Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D. @ackrusen.bsky.social · 1d

New paper from the Voss lab!

RLip, a secreted lipase, helps pathogenic Rickettsia thrive inside host cells. Grateful our work in the Goley lab building a R. parkeri transposon library could support this discovery. 🦠 🔬

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Pathogenic rickettsiae encode a secreted lipase that facilitates intracytosolic colonization in host cells

Key cellular processes for the rickettsial obligate intracellular lifestyle, including internalization by phagocytosis, regulation of intracellular trafficking, and evasion of lysosomal destruction to...

journals.plos.org

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Scott Myers @smyers20.bsky.social · 16d

New PubPeer comment on "Efficacy of oral folinic acid supplementation in children with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial" (Panda et al, 2024). Concerns about significant errors. #folinicacid #leucovorin, #autism

pubpeer.com/publications...

PubPeer - Efficacy of oral folinic acid supplementation in children wi...

There are comments on PubPeer for publication: Efficacy of oral folinic acid supplementation in children with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (2024)

pubpeer.com

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

ASM @asm.org · 18d

In #mBio, dive into story behind the 1989 discovery of Helicobacter pylori CagA, the first tumorigenic bacterial protein. This article recounts the early steps in the investigative process and relates some of the unexpected discoveries that ensued. asm.social/2C1

Gel of the initial cloned cagA product in λgt11 on 20 July 1989.

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Joachim Goedhart @joachimgoedhart.bsky.social · 27d

If you want to get started, here's a tutorial that I made:
github.com/JoachimGoedh...
Reach out if you have questions or want advice!!

GitHub - JoachimGoedhart/A_Shiny_start: A beginners tutorial on Shiny apps

A beginners tutorial on Shiny apps. Contribute to JoachimGoedhart/A_Shiny_start development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation @laskerfdn.bsky.social · 27d

2025 #LaskerAward winner Lucy Shapiro asked: How do living organisms translate information from a linear genetic code into three-dimensional structures?
And with that, she broke open a new field. 🧪
@pnas.org
#Lasker2025 #systemsbiology

The Lasker~Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science awarded to Lucy Shapiro | PNAS

Scientists can contribute to society in numerous ways. Some scientists discover new biological principles and found entirely new fields. Some scien...

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation @laskerfdn.bsky.social · Sep 11

www.the-scientist.com/lasker-award... 🧪
#devbio #LaskerAward #Lasker2025 #LaskerLaureate

Lasker Award for Uncovering Spatial Organization in Bacterial Cells

Lucy Shapiro received this year’s Lasker Special Achievement Award for her discovery of how bacteria use genetic circuits to encode three-dimensional cellular life.

www.the-scientist.com

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · Sep 11

Some awesome, fundamental work here: Lucy Shapiro, on bacterial cell differentiation, Dirk Görlich and Steve McKnight on IDRs & protein gels in nuclear pores and biomolecular condensates, & Michael Welsh, Jesús González & Paul Negulescu, (overdue) for bench to bedside work on cystic fibrosis 🧪 1/2

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Sep 11

This year's Lasker Awards went to scientists who studied the wiring diagram of life, a new state of biological matter, and a potent treatment for cystic fibrosis. Here's my story with Gina Kolata. Gift link: nyti.ms/4mZlH1F

nyti.ms

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Sep 11

This year's Lasker Awards went to scientists who studied the wiring diagram of life, a new state of biological matter, and a potent treatment for cystic fibrosis. Here's my story with Gina Kolata. Gift link: nyti.ms/4mZlH1F

nyti.ms

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · Sep 5

Regulation by RNAs might be even more extensive than we thought. Many enzymes and other proteins not previously considered as RNA-binding proteins do seem to fall into this class & might have their activity regulated by RNA.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Rethinking RNA-binding proteins: Riboregulation challenges prevailing views

The advent of system-wide proteomic approaches has largely expanded the number of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). This review discusses how recent discoveries are transforming our understanding of biolog...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

George O'Toole (he/him/his) @geiselbiofilm.bsky.social · Sep 5

New in JB: Gbolahan, Saxena et al. link membrane stress, the Rcs stress-response pathway and a block in chromosomal replication to the targeting of the DnaA initiator, likely via the ClpP protease.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Matthew Welch @mattwelchlab.bsky.social · Aug 22

Our newest preprint on bioRxiv ‪@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social "Divergent Rickettsia species exhibit distinct mechanisms of actin-based motility" reveals surprising evolutionary flexibility in the mechanisms of Rickettsia actin-based motility www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Animalcules @bacteriophile.bsky.social · Aug 29

journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

#microsky

Analysis of (p)ppGpp metabolism and signaling using a dynamic luminescent reporter

Author summary Most bacteria adapt to stressful conditions such as nutrient limitation by synthesizing a signaling molecule, known as ppGpp, that consists of a hyper-phosphorylated GTP. Synthesis of p...

journals.plos.org

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · Aug 27

The 2024 rankings of bacterial threats

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Joe Wanford @jwanford.bsky.social · Aug 26

🚨 Job alert 🚨

I’m recruiting two postdoctoral research associates to join my lab at KCL to study how #Klebsiella pneumoniae regulates virulence factor expression during infection! #klebclub

Mol Micro: tinyurl.com/mtrwtx5e

Infection: tinyurl.com/2s3u8ca2

Deadline: 21st September.

Postdoctoral Research Associate in Molecular Microbiology

www.kcl.ac.uk

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Michael Deghelt @michaeldeghelt.bsky.social · Jul 29

#microsky
We challenge the long-standing view that peptidoglycan alone protects cells from bursting.

Our study shows that the periplasm — enclosed by OM–PG connections — acts as a pressure buffer essential for osmoprotection in Gram-negative bacteria.

📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Peptidoglycan–outer membrane attachment generates periplasmic pressure to prevent lysis in Gram-negative bacteria - Nature Microbiology

Outer membrane attachment to peptidoglycan enables periplasmic pressure to build up and counter cytoplasmic turgor pressure, preventing lysis during osmotic challenges in Escherichia coli.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Mitch Guttman @mitchguttman.bsky.social · Jul 26

Many proteins bind RNA, yet we still don’t know what RNAs most bind because methods map one RBP at a time. In @cp-cell.bsky.social, with the Jovanovic lab, we describe SPIDR – a method for mapping the RNA binding sites of dozens of RBPs in a single experiment. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Ilan Schwartz @germhuntermd.bsky.social · Jul 20

Update on North American tick-borne diseases and how to diagnose them

Kyle Rodino, Eli Theel, Bobby Pritt

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Distribution of tick borne diseases in the US

Algorithm for diagnosing tick borne infections

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Vivek Mutalik @vivekmutalik.bsky.social · Jul 17

#phage #phagesky

A bacterial host factor confines phage localization for excluding the infected compartment through cell division: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

A bacterial host factor confines phage localization for excluding the infected compartment through cell division

Pollak Fiyaksel et al. describe YjbH, a helix-turn-helix DNA-binding protein in Bacillus subtilis, conserved among gram-positive bacteria. YjbH binds the incoming phage genome, confines phage producti...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Laura Eme @lauraeme.bsky.social · Jun 22

Excited to share our new paper in @cellreports.bsky.social that reshapes our understanding of chromosome organization's deep evolutionary roots! Our work dives into the origins of the machinery that structures our very genomes.

🔗: doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

#Genomics #Evolution #CellBiology #LECA

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

anna brogan @apbrogan.bsky.social · Jun 17

Very happy to share that a large part of my thesis work is out today: B. subtilis uses the second messenger c-di-AMP to modulate its turgor pressure in response to the state of its cell envelope. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cyclic-di-AMP modulates cellular turgor in response to defects in bacterial cell wall synthesis - Nature Microbiology

Brogan et al. uncover a signalling pathway in which levels of the nucleotide second messenger c-di-AMP increase in response to defects in cell wall synthesis. This regulatory pathway decreases turgor ...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Science Magazine @science.org · Jun 2

Ancient remains reveal how a pathogen began to use lice—not ticks—to infect humans, according to a new study in Science. scim.ag/3Zbkri6

Ancient Borrelia genomes document the evolutionary history of louse-borne relapsing fever

Several bacterial pathogens have transitioned from tick-borne to louse-borne transmission, which often involves genome reduction and increasing virulence. However, the timing of such transitions remai...

scim.ag

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Rafeeque Mavoor @rafeeque.com · May 13

🧵5 Top Free Alternatives to BioRender for Scientific Illustrations!

These five websites offer free scientific illustrations for biologists. Great for presentations, research papers and other research communication needs.

Save and share the post!

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

K.T. Elliott @ktelliottmicro.bsky.social · May 9

I know you all know this, but apparently it needs to be said that basic science is a NECESSARY PRECURSOR to translational science

Dustin Rubenstein @dustinrubenstein.com · May 9

NSF to ONLY fund research in five areas: artificial intelligence, quantum information science, biotechnology, nuclear energy, and translational science. Can this be happening?

www.science.org/content/arti...

NSF slashes number of ‘rotators’ and well-paid managers as part of restructuring

Smaller future budgets will require fewer people, NSF official tells staff

www.science.org

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · Mar 20

"Why don't you buy a new centrifuge"

Because everyone knows that any appliances in that shade of yellow will outlive you and your entire family, look at it

An eppendorf centrifuge in that specific nicotine-yellow color from the 80s. It's the exact color as the old fridge in your garage that you keep sodas in that your parents replaced in 1997, and which has outlived a half-dozen of its replacements.

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Reposted by Andrew Krusenstjerna, Ph.D.

Dirk-Jan Scheffers 🟥 @dirkscheffers.bsky.social · Mar 19

"This prompted us to name this family the Bacterial elongated entwined Rail-like protein (BeeR)."
yeah right 🍻
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

A family of bacterial actin homologs forms a three-stranded tubular structure | PNAS

The cytoskeleton is crucial for cell organization and movement. In Eukaryotes, it largely consists of the protein actin, that forms a double-strand...

doi.org

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