Brian Stevenson Ph.D. spirochete lab
@bstevensonlab.bsky.social
Mostly about bacterial gene/protein regulation & function, esp. with Borrelia burgdorferi and Lyme disease. Professor at U Kentucky, views are my own. He/him
Lab= http://microscopist.net/Stevenson_Lab.html
UK= https://medicine.uky.edu/users/bstev0
Lab= http://microscopist.net/Stevenson_Lab.html
UK= https://medicine.uky.edu/users/bstev0
Pinned
Matters Microbial #31: Spirochetes do things...differently
Today, Dr. Brian Stevenson of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss a twisty twirling form of life, spirochetes,...
m.youtube.com
Recently interviewed by Mark Martin for his “Matters Microbial” podcast!
m.youtube.com/watch?si=O6w...
m.youtube.com/watch?si=O6w...
Happy Holidays to all !
(Image source not known)
(Image source not known)
December 25, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Happy Holidays to all !
(Image source not known)
(Image source not known)
Recent news brings back memories of friend and colleague Nate Nieto, who died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 44, in 2019. This disease has cut short many lives.
Nate was well known in the tick-borne disease community, particularly for his “citizen science” approaches.
#MicroSky
#TickSky
Nate was well known in the tick-borne disease community, particularly for his “citizen science” approaches.
#MicroSky
#TickSky
December 24, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Phage-encoded small RNA hijacks host replication machinery to support the phage lytic cycle
#MicroSky
#MicroSky
Do viruses use RNA to rewire bacteria?
Yes!
In our paper in @cp-molcell.bsky.social RIL-seq reveals interkingdom RNA interactions during λ infection. Phages don’t just encode proteins, they use small RNAs to hijack bacterial replication and fine-tune infection.
#RNA #Phage
doi.org/10.1016/j.mo...
Yes!
In our paper in @cp-molcell.bsky.social RIL-seq reveals interkingdom RNA interactions during λ infection. Phages don’t just encode proteins, they use small RNAs to hijack bacterial replication and fine-tune infection.
#RNA #Phage
doi.org/10.1016/j.mo...
Phage-encoded small RNA hijacks host replication machinery to support the phage lytic cycle
Using RIL-seq, Silverman et al. map the RNA interactome of E. coli during phage lambda
infection and uncover a conserved phage-encoded sRNA that activates host replication
machinery. Their findings re...
www.cell.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Phage-encoded small RNA hijacks host replication machinery to support the phage lytic cycle
#MicroSky
#MicroSky
Received notice of new grant funding today!
The lab can continue to operate for another couple of years!
Thanks, GLA
#MicroSky
The lab can continue to operate for another couple of years!
Thanks, GLA
#MicroSky
a man is dancing on a dance floor with the words " staying alive " below him
ALT: a man is dancing on a dance floor with the words " staying alive " below him
media.tenor.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Received notice of new grant funding today!
The lab can continue to operate for another couple of years!
Thanks, GLA
#MicroSky
The lab can continue to operate for another couple of years!
Thanks, GLA
#MicroSky
Happy to share that our work on HLp, a bacterial histone from Leptospira perolatii, is now published in Nature Communications 🎉
In this study, we show that HLp forms stable tetramers that wrap ~60 bp of DNA, revealing a distinct histone–DNA organization in bacteria.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In this study, we show that HLp forms stable tetramers that wrap ~60 bp of DNA, revealing a distinct histone–DNA organization in bacteria.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
December 14, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Congratulations to Reddy Palli, Ph.D., Chair of the UK Dept. of Entomology (one of my depts), for being named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, in recognition of his studies on RNA interference to kill insect pests and fight insecticide resistance.
uknow.uky.edu/professional...
uknow.uky.edu/professional...
UK’s Palli named 2025 National Academy of Inventors Fellow
Subba Reddy Palli is internationally recognized for his research on RNA interference technology that kills insect pests and fights insecticide resistance.
uknow.uky.edu
December 12, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Congratulations to Reddy Palli, Ph.D., Chair of the UK Dept. of Entomology (one of my depts), for being named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, in recognition of his studies on RNA interference to kill insect pests and fight insecticide resistance.
uknow.uky.edu/professional...
uknow.uky.edu/professional...
"Histone" - ish protein in the spirochete Leptospira perolatii
#MicroSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#MicroSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
DNA Wrapping by a Tetrameric Bacterial Histone
Histones are conserved DNA-packaging proteins found across all domains of life. In eukaryotes, canonical histones form octamers that wrap ∼147 base pairs of DNA into nucleosomes — the fundamental unit...
www.biorxiv.org
December 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM
"Histone" - ish protein in the spirochete Leptospira perolatii
#MicroSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#MicroSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Confused by all the histones that are cropping up in organisms that are decidedly NOT eukaryotes? check out our review - fantastic work by team NucEvo in the #Lugerlab
The Expanding Histone Universe: Histone-Based DNA Organization in Noneukaryotic Organisms - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
The Expanding Histone Universe: Histone-Based DNA Organization in Noneukaryotic Organisms - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
December 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Phages are full of genes of unknown function that are likely adaptive in specific conditions.
New preprint: Phage TnSeq identifies essential genes rapidly and knocks all non-essentials. We would like to send a pool of phiKZ mutants to anyone wanting it! Reach out
tinyurl.com/bdcfrejh
New preprint: Phage TnSeq identifies essential genes rapidly and knocks all non-essentials. We would like to send a pool of phiKZ mutants to anyone wanting it! Reach out
tinyurl.com/bdcfrejh
December 8, 2025 at 3:23 PM
GOOD NEWS for all Orthodox Jedi (reformed) practitioners: MIDICHLORIANS have been discovered!
Now the BAD NEWS: they've been discovered in Ixodes ticks.
"Candidatus Midichloria" are a real bacteria found in the ovaries of certain hard-bodied ticks & they DO have some unusual properties.
Now the BAD NEWS: they've been discovered in Ixodes ticks.
"Candidatus Midichloria" are a real bacteria found in the ovaries of certain hard-bodied ticks & they DO have some unusual properties.
a man with long hair is standing in front of a sign that says his cells
Alt: Qui-Gon Jinn stands before the Jedi Council and says: "His cells have the highest concentration of midi-chlorians i have seen in a life-form."
media.tenor.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:21 PM
T cell–macrophage interactions in tuberculosis: What we've got here is failure to communicate
#MicroSky
#MicroSky
What we’ve got here is failure to communicate - some macrophages you just can’t reach!
Multiple features of granulomas limit effective T cell:MΦ interactions, posing a major barrier for vaccine-mediated protection.
Check out our new review!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Multiple features of granulomas limit effective T cell:MΦ interactions, posing a major barrier for vaccine-mediated protection.
Check out our new review!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
<em>Journal of Internal Medicine</em> | Wiley Online Library
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading infectious cause of morbidity and mortality, and the development of a new, highly effective vaccine would have a tremendous beneficial impact on global health. Alt....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:21 PM
T cell–macrophage interactions in tuberculosis: What we've got here is failure to communicate
#MicroSky
#MicroSky
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an outlier in many ways. One of them is keeping a high degree of functional redundancy despite its obligate pathogen lifestyle. In this review, we reflect on the biological meaning of M. tuberculosis functional redundancies.
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
Essential redundancies fuel Mycobacterium tuberculosis adaptation to the host
Redundancy in biology is, at a glance, counterintuitive because if the function of two gene products completely overlaps then, throughout the course of evolution, one of the genes will likely accumula...
journals.plos.org
December 7, 2025 at 2:08 PM
"We cannot address TB only with vaccines and medications... We must also address the root cause of tuberculosis, which is injustice. In a world where everyone can eat, and access healthcare, and be treated humanely, tuberculosis has no chance. Ultimately, we are the cause. We must also be the cure."
December 6, 2025 at 3:37 PM
"We cannot address TB only with vaccines and medications... We must also address the root cause of tuberculosis, which is injustice. In a world where everyone can eat, and access healthcare, and be treated humanely, tuberculosis has no chance. Ultimately, we are the cause. We must also be the cure."
Multimedia photojournalism from my daughter, Arkasha, before she became a big deal film director/writer. This report of a transgender girl and her parents won World Press Photo’s 2nd place in 2013. Produced for the LA Times.
vimeo.com/69513060
vimeo.com/69513060
Living With a Secret
Amber lives with a secret that most 12-year-old girls cannot fathom. She was born with the body of a boy. At the age of 10, she stopped going by her given name,…
vimeo.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Multimedia photojournalism from my daughter, Arkasha, before she became a big deal film director/writer. This report of a transgender girl and her parents won World Press Photo’s 2nd place in 2013. Produced for the LA Times.
vimeo.com/69513060
vimeo.com/69513060
"tick bites and tick saliva reprogram Langerhans cells, (which) dampens protective immunity and helps explain how ticks and their pathogens evade host defense and achieve efficient transmission"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#MicroSky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#MicroSky
December 1, 2025 at 4:49 PM
"tick bites and tick saliva reprogram Langerhans cells, (which) dampens protective immunity and helps explain how ticks and their pathogens evade host defense and achieve efficient transmission"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#MicroSky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#MicroSky
There are CRISPR-based methods for detecting Lyme Borrelia already available.
The problem is trying to detect bacteria in patient blood. Lyme Borrelia are in the blood for only a few days after infection, and at very low concentrations.
After a week, direct tests of blood will not work
#MicroSky
The problem is trying to detect bacteria in patient blood. Lyme Borrelia are in the blood for only a few days after infection, and at very low concentrations.
After a week, direct tests of blood will not work
#MicroSky
Remarkable story of a Georgia high school team who used CRISPR to make a rapid diagnostic test strip for Lyme disease, speeding dx from 2 weeks to days
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
Teens may have come up with a new way to detect, treat Lyme disease using CRISPR gene editing
To compete at iGEM, a sort of science Olympics, teens at a Georgia high school set their sights on finding a better way to detect and treat Lyme disease. Their approach uses CRISPR gene editing.
www.cbsnews.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:32 PM
There are CRISPR-based methods for detecting Lyme Borrelia already available.
The problem is trying to detect bacteria in patient blood. Lyme Borrelia are in the blood for only a few days after infection, and at very low concentrations.
After a week, direct tests of blood will not work
#MicroSky
The problem is trying to detect bacteria in patient blood. Lyme Borrelia are in the blood for only a few days after infection, and at very low concentrations.
After a week, direct tests of blood will not work
#MicroSky
Identification of Previously Unknown DNA-Binding Proteins Using DNA Affinity/Pull-Down Methods Followed by Mass Spectrometry
Jutras, Babb, Jusufovic, Krusenstjerna, Saylor, Verma, and Stevenson
Current Protocols 2025, 5:e70264
doi: 10.1002/cpz1.70264
#MicroSky
Jutras, Babb, Jusufovic, Krusenstjerna, Saylor, Verma, and Stevenson
Current Protocols 2025, 5:e70264
doi: 10.1002/cpz1.70264
#MicroSky
November 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Identification of Previously Unknown DNA-Binding Proteins Using DNA Affinity/Pull-Down Methods Followed by Mass Spectrometry
Jutras, Babb, Jusufovic, Krusenstjerna, Saylor, Verma, and Stevenson
Current Protocols 2025, 5:e70264
doi: 10.1002/cpz1.70264
#MicroSky
Jutras, Babb, Jusufovic, Krusenstjerna, Saylor, Verma, and Stevenson
Current Protocols 2025, 5:e70264
doi: 10.1002/cpz1.70264
#MicroSky
Sent a response to a postdoc applicant:
"Your 'Dear Professor' message is generic, and says nothing about why we should work together. I usually trash such messages immediately. Why should I spend time writing a response if you can't be bothered to spend time writing a message directly to me?"
"Your 'Dear Professor' message is generic, and says nothing about why we should work together. I usually trash such messages immediately. Why should I spend time writing a response if you can't be bothered to spend time writing a message directly to me?"
a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a staircase with the bet logo in the corner
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a staircase with the bet logo in the corner
media.tenor.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Sent a response to a postdoc applicant:
"Your 'Dear Professor' message is generic, and says nothing about why we should work together. I usually trash such messages immediately. Why should I spend time writing a response if you can't be bothered to spend time writing a message directly to me?"
"Your 'Dear Professor' message is generic, and says nothing about why we should work together. I usually trash such messages immediately. Why should I spend time writing a response if you can't be bothered to spend time writing a message directly to me?"
Nature research paper: Rare microbial relict sheds light on an ancient eukaryotic supergroup
go.nature.com/486YtjW
go.nature.com/486YtjW
Rare microbial relict sheds light on an ancient eukaryotic supergroup - Nature
The discovery of an unusual protist named Solarion arienae, which has a mitochondrial genome with some intriguing features, provides insight into the early radiation of eukaryotic groups.
go.nature.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Brian Stevenson Ph.D. spirochete lab
I sat next to a women and her 10ish yo daughter on a plane last night. I overheard them talking on the jetway about the daughter's interest in becoming a paleontologist or herpetologist, and the mom saying she always wished to be an entomologist. I introduced myself after sitting down.
a man with a beard is making a funny face and saying ask me anything
ALT: a man with a beard is making a funny face and saying ask me anything
media.tenor.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:53 PM
I sat next to a women and her 10ish yo daughter on a plane last night. I overheard them talking on the jetway about the daughter's interest in becoming a paleontologist or herpetologist, and the mom saying she always wished to be an entomologist. I introduced myself after sitting down.
NIH study section that was originally scheduled for this coming Tuesday is back on track, will meet on Tuesday. No delay.
Other study sections are being rescheduled for early 2026.
Other study sections are being rescheduled for early 2026.
the white rabbit from alice in wonderland is crying while holding a clock and saying whew ! right on schedule !
Alt: the white rabbit from alice in wonderland is crying while holding a clock and saying whew ! right on schedule !
media.tenor.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:15 PM
NIH study section that was originally scheduled for this coming Tuesday is back on track, will meet on Tuesday. No delay.
Other study sections are being rescheduled for early 2026.
Other study sections are being rescheduled for early 2026.
NIH study sections are back!
PCMB is probably going to meet in early January.
PCMB is probably going to meet in early January.
two cartoon characters standing next to each other with the words " we 're back " on the bottom
Alt: two cartoon characters standing next to each other with the words " we 're back " on the bottom
media.tenor.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:33 PM
NIH study sections are back!
PCMB is probably going to meet in early January.
PCMB is probably going to meet in early January.
Reposted by Brian Stevenson Ph.D. spirochete lab
The diderm cell envelope is not a stack of layers but a unified scaffold of Inner Membrane–Peptidoglycan–Outer Membrane.
We discuss how tethering the OM to the PG in E. coli preserves integrity — and extend the concept across diderm bacteria.
Curr Opin Microbiol: doi.org/10.1016/j.mi...
#microsky 🔬
We discuss how tethering the OM to the PG in E. coli preserves integrity — and extend the concept across diderm bacteria.
Curr Opin Microbiol: doi.org/10.1016/j.mi...
#microsky 🔬
Redirecting
doi.org
November 13, 2025 at 12:17 PM
The diderm cell envelope is not a stack of layers but a unified scaffold of Inner Membrane–Peptidoglycan–Outer Membrane.
We discuss how tethering the OM to the PG in E. coli preserves integrity — and extend the concept across diderm bacteria.
Curr Opin Microbiol: doi.org/10.1016/j.mi...
#microsky 🔬
We discuss how tethering the OM to the PG in E. coli preserves integrity — and extend the concept across diderm bacteria.
Curr Opin Microbiol: doi.org/10.1016/j.mi...
#microsky 🔬
My Granddad, William Robert Fleming Stevenson, received these medals (and shrapnel in his knee) for 4 years in the European trenches, fighting The War to End All Wars.
#VeteransDay
#RemembranceDay
#VeteransDay
#RemembranceDay
November 11, 2025 at 12:09 PM
My Granddad, William Robert Fleming Stevenson, received these medals (and shrapnel in his knee) for 4 years in the European trenches, fighting The War to End All Wars.
#VeteransDay
#RemembranceDay
#VeteransDay
#RemembranceDay
November 10, 2025 at 7:56 PM