BejaLab

Day 1 NASA OxyMoRon team studying Moab Khotsong gold mine. Today we are at 1200 m depth. #NASA @mblscience.bsky.social ⚒️🧪

A jumbo cyanophage encodes the most complete ribosomal protein set in the known virosphere www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A membrane-bound nuclease directly cleaves phage DNA during genome injection - Nature A widespread bacterial defence system called SNIPE is shown to localize to the cell membrane, where it identifies and cleaves the DNA of infecting phage as it is injected into the bacterial cell.

Nature research paper: A membrane-bound nuclease directly cleaves phage DNA during genome injection

go.nature.com/3P2jKFh

A detail from a panel from a 1990 Peanuts comic strip showing Snoopy lying under a tree. He is thinking, “I like a book where there’s only one character and nothing happens to him.”

Good morning, friends!

Phenogenomics reveals the ecology and evolution of Trichoderma fungi for sustainable agriculture - Nature Microbiology Analysis of 37 genomes together with more than 140 phenotypic traits links genomic features to ecological fitness and lifestyle diversity in Trichoderma fungi.

Phenogenomics reveals the ecology and evolution of Trichoderma fungi for sustainable agriculture

-in @natmicrobiol.nature.com by Andrei Steindorff (@jgi.doe.gov) et al from Irina Druzhinina (at @rbgkew.bsky.social), Feng Cai, Igor Grigoriev, and a large network

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

With Eugene Koonin, we propose a concept of “the selfish ribosome”, under which evolution of life is viewed as a ribosomal takeover, where the ribosome evolved to consume most of the cell’s resources, while other cellular componentry ensures the propagation of the ribosome. arxiv.org/abs/2602.23268

The selfish ribosome The ribosome is responsible for protein synthesis in all cells, and is the largest energy consumer in the cell. We propose that the ribosome originated as a mutualistic symbiont of an RNA-dependent RN...

Ribosome centric perspective on the evolution of life. @mkrupovic.bsky.social and Eugene Koonin arxiv.org/abs/2602.23268

Very proud of Bader Rayan for leading this work uncovering RNA as a regulator of peptide assembly and phase behavior, reshaping the bioactivity of virulent amyloids and host-defense peptides at the interface of bacterial virulence and innate immunity.

In @elife.bsky.social: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

YouTube video by עיריית ירושלים חוגגים פורים בירושלים ללא נפצים

תהיו אנשים ותוותרו על הנפצים
כל הכבוד לעיריית ירושלים. ככה צריך להיראות שלטון אחראי.

🧫 Say hello to Herbivorax alkaliphila sp. nov.!
This salt-loving bacterium, isolated from a salt lake, can break down plant cellulose even in salty water – only the second of its kind described from such an environment. Now part of the DSMZ collection.

#Microbiology #ScienceNews #EcoDiscovery

The microbiome of marine mat-forming cyanobacteria - A microcosm of taxonomic novelty and phototrophic diversity academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...

Viral effectors trigger innate immunity across the tree of life Abstract. Viruses are ubiquitous biological entities that exert immense selective pressures on their hosts, driving the evolution of diverse innate immune

Viral effectors trigger innate immunity across the tree of life royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...

Mechanistic insights into Na+ pumping by KR2: distinct roles of Asp102 and Asn112 coupled with retinal distortion in two O intermediates www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@soreklab.bsky.social

Gasdermins against intracellular bacterial pathogens - Nature Microbiology This Review discusses recent advances in our understanding of how gasdermins are activated by distinct signalling pathways and summarizes recent findings from host-adapted bacterial pathogens contrast...

Gasdermins against intracellular bacterial pathogens www.nature.com/articles/s41...

CONGRATULATIONS Kostas!!!

What the heck is going on with these springbok?
(other than "hidden trampoline concealed in the grass")

The stiff-legged jumping behavior shown here is called "pronking" or "stotting" & it's a bit of a puzzle why they do it.

It's observed in a wide variety of ungulates under different conditions.

Correction: Structural and spectroscopic basis of excitation energy transfer in microbial rhodopsins binding xanthophylls pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

"The Cyclops," painted by Odilon Redon, 1914. Via Wikipedia

The origin of our eyes over half a billion years ago is looking more and more weird--from a cyclops to four eyes to two. Here's my story (gift link): nyti.ms/4rzisQP

By Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com

The Rise of Eyes Began With Just One

Love me some Dan-Eric Nilsson. Absolute legend. (Gift link.) #neuroethology www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/s...

The International Conference on Retinal Proteins (ICRP2026) registration and abstract submission are now opened!!! www.congressi.unisi.it/retinalprote...

A novel North Sea ammonia-oxidizing archaeon Nitrosarchaeum marinum leverages a high abundance of transport systems to grow over a wide salinity range Isolation and characterization of a novel North Sea ammonia oxidizing archaeon, Nitrosarchaeum marinum T12, reveals an adaptation to a broad salinity under

novel North Sea ammonia-oxidizing archaeon Nitrosarchaeum marinum leverages a high abundance of transport systems to grow over a wide salinity range | FEMS Microbiology Ecology | Oxford Academic https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/102/3/fiag013/8499647?login=false

Fabulous day with @drchriskellogg.bsky.social and @viromegirl.bsky.social at the Mote Marine Lab International Coral Genetic Bank near Sarasota today!

An Engineered Variant of E. coli Nissle 1917 with Enhanced Transformation Efficiency and Robustness The gut microbiome and its effects on human health have generated considerable scientific, veterinary, and medical interest in recent years. Several gut bacterial species have emerged as potential cha...

#microsky #synbiosky #microbiomesky

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

European Academy of Microbiology The European Academy of Microbiology (EAM) is a leadership group of eminent microbiology experts founded by the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) to promote and recognize excelle...

I feel honoured & thankful to the electors who chose me through their peer-review process as a Fellow of the European Academy of #Microbiology. This reflects upon my teachers/supervisors, students and colleagues of the past 25+ years on environmental & animal microbiology.
tinyurl.com/38jt3pzh

Chiral gliding: Right-handed navigation of filamentous cyanobacteria | PNAS Cyanobacteria are the earliest known organisms that produced oxygen through photosynthesis, leading to the oxygen atmosphere that allowed the evolu...

Chiral gliding: Right-handed navigation of filamentous cyanobacteria | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Synergistic Effects of Light and Salinity on Carotenoid and Biomass Composition of Synechocystis PCC6803 Cultures www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/24...

Evolution of the vertebrate retina by repurposing of a composite ancestral median eye The vertebrate retina differs dramatically from that in all other animal eyes. In this review, Kafetzis et al. argue that, before the vertebrates, a series of lifestyle changes in ‘our’ lineage led to...

Evolution of the vertebrate retina by repurposing of a composite ancestral median eye www.cell.com/current-biol...

And The Microbes

OH MY GOSH I JUST FOUND THIS 😃

www.andthemicrobes.org

#comic #bacteria #phage #plasmids 🦠