Alberto HCA

Emergence of antiphage functions from random sequence libraries reveals mechanisms of gene birth | PNAS De novo gene birth—the emergence of genes from nongenic sequences—drives biological innovation, yet its adaptive potential remains poorly understoo...

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

#phagesky #phage defence #synbio #microsky

Phages communicate across species to shape microbial ecosystems Arbitrium is a communication system that helps bacteriophages decide between lysis and lysogeny via secreted peptides. In arbitrium, the AimP peptide binds its cognate AimR receptor to repress aimX ex...

Our latest work reveals that arbitrium phages cross-communicate across species! These tiny viruses “listen” to signals from others, coordinating lysis-lysogeny decisions across species.
Original idea from @albertomarina.bsky.social and, as usual, he was right.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Trade-offs between phage resistance and conjugative ability shape the ecological and evolutionary response of a multidrug resistance plasmid to plasmid-dependent phage Phage therapy is a promising alternative to antibiotics to treat multidrug resistant infections. Plasmid dependent phages (PDPs) are particularly attractive as therapeutics because they can both kill ...

New pre-print www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Plasmid-dependent phage (PDPs) are ubiquitous, but the selective pressures that they impose on plasmids are not well understood. Project led by Daniel Cazares in collaboration with @brockhurstlab.bsky.social!
#phagesky#microsky

Pre- and postantibiotic epoch: The historical spread of antimicrobial resistance Plasmids are now the primary vectors of antimicrobial resistance, but our understanding of how human industrialisation of antibiotics influenced their evolution is limited by a paucity of data predati...

Imagine we could travel back in time ⏪⌛️to explore the world of bacterial pathogens before humans discovered and industrialised antibiotics

We just did that to study the history of #AMR spread @science.org
doi.org/10.1126/scie...

If you like time travel & biology, this 🧵is for you👇

Creative experiences and brain clocks - Nature Communications Creative experiences such as dance, music, drawing, and strategy video games might preserve brain health. The authors show that regular practice or short training in these activities is linked to brains that look younger and work more efficiently.

Creativity keeps your brain young 🎸

Phages with a broad host range are common across ecosystems - Nature Microbiology Proximity-ligation-based sequencing from 111 samples and 5 environments reveals that a substantial proportion of phages infect multiple species.

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

#phagesky #phage

Mutations in the circadian cycle drive adaptive plasticity in cyanobacteria | PNAS Circadian clocks allow organisms to anticipate daily fluctuations in light and temperature, but how this anticipatory role promotes adaptation to d...

I am so proud to be part of this work, that we initiated Fernando de la Cruz and I, when he was on sabbatical in my lab in 2009... it took so much time for this achievement, 1000 thanks to Raúl Fernández-López! this brought me back to my PhD on cyanobacteria genetics. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Hydrogen sulfide production distinguishes Salmonella from close relatives, but its biological significance remains obscure. This study uncovers the secret: Salmonella uses hydrogen sulfide production as a weapon to outcompete E. coli and gain a foothold in the gut.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

El próximo 5 de septiembre en nuestro #47congresosebbm tendrá lugar la entrega del Premio Fundación Lilly a la Mejor Tesis Doctoral en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular a Alberto Hipólito Carrillo por el trabajo de su tesis.

https://f.mtr.cool/rnstpoiucs

New paper out!

Dissecting pOXA-48 fitness effects in clinical Enterobacterales using plasmid-wide CRISPRi screens Nature Communications - This study investigates the effects of the carbapenem resistance plasmid pOXA-48 in clinical enterobacteria. Using CRISPRi screens, the authors revealed that the...

This work is finally published! 🥳🧬
Plasmids are associated with very variable fitness costs in their different bacterial hosts. But, what is the contribution of each of the plasmid-genes in these host-specific effects? Study led by
@jorgesastred.bsky.social, @sanmillan.bsky.social and myself! 1/14

Our new manuscript is out! A bit of everything cool:

Plasmids ✅
Insertion Sequences ✅
AMR Evolution ✅
Microbial Communities ✅
Databases analyses ✅
Mathematical modeling ✅

See the scientific thread below of Jorge Sastre, who has brilliantly led this work with @palomarodera.bsky.social

Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through Insertion Sequence-mediated gene inactivation Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a major threat to public health. Plasmids are mobile genetic elements that can rapidly spread across bacterial populations, promoting the dissemination of AMR genes i...

New paper out! 🔈🔈📣📣

Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through Insertion Sequence-mediated gene inactivation.

Combining experimental and computational approaches, we unveil how two of the most prevalent bacterial MGE accelerate the evolution of AMR. 🧵👇🏻

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

1/16 New pre-print from the Sternberg Lab!
We uncover how temperate phages can use RNA-guided transcription factors to remodel the flagellar composition of their bacterial host and enhance their fitness.
Find the preprint and full story here: tinyurl.com/mshwjd77

Do plasmids evolve faster 🐇, slower 🐢, or just like chromosomes 🧬?

In our new paper, we tackled this question using theory, simulations, bioinformatics, and experiments!

👇 Check out all the details in Paula’s thread!

Hint: 🐇 (most of the time)

graphical abstract of the article the extended mobility of plasmids

Here's our new broad review on the extended mobility of plasmids, about all mechanisms driving and limiting their transfer. From conjugation to conduction, phage-plasmids to hitchers, molecular to evolutionary dynamics, ecology to biotech. The state of affairs. 1/9 academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Experimental evolution in an era of molecular manipulation - Nature Reviews Genetics In this Review, Ascensao and Desai discuss how methodological advances in genotype and phenotype manipulation are transforming experimental evolution approaches and providing new insights into the und...

Experimental evolution in an era of molecular manipulation
#ExperimentalEvolution #evolution #evoSky

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

Great work from great people! Congrats @cserna.bsky.social 🤟🏻

Functional amyloid proteins confer defence against predatory bacteria Nature - Escherichia coli uses curli fibres, oligomers of the functional amyloid CsgA, as a barrier to protect against the predatory bacteria Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and Myxococcus xanthus in a...

Words cannot describe how excited I am to share the findings from the second half of my postdoc in @aaronwhiteley.bsky.social's lab where we discover that bacteria use functional amyloids to defend themselves from predatory bacteria. rdcu.be/euu5Y. See thread for details on this epic adventure 1/.

Great work!!!! Universal congratulations to all the team!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Our paper demonstrating that within-species warfare interactions are ecologically important on human skin is now published in Nature Micro! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🦠 Nuestro #articulodelmes habla sobre cómo los integrones móviles codifican sistemas de defensa contra fagos de la mano del grupo investigador liderado por el Dr. José Antonio Escudero

📄https://f.mtr.cool/qxwueostwp

Gracias pablo!!! ☺️

Super honored to get the Best PhD Thesis award from @sebbm.bsky.social 🎓✨ Big thanks to everyone who supported me along the way. Huge congrats to all the other amazing winners too! 🙌

Flagellar motility and the mucus environment influence aggregation-mediated antibiotic tolerance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in chronic lung infection | mBio Antibiotic treatment failure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection is a key driver of mortality in muco-obstructive airway diseases (MADs). The bacterial mechanisms that contribute to antibiotic toleran...

For our first post on Bluesky, we're excited to share our recent work published in mBio @asm.org! Led by PhD student @madeofmicrobes.bsky.social, we show that flagellar motility and interactions with the mucus environment influence Pseudomonas antibiotic tolerance.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Mobile integrons encode phage defense systems Integrons are bacterial genetic elements that capture, stockpile, and modulate the expression of genes encoded in integron cassettes. Mobile integrons (MIs) are borne on plasmids, acting as a vehicle ...

🧫🦠🔬🧬 @science.org Mobile integrons encode phage defense systems | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@jaescudero.bsky.social @albertohca.bsky.social et al.
#microbiology #phage #immunity #phagesky #MicroSky

What a milestone!!! I’m really glad I got to add my two cents to the growing knowledge about integrons — this paper is totally worth checking out!

Effect of oxygen on antimicrobial resistance genes from a one health perspective Bacteria must face and adapt to a variety of physicochemical conditions in the environment and during infection. A key condition is the concentration …

Can resistance genes really hold their breath like pros? 🤔🤿

Outstanding work by Laura, Amalia, Nico and Ester from @jaescudero.bsky.social lab in collab with @sanmillan.bsky.social, Fernando Baquero and Rafael Cantón.

Dive into our latest paper to find out! 👇🏼
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Excited to share the first preprint from my lab, collaborating with the fantastic @sanmillan.bsky.social 's lab, led by the amazing Jorge Sastre. We've demonstrated how insertion sequences encoded in plasmids promote bacterial adaptation. This project has been incredibly fun!