Animalcules
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bacteriophile.bsky.social
Animalcules
@bacteriophile.bsky.social
1.4K followers 590 following 460 posts
Bacteria lover. Good, bad, or other wise. Beneficial, commensal, or pathogenic alike.
Authorized GMB (Genetically Modified Bacteria) scientist
Posts Replies Media Videos
bacteriophile.bsky.social
www.the-scientist.com/gut-bacteria...
Gut Bacteria Tied to Rare Disease That Makes People Drunk Without Drinking
A new cohort study found that specific gut bacteria contribute to auto-brewery syndrome, spurring studies into how fecal microbiota transplants may reverse it.
www.the-scientist.com
February 14, 2026 at 6:39 PM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
www.earth.com/news/coffee-...

#microsky
Coffee drinkers share unusually high levels of one gut bacterium
Drinking coffee every day is linked to a mysterious bacterium that grows in your gut, according to a recent scientific study.
www.earth.com
February 14, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Animalcules
mitomaths.bsky.social
Perhaps... how life started?!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand
The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...
www.science.org
February 13, 2026 at 5:46 AM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
#microsky
February 13, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by Animalcules
bstevensonlab.bsky.social
How small can you go?

“Convergent extreme reductive evolution in ancient planthopper symbioses”

#MicroSky
sympiotr.bsky.social Piotr Lukasik @sympiotr.bsky.social · 3d
Our new paper in @natcomms.nature.com is now online-early!

We describe independent evolution of bacterial genomes of only ~50–52 kb — the smallest known outside cellular organelles — revealing striking convergence toward minimal gene sets.

🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s414...
The visualization of two bacterial genomes, of 50 and 52kb, representing independent instances of extreme genomic reduction in ancient heritable endosymbionts of planthoppers.
February 11, 2026 at 12:13 PM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
Mysterious gut bacteria strongly linked to human health worldwide: www.earth.com/news/mysteri...
Mysterious gut bacteria strongly linked to human health worldwide
Researchers link higher levels of CAG-170 gut bacteria to better health across 39 countries and multiple chronic diseases.
www.earth.com
February 12, 2026 at 2:31 PM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#microsky
Uncovering bacterial pseudaminylation with pan-specific antibody tools - Nature Chemical Biology
Pseudaminic acids (Pse) are a family of carbohydrates found within bacterial lipopolysaccharides, capsular polysaccharides and glycoproteins. Now, monoclonal antibodies have been developed that recogn...
www.nature.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:21 PM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
#microsky
February 11, 2026 at 1:13 PM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
phys.org/news/2026-02...
#MicroSky
Versatile enzyme that quickly, accurately synthesizes RNA can also perform reverse transcription
From vaccines and diagnostics to emerging gene-based therapies, RNA molecules are now central to modern medicine. But as their use continues to grow, so does a fundamental challenge: producing RNA qui...
phys.org
February 11, 2026 at 1:11 PM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
#MicroSky
February 10, 2026 at 2:31 PM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
www.reddit.com/r/Science_In...
From the Science_India community on Reddit: Bacteria can “think” together: Their brain-like signals reveal about how our own brain works
Explore this post and more from the Science_India community
www.reddit.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:05 AM
Reposted by Animalcules
minouette.bsky.social
Happy birthday to Russian #chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (1834 – 1907) who published the periodic table. 🧪🐡 #histsci Born in Siberia, the youngest child of a large family, his father was a school principal until he lost his sight & job. His mother then restarted her family’s abandoned glass factory 🧵
My linocut of Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev from shoulders up in a gradient of bright mint green at the bottom through navy to darkest blue-black at the top. He wears a suit with bow tie and a heavy bushy beard. The shape of the modern periodic table is carved into his chest as blank squares, and the elements he knew are indicated by their symbols. Those he included but not quite in the right place (because contemporary observations were still inconclusive) are indicated in pink). The blank squares were as-of-yet not discovered or isolated elements.
February 8, 2026 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by Animalcules
biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social
Large-Scale Chemical-Genetic Interaction Profiling Identifies a Novel Small-Molecule Inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Polyketide Synthase 13 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.06.704361v1
February 8, 2026 at 3:18 AM
Reposted by Animalcules
microbesinfect.bsky.social
Molecular basis for anti-jumbo phage #immunity by AVAST type 5.

Avs5 detects an early jumbo‑phage activator and halts infection by rapidly hydrolyzing NAD+.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #phage #bacteriophage #MicroSky
February 7, 2026 at 7:26 PM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
#Microsky
letstalkmicro.bsky.social Let’s Talk Micro @letstalkmicro.bsky.social · 7d
🎙️🧫 Micro-friends and science lovers — come hang out!
Let’s Talk Micro is where microbiology meets real lab talk, great guests, and good vibes.

🎧 Listen here 👉
directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/i...

🔬✨🧫
February 8, 2026 at 3:02 AM
Reposted by Animalcules
trevor-lithgow.bsky.social
JS1 is a #phage that does not respect host species boundaries, but it does look stylish as it binds, enters in and kills them all.

doi.org/10.1128/mbio... @macsys.bsky.social @staph-papers.bsky.social @monashbiol.bsky.social
February 7, 2026 at 2:36 AM
Reposted by Animalcules
kranzuschlab.bsky.social
Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social and Eugene Koonin discuss one of most interesting questions in the field connecting bacterial and animal immunity!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The paradox of immune systems conservation between prokaryotes and eukaryotes - Nature Reviews Microbiology
The widespread prokaryotic immune systems, in particular restriction–modification, CRISPR–Cas and defensive toxin–antitoxin systems, are absent in eukaryotes, whereas relatively rare ones, such as Arg...
www.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Animalcules
caitlyncardetti.bsky.social
When we think about host-pathogen interactions we often forget about the fact, bacteria can be the hosts too! This study looks into the molecular basis of host specificity in Litunavirus and Luzseptimavirus phages
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#BMCBiology #MicroSky #ViroSky🦠 🧪
Insights into the molecular determinants of host specificity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa-infecting phages: a structural and functional analysis of tail fibre proteins - BMC Biology
Background Bacteriophages and bacteria frequently occupy the same ecological niches, driving complex and dynamic host–virus interactions. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, phages from the Migulavirinae subfa...
link.springer.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Animalcules
tatsuyanobori.bsky.social
Amazing findings in geometry-based immune activation! Two bacterial defence systems detect phage-encoded ring oligomers, assemble high-order molecular complexes, and trigger abortive infection.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 4, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by Animalcules
pacyc184.bsky.social
Bacterial immune activation via supramolecular assembly with phage triggers | Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-10060-8
Bacterial immune activation via supramolecular assembly with phage triggers - Nature
An antiphage defence system has an activation mechanism that relies on the sensing of phage-encoded proteins that enforce geometry crucial to activation and are not typically present in non-infected cells.
www.nature.com
February 5, 2026 at 12:19 AM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
#Microsky
fonamental.bsky.social Javier del Campo @fonamental.bsky.social · 10d
The Microbiome Within a Microbe: Rethinking Blastocystis Biology onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #protists #microbiome
February 4, 2026 at 9:24 PM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
#microsky
edrybicki.bsky.social Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀 @edrybicki.bsky.social · 10d
You know, I think it was literally last year, at age 69, that I discovered that the name of Coomassie Brilliant Blue stain, should in fact be "Kumasi" - because that's where it came from. That's right, from Ghana!
February 4, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Animalcules
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Remember the medieval remedy we reconstructed years ago? We've now dissected the various ways it attacks and kills bacteria! Preprinted & submitted, led by @tosinorababa.bsky.social & Jess Furner-Pardoe w/ many collaborators #MicroSky #Ancientbiotics www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A cartoon showing the various targets of reconstructed eyesalve against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. It targets the cell membrane, as well as several intracellular targets including nucleotide biosynthesis. In S. aureus, it also affect quorum sensing.
February 3, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Reposted by Animalcules
bacteriophile.bsky.social
#microsky
plosbiology.org PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 11d
Unlike other #bacteria, C. difficile must detect both germinant & co-germinant signals to trigger #spore #germination. This study finds that the CspC:CspA complex is a key signaling node that integrates environmental cues to regulate #Cdifficile spore germination @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4rtCKdZ
Model for Clostridioides difficile germination. Top: Model of the C. difficile proteins required for germination during sporulation. From left to right: interdomain processing of the CspBA fusion protein by the protease YabG occurs in the spore coat layer; heterodimerization of CspC and CspA and homodimerization of CspB; and loading of key germination proteins into the cortex region of the mature spore. Bottom right: Model of a C. difficile spore undergoing germination. Sensing of germinant and co-germinant signals (either directly or indirectly) by the CspC:CspA heterodimer (1) leads to the heterodimer adopting an active conformation (2). Bottom left: CspC:CspA heterodimer space-filling model. Residues at the center of the CspC:CspA heterodimer binding interface (I.) play important roles in transducing germinant and co-germinant signals, while residues at the periphery of the binding interface (II.) help stabilize the complex. Signal transduction by the CspC:CspA heterodimer initiates the activation of CspB (either directly or indirectly) (3). Active CspB then proteolytically activates the cortex-lytic enzyme SleC (4), which will go on to degrade the spore cortex (5), allowing for rehydration of the spore core and resumption of metabolic activity.
February 3, 2026 at 9:57 AM
bacteriophile.bsky.social
#Microsky
geiselbiofilm.bsky.social George O'Toole (he/him/his) @geiselbiofilm.bsky.social · 11d
New in JB: Bange, Dornes, et al. review the molecular basis for flagellar patterns and numbers across bacterial species.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology
February 4, 2026 at 12:34 AM