Vikram Alva

Thank you, Daniela, @danielabarilla.bsky.social, for a wonderful commentary! 🤗🤗 More spotlight on the Asgards and their chromatin! ❤️ #archaea #chromatin

YouTube video by MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Introduction to microbial surface layers (S-layers)

Also see the associated primer video on S-layers made by the @mrclmb.bsky.social Visual Aids department Konstantinos Alexandrou and Shraddha Nayak!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgSf...

Pleased to share our review on S-layers with @bupbuse.bsky.social, Andriko von Kügelgen, and @tbharat-lab.bsky.social, where we explore recent advances and argue that deeper insight into S-layers is key to deciphering microbial interactions and community organization. @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social

We have wondered what a complex archaeal cell might look like ever since 2014. It’s been a long road (and the journey is far from over), but it’s a good time to pause for breath and look. These Asgard archaeal cells are a surprise! And that is the joy of being a cell biologist.

An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments

Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!

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

What a gem from @dudinlab.bsky.social @gautamdey.bsky.social @centriolelab.bsky.social in Cell! Expansion microscopy atlas of >200 eukaryotes comparing cytoskeletal architectures revealing structures not seen before. Stunning visualisation! Exactly the kind of transformative cell biology we need.

🚨Our collaboration with @centriolelab.bsky.social & @gautamdey.bsky.social is out today in @cp-cell.bsky.social
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Fruit flies are more than pests! Humans share 60% of their genome with them. @luisapallares.bsky.social busts myths about how these tiny creatures can tell us about human diseases. Watch Luisa's full video here: www.fml.tuebingen.mpg.de/71433/videos #BiologyMyths #Drosophila #Genomics

Serial innovations by Asgard archaea shaped the DNA replication machinery of the early eukaryotic ancestor - Nature Ecology & Evolution Phylogenetic and biochemical analyses show a diversity of components of the DNA replication machinery in different Asgard archaea that contributed to the eukaryotic DNA replication machinery.

Glad to share our paper out today @NatureEcoEvo: “Serial innovations by Asgard archaea shaped the DNA replication machinery of the early eukaryotic ancestor”. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #microsky #archaeasky

Our Pyrodictium cannulae paper is out in its final form! Cannulae assemble into calcium-stabilized tubular filaments stable at 100 °C—a unique archaeal cell–cell connection. Led brilliantly by @mikesleutel.bsky.social & @vinceconticello.bsky.social.

www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64120-8

Look at this nice cover: beautiful archaella, image made by @sshamphavi.bsky.social !

Thanks also to Marta Rodeiguez for keeping the EM im shape in @ottlab.bsky.social lab!

At @biologyunifreiburg.bsky.social at @uni-freiburg.de @sfb1381.bsky.social @cibss.bsky.social

So happy to see my first first-author paper published! 🎈
A short thread on how Ectocarpus and its TE secrets have kept me busy lately:

rdcu.be/eITQH

EXCITING NEWS!! We're searching for a new professor colleague at the Biozentrum🇨🇭. Ideal candidates are exploring novel biological questions with structure, biophysics, or high-resolution imaging. 🧪 🧶🧬 🔬

The call closes Nov 3. Please get in touch if you would like more information. Come join us! 👩‍🔬🤓

New Insights Into Bacterial Motility and DNA Transfer:
a small press on our discovery of ComFB signaling family by @claussenarne.bsky.social @hhu.de

www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
w/ @mygalperin.bsky.social @thethormannden.bsky.social
@cmfi.bsky.social @mibinet.bsky.social @sfb1381.bsky.social

Registration deadline for @embo.org workshop EvoChromo extended until September 30.

meetings.embo.org/event/24-evo...

Busting myths with @jweir.bsky.social. Did you know you don't inherit exactly 1/4 of your DNA from each grandparent? Or that fertility issues can affect young people, too? Find out more: www.fml.tuebingen.mpg.de/71433/videos #BiologyMyths

Rewiring of chromatin regulation underlies the evolution of brown algal multicellularity Chromatin structure plays a central role in regulating transcription, genome stability, and epigenetic inheritance in eukaryotes. Much of our understanding of chromatin architecture and histone post-t...

Super glad to contribute to this study on chromatin evolution in brown algae! Special thanks to Jeromine Vigneau, @borglab.bsky.social and Susana Coelho for making this happen.

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

We discovered a new family of c-di-NMP receptors, widespread in bacteria & regulating🦠motility @pnas.org

A great collab. w/ @mygalperin.bsky.social @vikramalva.bsky.social @thethormannden.bsky.social

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

@hhu.de @cmfi.bsky.social
@sfb1381.bsky.social
@mibinet.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/...

Filamentous growth, cell envelope architecture, and surface appendages of a member of the Chloroflexota, Litorilinea aerophila Litorilinea aerophila, a filamentous bacterium of the phylum Chloroflexota (class Caldilineae), exhibits unique morphological and cell envelope features that challenge traditional bacterial models. In...

Who would have thought I would ever publish an article about a bacterium?
But here it is, but of course only because Litorilinea aerophilum actually has an archaellum!

Here is what we learned about its cell structure and other surface appendages:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Archaea produce peptidoglycan hydrolases that kill bacteria Archaea regularly interact with bacteria but reports of archaea killing bacteria are very rare. This study shows that many archaea encode peptidoglycan hydrolases, which specifically target bacterial ...

Archaea are often surrounded by bacteria. But is there ever active conflict between the two? Can archaea kill bacteria? If so, how do they do it?

Work by @romainstrock.bsky.social shows that some archaea can kill bacteria by secreting peptidoglycan hydrolases. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Melbournevirus encodes a shorter H2B-H2A doublet histone variant that forms structurally distinct nucleosome structures Nature Communications - Melbournevirus encodes a conserved shorter H2B-H2A doublet variant. Here the authors report a cryo-EM structure of a nucleosome-like particle reconstituted with viral H4-H3...

our paper is online! rdcu.be/exXBX . Who would have thought that some #giantviruses not only have #histones, but even histone variants that make weird #nucleosomes (pdb 9CVT). Fantastic work from Ale Villalta and Chelsea Toner, with Hugo Bisio @molbiolgv.bsky.social and Chantal Abergel

Strategies and mechanisms of contact-dependent predation in bacteria Predatory bacteria kill other bacteria to acquire nutrients. Among diverse strategies to kill and feed on prey, contact-dependent predation stands out…

#MicroSky Summer read!

Predatory bacteria kill and eat other bacteria. Their deadly actions come in many flavors, often via direct physical contact between predator &
prey 🧛

How do they do it?
Our review 📖 @coralietesseur.bsky.social @ysantin.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

And the story is published now!🍾
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Open access link: rdcu.be/exnOc

Many years in the making, great collaboration with @archaellum.bsky.social & @tunglejic.bsky.social

Thanks @ukri.org BBSRC & @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding, reviewers & editor!! 🙏
#microsky #archaeasky

Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung has committed €7 million to the EMBL Imaging Centre.

That means more opportunities to create groundbreaking, next-gen imaging technologies and provide the necessary support so European life scientists can benefit.

www.embl.org/news/connect...

Hassan Salem Interview with Hassan Salem, who studies beetles and their microbial partners at the Max Planck Institute for Biology.

Grateful to the folks @CurrentBiology.bsky.social for the fun Q&A!

Come for the beetles, stay for the symbionts — and forgive the basketball detour 🪲🦠🏀

www.cell.com/current-biol...

🎉Congratulations to @caroleduchene.bsky.social, recipient of the 2025 "Grandes Avancées françaises en biologie" from @academiesciences.bsky.social for her research on how microalgae navigate ocean depths. Learn more: s.gwdg.de/FxdLh8
#Microalgae #ScienceAwards
Photos © Académie des sciences

EMBO Gold Medal 2025 awarded to Tanmay Bharat and David Bikard – Press releases – EMBO Every year, EMBO awards the Gold Medal to group leaders in the early stages of their careers for their remarkable contributions to the life sciences in

EMBO is delighted to announce that this year the EMBO Gold Medal is awarded to Tanmay Bharat @tbharat-lab.bsky.social ‬ @mrclmb.bsky.social and David Bikard @dbikard.bsky.social @pasteur.fr for their remarkable contributions to the #LifeSciences.

www.embo.org/press-releas...
#award 🧪

Now online - the Review "Histone-mediated chromatin organization in prokaryotes and viruses" from @samuelschwab.bsky.social‬ @vikramalva.bsky.social @damelab.bsky.social‬ and co.

#histones #DNAorganization #chromatin #eukaryogenesis

Read it here 👉 authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...