Asaf Levy
@asaflevylab.bsky.social
Interested in computational biology, microbial toxins, plant microbiome, and microbial adaptation to different hosts.
PI at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
https://www.asaflevylab.com/
Expressing my personal opinions.
PI at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
https://www.asaflevylab.com/
Expressing my personal opinions.
Pinned
Asaf Levy
@asaflevylab.bsky.social
· Oct 22
Systematic discovery of antibacterial and antifungal bacterial toxins - Nature Microbiology
Genome sequence mining and computational analyses lead to the discovery and functional characterization of conserved bacterial toxins with activity against bacteria and fungi.
www.nature.com
Several years of work with several great collaborators, that combined computational biology, molecular microbiology, biochemistry, structural biology and mycology assay culminated in today's publication on discovery of novel bacterial toxins:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Some virologists will miss the Covid times like the deserts miss the rain
December 24, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Some virologists will miss the Covid times like the deserts miss the rain
Are you looking for a reason for optimism in 2026?
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that global coal production and consumption levels flatten.
www.iea.org/reports/coal...
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that global coal production and consumption levels flatten.
www.iea.org/reports/coal...
December 21, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Are you looking for a reason for optimism in 2026?
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that global coal production and consumption levels flatten.
www.iea.org/reports/coal...
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that global coal production and consumption levels flatten.
www.iea.org/reports/coal...
Happy holidays to our friends, collaborators, and even to reviewer #2 from the Levy Lab
December 20, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Happy holidays to our friends, collaborators, and even to reviewer #2 from the Levy Lab
Inconceivable!
R.I.P Rob Reiner.
You brought rare magic to life.
R.I.P Rob Reiner.
You brought rare magic to life.
December 15, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Inconceivable!
R.I.P Rob Reiner.
You brought rare magic to life.
R.I.P Rob Reiner.
You brought rare magic to life.
Once a year or so flashfloods carry rain water to the Judea desert, below sea level. If you're lucky enough, as my kids and I were yesterday, you can watch them 'live streaming'.
The majestic Tze'elim waterfall with its natural upper infinity pool Birkat Zfira.
The majestic Tze'elim waterfall with its natural upper infinity pool Birkat Zfira.
December 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Once a year or so flashfloods carry rain water to the Judea desert, below sea level. If you're lucky enough, as my kids and I were yesterday, you can watch them 'live streaming'.
The majestic Tze'elim waterfall with its natural upper infinity pool Birkat Zfira.
The majestic Tze'elim waterfall with its natural upper infinity pool Birkat Zfira.
Pretty cool!
Interkingdom sensing of fungal tyrosol promotes Yersinia pseudotuberculosis antifungal T6SS activity in the murine gut. The effector acts as a chitinase.
Tyrosol acts as a quorum sensing molecule in species like Candida albicans,
From Xihui Shen's lab.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Interkingdom sensing of fungal tyrosol promotes Yersinia pseudotuberculosis antifungal T6SS activity in the murine gut. The effector acts as a chitinase.
Tyrosol acts as a quorum sensing molecule in species like Candida albicans,
From Xihui Shen's lab.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Interkingdom sensing of fungal tyrosol promotes bacterial antifungal T6SS activity in the murine gut - Nature Microbiology
Yersinia pseudotuberculosis senses fungal tyrosol signalling through EnvZ–OmpR which triggers T6SS activation and antifungal effector release to reduce fungal competitors in the mouse gut.
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Pretty cool!
Interkingdom sensing of fungal tyrosol promotes Yersinia pseudotuberculosis antifungal T6SS activity in the murine gut. The effector acts as a chitinase.
Tyrosol acts as a quorum sensing molecule in species like Candida albicans,
From Xihui Shen's lab.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Interkingdom sensing of fungal tyrosol promotes Yersinia pseudotuberculosis antifungal T6SS activity in the murine gut. The effector acts as a chitinase.
Tyrosol acts as a quorum sensing molecule in species like Candida albicans,
From Xihui Shen's lab.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The dead sea with old friends
December 6, 2025 at 12:25 PM
The dead sea with old friends
Sequencing >1000 breast cancer tissues!!
This has not been done since...
probably last month's Nature issue
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This has not been done since...
probably last month's Nature issue
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Whole-genome landscapes of 1,364 breast cancers - Nature
Whole-genome and transcriptome analysis of 1,364 cases of breast cancer from South Korea broadens our understanding of breast cancer biology and reveals genomic features that connect tumour ...
www.nature.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Sequencing >1000 breast cancer tissues!!
This has not been done since...
probably last month's Nature issue
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This has not been done since...
probably last month's Nature issue
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Fantastic and exciting work of Lianet and Dekel from our department on plastic eating bacteria!!
(Image credit: Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
December 1, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Fantastic and exciting work of Lianet and Dekel from our department on plastic eating bacteria!!
(Image credit: Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Marathon #18.
This time in Eilat mountains.
This time in Eilat mountains.
November 29, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Marathon #18.
This time in Eilat mountains.
This time in Eilat mountains.
When I grow up I promise to beocme the guy who is the 1st to fill out a doodle form with 200 scheduling options
(and not the last one, who selects from 3 consensus options)
(and not the last one, who selects from 3 consensus options)
November 19, 2025 at 5:21 PM
When I grow up I promise to beocme the guy who is the 1st to fill out a doodle form with 200 scheduling options
(and not the last one, who selects from 3 consensus options)
(and not the last one, who selects from 3 consensus options)
Me to the students in the seminar course:
divide a multi-panel figures to several simple slides (a paper and a talk are not the same), use only large fonts also for people in the back (axes included), clear titles.
Me in conferences: I wish I could recruit professors to attend my undergrad seminar
divide a multi-panel figures to several simple slides (a paper and a talk are not the same), use only large fonts also for people in the back (axes included), clear titles.
Me in conferences: I wish I could recruit professors to attend my undergrad seminar
November 10, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Me to the students in the seminar course:
divide a multi-panel figures to several simple slides (a paper and a talk are not the same), use only large fonts also for people in the back (axes included), clear titles.
Me in conferences: I wish I could recruit professors to attend my undergrad seminar
divide a multi-panel figures to several simple slides (a paper and a talk are not the same), use only large fonts also for people in the back (axes included), clear titles.
Me in conferences: I wish I could recruit professors to attend my undergrad seminar
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@soreklab.bsky.social Sorek lab does it again! Such a cool signal to specifically detect the event of genome degradation by a phage
@soreklab.bsky.social Sorek lab does it again! Such a cool signal to specifically detect the event of genome degradation by a phage
Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides
Phages often degrade the genome of their bacterial host to individual nucleotides and use these nucleotides to build their own genome. In this study, we describe a bacterial defense system that direct...
www.biorxiv.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:22 PM
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@soreklab.bsky.social Sorek lab does it again! Such a cool signal to specifically detect the event of genome degradation by a phage
@soreklab.bsky.social Sorek lab does it again! Such a cool signal to specifically detect the event of genome degradation by a phage
November 7, 2025 at 11:42 AM
@sheilaroitman.bsky.social from Detlef Weigel's lab @plantevolution.bsky.social presents a cool and innovative talk on the uncharacterized members of the plant microbiome: phages!!
So many bacterial 16S studies but very few people study the plant phagome
#PMS2025
So many bacterial 16S studies but very few people study the plant phagome
#PMS2025
November 7, 2025 at 11:13 AM
@sheilaroitman.bsky.social from Detlef Weigel's lab @plantevolution.bsky.social presents a cool and innovative talk on the uncharacterized members of the plant microbiome: phages!!
So many bacterial 16S studies but very few people study the plant phagome
#PMS2025
So many bacterial 16S studies but very few people study the plant phagome
#PMS2025
Reposted by Asaf Levy
Elisa Korenblum, The root microbiome of wild grass populations from arid to Mediterranean regions as a Reservoir for Drought-Adapted Bacteria
#TreesOfInterest TOI
#PMS2025
#TreesOfInterest TOI
#PMS2025
November 6, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Elisa Korenblum, The root microbiome of wild grass populations from arid to Mediterranean regions as a Reservoir for Drought-Adapted Bacteria
#TreesOfInterest TOI
#PMS2025
#TreesOfInterest TOI
#PMS2025
Thanks Akos.
It would be great if other labs will follow up on this to decipher why plant microbiota are depleted from mobile genetic elements and defense aystem.
Do plants protect the microbes from MGEs?
It would be great if other labs will follow up on this to decipher why plant microbiota are depleted from mobile genetic elements and defense aystem.
Do plants protect the microbes from MGEs?
OK, that was not finishing yet, Asaf now switches to insect connected microbes and the yellow pigmented Chryseobacterium isolate and in vivo virulence of the strain (in hemolymph)
= new model to study (insect) virulence of plant microbiota
#PMS2025
= new model to study (insect) virulence of plant microbiota
#PMS2025
November 6, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Thanks Akos.
It would be great if other labs will follow up on this to decipher why plant microbiota are depleted from mobile genetic elements and defense aystem.
Do plants protect the microbes from MGEs?
It would be great if other labs will follow up on this to decipher why plant microbiota are depleted from mobile genetic elements and defense aystem.
Do plants protect the microbes from MGEs?
@finkel-lab.bsky.social and I went on a beautiful morning run in hilly Antequera (south Spain).
Too much cerveza and jamon iberico made us heavy.
#plantmicrobesymposium
Too much cerveza and jamon iberico made us heavy.
#plantmicrobesymposium
November 5, 2025 at 8:35 AM
@finkel-lab.bsky.social and I went on a beautiful morning run in hilly Antequera (south Spain).
Too much cerveza and jamon iberico made us heavy.
#plantmicrobesymposium
Too much cerveza and jamon iberico made us heavy.
#plantmicrobesymposium
Looking forward to the plant microbiome symposium starting close to beautiful Malaga
November 3, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Looking forward to the plant microbiome symposium starting close to beautiful Malaga
Zuckerman Postdoctoral Scholarships supports postdoctoral researchers from universities in the US and Canada who wish to conduct research at Israeli universities.
Two years scholarships, $60,000 is provided by the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program+$3,000 annually by the Israeli supervisor.
Two years scholarships, $60,000 is provided by the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program+$3,000 annually by the Israeli supervisor.
November 2, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Zuckerman Postdoctoral Scholarships supports postdoctoral researchers from universities in the US and Canada who wish to conduct research at Israeli universities.
Two years scholarships, $60,000 is provided by the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program+$3,000 annually by the Israeli supervisor.
Two years scholarships, $60,000 is provided by the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program+$3,000 annually by the Israeli supervisor.
Queen released Bohemian Rhapsody on this day, half a century ago.
October 31, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Queen released Bohemian Rhapsody on this day, half a century ago.
R.I.P Hamilton Smith, 1978 Nobel Laureate for the discovery of type II restriction-modification systems (HindII).
October 26, 2025 at 6:54 PM
R.I.P Hamilton Smith, 1978 Nobel Laureate for the discovery of type II restriction-modification systems (HindII).
Is there any biologist with 1M citations?
October 25, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Is there any biologist with 1M citations?
We are interested in proteins, we do some AI, and I still could not understand what this paper is about based on the abstract.
I am starting the MARA movement:
Make Abstracts Readable Again
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I am starting the MARA movement:
Make Abstracts Readable Again
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Odyssey: reconstructing evolution through emergent consensus in the global proteome
We present Odyssey, a family of multimodal protein language models for sequence and structure generation, protein editing and design. We scale Odyssey to more than 102 billion parameters, trained over...
www.biorxiv.org
October 20, 2025 at 6:32 AM
We are interested in proteins, we do some AI, and I still could not understand what this paper is about based on the abstract.
I am starting the MARA movement:
Make Abstracts Readable Again
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I am starting the MARA movement:
Make Abstracts Readable Again
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...