Michael Galperin

We’re excited to announce the incredible speaker line-up for the Prokaryotic Cell Biology Conference! Join the leading researchers as they explore the latest advances in Nanoimaging, Cell Growth and Cellular Structures.
Join our speakers & register today! ➡️https://bit.ly/47rtkbw
#ProkaryoticCellBio

Everyone interested in bacterial signal transduction, environmental sensing and motility, don't miss this conference organised by Ariane Briegel @arianebriegel.bsky.social and myself! We have great invited speakers and a number of slots allocated to short talks: www.grc.org/sensory-tran...

I want to take a moment to say THANK YOU to Anke Becker and Conrad Mullineaux, our two Editors who retired this past summer. Please check out the article to see all they've done of JB!
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology

Congratulations to both!

Twitching motility suppressors reveal a role for FimX in type IV pilus extension dynamics Author summary Type IV pili enable Pseudomonas aeruginosa to attach to surfaces, move (twitch), and form biofilms. Pilus extension is powered by the motor protein PilB, which is regulated by other fac...

New paper alert! We used our fav technique, genetic suppression, to understand how FimX controls function of the T4P PilB motor ATPase in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Great collab with the Ellison lab at U Georgia who helped with some fancy microscopy to capture pilus dynamics! doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Control of flagellar gene expression by a chemotaxis receptor-like regulator in pathogenic Escherichia coli | The EMBO Journal imageimageChemotaxis receptors typically mediate biased movement of motile bacteria in environmental gradients by controlling rotation of the flagellar motor. This study identifies a chemotaxis recept...

Happy to share as my first Bluesky post: Our newest paper describing a beautiful example of surprizing evolutionary innovation: Control of flagellar gene expression by a chemotaxis receptor-like regulator in pathogenic Escherichia coli | The EMBO Journal www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Sneak preview of the next upcoming #SubtiWiki feature: All proteins are assigned to clusters sharing similar structures!
Brought to you by Oskar Geissel and @c-elfmann.bsky.social .
@imprsgs.bsky.social

A cGAS-mediated mechanism in naked mole-rats potentiates DNA repair and delays aging Efficient DNA repair might make possible the longevity of naked mole-rats. However, whether they have distinctive mechanisms to optimize functions of DNA repair suppressors is unclear. We find that na...

Differential activation of cGAS in naked mole rats! An exciting addition to our understanding of species-specific mutations tailoring the cGAS-STING pathway in individual organisms

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

All science arises only because of the shared broader community. I want to especially recognize Rotem Sorek @soreklab.bsky.social Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social our collaborators and the many wonderful labs and scientists in the field bringing together human and bacterial antiviral research!

Blavatnik National Awards

Blavatnik National Awards

Blavatnik National Awards

Blavatnik National Awards

Congratulations to Philip J. Kranzusch, Ph.D., Professor of Cancer Immunology and Virology, who was one of three scientists awarded top honors at the 2025 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists.

Watch to learn more about his work: bit.ly/4pZUDkF

The Viral AlphaFold Database of monomers and homodimers reveals conserved protein folds in viruses of bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes VAD is a Viral AlphaFold Database of protein monomers and homodimers from viruses infecting hosts across the tree of life.

Viral AlphaFold Database (VAD) is live in Science Advances

~27,000 predicted viral protein monomers & homodimers

Conserved folds across bacteria, archaea & eukaryotic viruses

New toxin–antitoxin system KreTA uncovered

Vast “functional darkness” remains uncharted

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

Excited to be part of this collaboration with the Burrows lab exploring twitching and surface surface sensing by P. aeruginosa. This work further delineates a role for the T4P motor proteins and pili for surface sensing.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org

Dissimilar Reactions and Enzymes for Psilocybin Biosynthesis in Inocybe and Psilocybe Mushrooms Mushrooms have learned twice independently how to make the iconic magic mushroom natural product psilocybin. This article introduces the enzymes of the second pathway, found in a fiber cap mushroom. ....

Two fungal genera use two distinct pathways to synthesize psilocybin
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

The Panoptes system uses decoy cyclic nucleotides to defend against phage - Nature The Panoptes antiphage system defends bacteria by detecting phage-encoded counter-defences that sequester cyclic nucleotide signals, triggering membrane disruption and highlighting a broader strategy of sensing immune evasion through second-messenger surveillance.

Our story describing the Panoptes bacterial immune defense system is now finally peer-reviewed and published today! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Descubren nuevos mecanismos que regulan la motilidad y transferencia de ADN en bacterias Investigaciones recientes realizadas por un equipo de científicos en colaboración con diversas universidades y centros de investigación han revelado nuevos mecanismos que regulan la motilidad bacteria...

Also in Spanish ;-)

larepublica.es/2025/09/27/d...

Thrilled to be a coauthor in this story 🚀 Check out our latest publication on the archaellum - spoiler: it's an archaellum in bacteria 😱 Who would have thought? Thank you to all the authors, and especially @sshamphavi.bsky.social for really keeping this paper rotating 😉

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

And a major contribution from @vikramalva.bsky.social

ComFB, a widespread family of c-di-NMP receptor proteins | PNAS Cyclic dimeric-GMP (c-di-GMP) is a ubiquitous bacterial second messenger that regulates a variety of cellular processes, including motility, biofil...

And here is the published version of the work from @selimlab.bsky.social, @mygalperin.bsky.social, Dubnau labs and @thethormannden.bsky.social labs
(superb collaboration)

ComFB, a widespread family of c-di-NMP receptor proteins

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Registration is open! Come join us at the sensory transduction in microorganisms GRC! Spread the word! www.grc.org/sensory-tran...

asm.org/press-releas...

Using bioinformatics for identifying and plugging metabolic pathway holes | PNAS Using bioinformatics for identifying and plugging metabolic pathway holes

Some thoughts on metabolism and metabolic pathway holes (PMID: 40892933)
pnas.org/doi/10.1073/....

Prioritising Microbiology in Secondary Education Addresses Emerging Scientific‐Social‐Educational Challenges and Competency Needs This work highlights how microbiology education can empower secondary school students with critical and systems thinking, fostering STEM literacy, overcoming barriers and preparing informed, responsi...

Prioritising Microbiology in Secondary Education Addresses Emerging Scientific-Social-Educational Challenges and Competency Needs

#MicrobialBiotech by Lara Amorim, Conceição Santos, and Kenneth Timmis

enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...