animated map of the gapminder data using {ggplot2} and {gganimate}. In the process we will cover some of the common pitfalls when working with spatial data and how to get round them!

In our latest blog post, our Data Scientist Osheen MacOscar shares a great overview of how to use {ggplot2} and {gganimate}, when dealing with spatial data.

#rstats #datavis #spatialdata #maps

Figure from the preprint, on variations in chromosome sequences

Telomere-to-telomere assembly detects genomic diversity in Canadian strains of Borrelia burgdorferi

diversity & conservation among Lyme spirochetes, including the curious DNA chunk that is sometimes on the chromosome, other times a separate linear plasmid

#MicroSky

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

Plasmids link antibiotic resistance genes and phage defense systems in E. coli Phage therapy has been proposed as an alternative to antibiotics to treat resistant infections. However, we have a limited understanding of how antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) associate with bacter...

New pre-print from my lab!
Plasmids link antibiotic resistance and phage defense.

E.coli plasmids are hotspots for both antibiotic resistance and phage defense. Phage therapy has the potential to accidentally select for antibiotic resistance!!!
#microsky#AMR#phage

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

📣 I'm recruiting a postdoc researcher to join my team for a project on mosquito-specific viruses and host interactions. Peep the job description & how to apply below. Perfect for soon-to-be or recent PhD graduates in mosquito vector biology 🦟 or arbovirology 🦠
🗓️ Application deadline 31 August 2025

🦠🧍‍♀️From bacterial to human immunity.

We report in @science.org the discovery of a human homolog of SIR2 antiphage proteins that participates in the TLR pathway of animal innate immunity.
Co-led wt @enzopoirier.bsky.social by D. Bonhomme and @hugovaysset.bsky.social

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Researchers value null results, but struggle to publish them Survey finds that fear of reputational harm and a lack of support and publication platforms are among respondents’ key concerns.

“just 68% of the 7,057 researchers whose work had produced null results had shared them in some form, and just 30% had tried to publish them in a journal.”

What a joke.

#NullEffectsMatter

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

YouTube video by Institut Pasteur Les leçons de la peste

The plague, always... 😊
youtu.be/eBdwcqa39rc?...

Introducing my new #rstats package {kitchensink}

Not sure what the right model to fit is? Should you allow random intercepts, slopes, both? What do Bayesian methods say?

Just call {kitchensink::throw} to fit every possible model and see how your results differ!

These gars are the ultimate ‘living fossils’ Fish’s genomes are so static that groups whose last common ancestor lived during the time of the dinosaurs can produce fertile hybrids today

Our Hybrid Gar (Alligator Gar x Spotted Gar) was also popular in the fish world…

She was “the face” of recent gar evolutionary rates/living fossils research led by @chasedbrownstein.bsky.social & @dmacguig.bsky.social: www.science.org/content/arti...

Chromosomal capture of beneficial genes drives plasmids toward ecological redundancy Abstract. Plasmids are a ubiquitous feature of bacterial genomes, but the forces driving genes and phenotypes to become associated with plasmids are poorly

New paper with @rwheatley8.bsky.social and Cedric Lood

Actual title: Chromosomal capture of beneficial genes drives plasmids towards ecological redundancy.

Sensationalist title: Plasmids carry useless genes

academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

#Multiomics approaches are enabling the decoding of the impact of non-coding variants and of disease-associated molecular dysregulation. Hear from @saobettencourt.bsky.social and Andrew Stergachis TODAY in Webinar 1 of the Multi-Omics Online series. Register now: hubs.la/Q03wC2FL0

My colleague Pilar Domingo-Calap @pilardomingoc.bsky.social successfully treated a patient with prosthetic joint infection by her phage therapy 👏👏🏆🦠🧪🧫 #microsky #viruses #phages @uv.es @csic.es @ucciuv.bsky.social

Women with ADHD three times more likely to experience premenstrual dysphoric disorder – new research Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a serious condition that affects about 3% of women globally.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a serious condition that affects about 3% of women globally.

Patient dies in emergency room from plague, health officials say It has since been confirmed that the patient’s death was caused by pneumonic plague, which is a severe lung infection caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium.

Patient dies in emergency room from plague, health officials say

🇺🇸 This Independence Day, let’s remind ourselves:

The roots of modern American civilization began with the seeds of protests & speaking out against a tyrannical regime.

The Boston Tea Party? a protest. The Declaration of Independence? A list of grievances.

🧵(1/4)

A single illuminated light bulb among many unlit ones. Image credit: Pixabay user ColiN00B.

That "Aha!" moment... Can sleep facilitate memory reorganization? @nicoschuck.bsky.social @anikaloewe.bsky.social @maritpetzka.bsky.social &co reveal that N2 #sleep (but not N1) increases likelihood of having an 'aha' moment about a previous #DecisionMaking task @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4k8F2v3

What determines who a phage can infect?

We tackled this question for temperate phages of Klebsiella — a bacterial pathogen — using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and a massive protein testing effort.

👇 A thread!

I clicked the link and for the lecture on monday 16 June, it's mentioned that it's an hybrid event, is it? I would love to follow online if yes