Wilson Lab

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!

🔽 !!??? #RNASky 🧪

Hypoxia-induced ribosomal RNA modifications in the peptidyl-transferase center contribute to anaerobic growth of bacteria Ishiguro et al. identify stereoselective ribose-backbone methylations in the peptidyl-transferase center of E. coli ribosomes, installed by the cobalamin-dependent enzyme RlmX. These methylations, together with ho5C2501, are specifically induced under hypoxia. The hypoxia-induced modifications activate ribosomes, enhancing translational capacity and thereby promoting bacterial fitness in anaerobic conditions.

Online Now: Hypoxia-induced ribosomal RNA modifications in the peptidyl-transferase center contribute to anaerobic growth of bacteria Online now:

The Gonzalez Lab at Columbia University is seeking a scientific leader!

Join us in a Research Scientist position, driving single-molecule, structural, and biochemical studies of translation, translational control, and other RNA-based processes.

Apply: apply.interfolio.com/176949

Hybrid Antibiotics Targeting the Bacterial Ribosome - PubMed Antimicrobial resistance remains a formidable challenge to modern medicine, with bacterial resistance mechanisms increasingly eroding the utility of clinically important antibiotics. While recent efforts have expanded the antibacterial pipeline, the development of resistance in priority pathogens co …

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41341057/

How plant mitochondria make their own proteins 🌱🔬
A new study published in @natcomms.nature.com reveals the structure of the cauliflower mitoribosome and a unique RsgA mechanism that blocks premature translation.
▶️https://nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65864-z
#PlantBiology #CryoEM #Ribosome

GTPBP1 is a GTPase implicated in neurodevelopment. Our cryo-EM maps show GTPBP1 delivering tRNA to ribosome.

Due to delayed GTPase dissociation, mRNA decoding is more stringent than with bona fide delivery factor eEF1A.

Congrats to Denis Susorov and collab with Pestova lab! tinyurl.com/3smdvt3v

ZAKα is a sensor of mRNA stasis at the ribosomal exit channel Despite a growing interest in the ribotoxic stress response (RSR), it remains unknown how the upstream p38 and JNK-activating MAP3 kinase ZAKα senses translational impairment. Combining Alphafold3 pre...

New preprint out!
Our latest work on how ZAKα is activated by stalled or/and collided ribosomes is now online🎉. #Ribosome #RibotoxicStressResponse #ZAKα #Translation #mRNA www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Translational activators align mRNAs at the small mitoribosomal subunit for translation initiation Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - Mitochondrial translational activators (TAs) facilitate transcript-specific translation. Using selective ribosome profiling and cryo-electron microscopy,...

Our study on the molecular function of translational activators for mitochondrial protein synthesis is published:
rdcu.be/eSWxT
A great collaboration with @stirlingchurchman.bsky.social and @sshaolab.bsky.social with structural work from our @pelleeas.bsky.social
Funded by @kawresearch.bsky.social

The epitranscriptome formed by the growing number of modifications occurring within mRNA transcripts.

We have been mapping mRNA modifications for over a decade.

=> Characterizing their functions -- especially on translation -- is a research frontier.

Saskemycin, a potent and selective antimycobacterial agent targeting a unique site on the ribosome - PubMed Tuberculosis is the deadliest bacterial disease on the planet. The months-long regimen of multiple antibiotics required to treat tuberculosis profoundly affects the microbiome and leads to the development of antimicrobial resistance. Furthermore, non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections pose an incr …

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41282059/

Using "in extracto cryo-EM", we visualize ribosomes in mammalian lysates, including RRL. "Hibernating" ribosomes carry an extended set of proteins that protect functional centers. These include elongation factor eEF2, LARP1 implicated in mTOR signaling, eIF5A etc. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Check out our paper on nucleosome positioning by our favorite remodeler INO80 in a collaboration with the Bartholomew Lab, finally out in MolCell 🧬

kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

#Ribosome #hibernation 🧪

My quote of the day

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.

H. L. Mencken

Colliding ribosomes signal cellular stress LMU researchers uncover the mechanism by which ribosomes raise alarms in the cell.

📣Publication alert!
A team led by Roland Beckmann shows: Ribosome collisions activate the kinase ZAK and thus trigger the ribotoxic stress response — a key mechanism of the cellular stress defense. More about it here👇
www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...

ZAK activation at the collided ribosome - Nature The kinase ZAK is activated at collided ribosomes to mediate the ribotoxic stress response.

Check out our latest work on how collided ribosomes activate the MAP3K ZAK! 💫

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

A fun collaboration with @beckmannlab.bsky.social @doubleshuang.bsky.social

Evolutionary Flexibility of Ribosome Biogenesis in Bacteria Abstract. Ribosomes are essential for protein synthesis and require ribosome biogenesis factors for assembly. To uncover the evolutionary diversity of ribo

Evolutionary Flexibility of Ribosome Biogenesis in Bacteria | Molecular Biology and Evolution | Oxford Academic https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/42/11/msaf288/8340222?login=false

How does the kinase ZAK sense ribosome collisions? Find out in our latest collaboration with the @greenlab.bsky.social @doubleshuang.bsky.social @Vienna Huso: 1/4
rdcu.be/eRmJl
#ribosome #cryoEM #LMU #JHMI

Bacteriologists - save the date for the next BacNet meeting in September 2026 #BacNet26 organised by @lalouxlab.bsky.social

Registration is open for "The complex life of #RNA" 2026 @embl.org in Heidelberg!

Excellent invited speakers and 30 short talks and even more flash talks selected from the abstracts!

Job advertisement

Are you looking to establish yourself as a scientific group leader? BRIC is recruiting 1-2 junior group leaders to join our research centre in the heart of Copenhagen.
See more at www.bric.ku.dk

Please repost and get in touch if you are curious.

Two M. tuberculosis RelE toxins don’t cut mRNA, they slice 16S rRNA itself, shutting down translation in a totally unexpected way, new study reveals.
A big leap in understanding TB’s survival tricks and new angles for therapies.

📖 shorturl.at/Z8MVX
✍️ @genevauxpierre.bsky.social & coll.
#MicroSky

Overcoming the eIF2α Brake in Human Cell-Derived Translation Systems Cell-free translation from human cells is a powerful platform for studying mammalian gene expression and building synthetic biology tools, but productivity is often curtailed by inhibitory phosphoryla...

Excited about Kolya Aleksashin's new work, enabling preparation of active in vitro translation systems from primary human cells and difficult-to-edit cells (fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes). This opens new opportunities to probe mechanisms of translation regulation.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Termination of the integrated stress response Stress responses enable cells to detect, adapt to, and survive challenges. The benefit of these signaling pathways depends on their reversibility. The integrated stress response (ISR) is elicited by p...

Termination of the integrated stress response | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🎉Thrilled to share that our lab has been awarded an ERC Synergy Grant @erc.europa.eu! Excited for amazing collaborations with the Pertschy (Uni Graz), Henras (CBI Toulouse), and Woodson (Johns Hopkins) labs.
#ERCSyG #GeneCenter #LMU #UniGraz #CNRS #JohnsHopkins

Congrats Roland, Susan and team!

codon usage About the Conference Codon usage bias—the preference for certain synonymous codons—is a key factor in genome regulation. Codon usage and synonymous codon mutations have been shown to influence gene ex...

Next Codon Usage Meeting, May 31st to June 3rd, 2026 in Montreal right after the RNA Society Meeting. The list of speakers will be up soon.

sites.google.com/view/codonus...

Great stuff! Congrats!!