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crodrigueslab.bsky.social
Rodrigues Lab
@crodrigueslab.bsky.social
170 followers 200 following 10 posts
Understanding how bacteria develop into one of the toughest cell types on Earth - Spores
Principal Investigator | Reader

www.rodrigueslab.com
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crodrigueslab.bsky.social
Rodrigues Lab @crodrigueslab.bsky.social · Jul 3
Checkout the latest paper from our lab in PLOS Genetics: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Thanks to our wonderful collaborators, @sgribaldo.bsky.social, @cavalab.bsky.social, @perbullough.bsky.social and Cecile Morlot.
SpoIIIL is a forespore factor required for efficient cell-cell signalling during Bacillus subtilis sporulation
Author summary Bacterial endospores allow bacteria to survive stress, persist in the environment and seed new and recurring infections. Cell-cell signalling is a cornerstone of how bacteria develop in...
dx.plos.org
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
bbka.org.uk
The NUBee lab @Newcastle University have an exciting, fully funded opportunity to study Varroa, a major driver of honey bee colony losses.

The PhD complements ongoing work.
For more info (lnkd.in/eXKTNFcN) or contact Prof. Giles Budge.
February 4, 2026 at 1:13 AM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
smitslab.bsky.social
Dynamic DnaA–DnaB interactions at oriC coordinate the loading and coupled translocation of two DnaB helicases for bidirectional replication url: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
Dynamic DnaA–DnaB interactions at oriC coordinate the loading and coupled translocation of two DnaB helicases for bidirectional replication
Abstract. Bidirectional replication is a conserved principle requiring coordinated translocation of the two replicative helicases loaded at the origin. In
academic.oup.com
January 31, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
nrascovan.bsky.social
Institut Pasteur (@pasteur.fr) is recruiting new young PIs to open new groups in the Institute. Deadline is February 9th! Don't miss the opportunity!
January 27, 2026 at 6:56 PM
crodrigueslab.bsky.social
Check out these tools to detect co-evolution in protein-protein interactions developed by postdoc @chrislbgraham.bsky.social

Very useful as a hypothesis generator, complementing protein interaction prediction from Alphafold.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 27, 2026 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
apbrogan.bsky.social
Fer’s tour de force in B. anthracis is out! Fer got Tn-seq running, built an ordered knockout library, defined all essential sporulation genes, and found a peptidoglycan deacetylase inhibitor critical for engulfment. Including our first one-by-all Alphafold screen! journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Identification of sporulation genes in Bacillus anthracis highlights similarities and significant differences with Bacillus subtilis
How good is Bacillus subtilis as a model for the spore-forming pathogen Bacillus anthracis? Using high throughput genetics to identify B. anthracis sporulation genes and cytological analysis of the mu...
journals.plos.org
December 13, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
jnb-lab.bsky.social
@poojag96.bsky.social work on the bioenergetics of spore germination is now published- Pooja had a really nice summary that I've put below but essentially we think the role of bioenergetics in spore germination has been completely overlooked!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
January 13, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
cellforganized.bsky.social
Just got word that we are a go for the Bacterial Cell Biology and Development GRS and GRC at Southern New Hampshire University!

GRS will be on June 5-6, 2027

GRC will be from June 6-11, 2027

Block off your calendars Prokaryotic Cell Biologists!

More details to come! Please repost!
December 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
thanbichlerlab.bsky.social
📢 Postdoc position: Biochemistry & Bacterial cell biology

in our group at Marburg University, Germany, funded by the ERC Advanced Grant "C-SWITCH"

🔗More information at shorturl.at/OlvlL
📅Deadline: Nov 30, 2025

Please repost. #Postdoc
November 10, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
jaanmannik.bsky.social
Our latest work is out in PNAS!🎉
We show that nonequilibrium polysome dynamics help drive sister chromosomes apart. The closing division septum also contributes via steric interactions.👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

#MicroSky #Microbiology #Biophysics #CellBiology
Diagram of an E. coli cell showing polysomes pushing sister chromosomes apart. Bottom heatmaps show cell-cycle-dependent changes in DNA and ribosome density distributions, and constriction formation. The top right corner shows normalized mid cell amounts from these heatmaps (integrated between the dashed horizontal lines).
November 9, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
danielabarilla.bsky.social
📢 Interested in #chromosomes 🧬 & #archaea thriving at the edge of life? PhD project in York,UK on how archaea pass on their genome to daughter cells.Friendly supervisors: me, @steve-quinn-lab.bsky.social & @georgerheath.bsky.social

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
📅 January 7, 2026
Please RP🙏thx!
Archaeal cells whose DNA has been stained with a blue dye. Zoomed-in images of mutant cells that display chromosome segregation defects. High-resolution images of DNA-protein complexes obtained with atomic force microscopy. Upon binding, the protein bridges distant sites, forming loops.
November 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
joergstuelke.bsky.social
Identification of genetic interactions in Bacillus subtilis cell division. Congratulations, Byoung-Mo Koo, Carol Gross, and all involved!
@cp-cellsystems.bsky.social #subtiwiki

www.cell.com/cell-systems...
Comprehensive genetic interaction analysis of the Bacillus subtilis envelope using double-CRISPRi
Koo et al. apply genome-scale double-CRISPRi to map cell envelope gene interactions in Bacillus subtilis, revealing >1,000 genetic interactions and uncovering gene networks in envelope biogenesis and ...
www.cell.com
October 4, 2025 at 10:16 AM
crodrigueslab.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Engineering non-exponential proliferation in Escherichia coli using functionalized protein aggregates
Uncurbed exponential proliferation might not always be required for genetically modified microorganisms, and might even cause unpredictable liabilities in their behavior and impact. We therefore const...
www.biorxiv.org
August 30, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social
Cryo-EM identifies F-ENA of Bacillus thuringiensis as a widespread family of endospore appendages across Firmicutes

@natcomms.nature.com Mike Sleutel et al from Han Remaut
w/ Marina Aspholm @jerryknowsnothing.bsky.social @mkrupovic.bsky.social @dbaquero.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cryo-EM identifies F-ENA of Bacillus thuringiensis as a widespread family of endospore appendages across Firmicutes - Nature Communications
B. thuringiensis spores contain uncharacterized protein filaments that extend from the surface of the exosporium. Here, the authors show that these filaments feature conserved β-barrel neck domains an...
www.nature.com
August 17, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
joergstuelke.bsky.social
Metals are essential for life, but they can also be toxic. Here, @johnhelmann.bsky.social gives an excellent overview on bacterial metal physiology!
@natrevmicro.nature.com #SubtiWiki

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Microbial metal physiology: ions to ecosystems - Nature Reviews Microbiology
Metal ions are required for all cells, and their homeostasis relies on ancient mechanisms that facilitate their import, distribution and storage. In this Review, Helmann discusses the key chemical con...
www.nature.com
July 25, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
stcmicrobeblog.bsky.social
once upon a time "...the bacterial ribosome was thought to be composed of a fixed set of ribosomal proteins (RPs) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA), ensuring precise translation"

ribosomologists take note: the role of heterogeneity of the ribosomes in the bacterial stress response 👇

#RNASky #MicroSky
Fig 2 Molecular mechanism of differential compositions of RPs and rRNA to respond to external stress. (ⅰ) Antibiotics promote the formation of 61S ribosomes in E. coli both in vitro and in vivo. The specialized ribosomes lacking several proteins such as bS1 and bS21 exhibit structural modifications in the 16S rRNA and exhibit enhanced ability to selectively translate leaderless mRNAs. (ⅱ) Mutations in rpsD, which encodes ribosomal protein S4, have been shown to enhance resistance to oxidative stress and heat in both E. coli and S. typhimurium. (ⅲ) Under toxins, the unstable antitoxin is degraded, leading to the activation of MazF. The MazF system specifically targets the 16S rRNA, cleaving the 3´-terminal 43 nucleotides and anti-Shine-Dalgarno sequence to form 70SΔ43 stress ribosomes, which selectively translate newly generated leaderless mRNAs. (ⅳ) In E. coli, when cells cease growth, a portion of the ribosomal population undergoes dimerization, forming 100S ribosomal dimers that are translationally inactive and thought to be in a hibernation state. (ⅴ) E. coli and S. cerevisiae are prone to mutations in ribosomal proteins uS4 and uS5. Among them, mutations in uS12 are associated with enhanced translational fidelity and increased resistance to streptomycin, while mutations in uS4 usually lead to reduced translational accuracy.
July 22, 2025 at 9:54 AM
crodrigueslab.bsky.social
Nice to see many aspects of my team's research in this review.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Compartmentalization during bacterial spore formation
Here, we explore the recent advancements in understanding cellular compartmentalization during bacterial spore formation, primarily focusing on the mo…
www.sciencedirect.com
July 10, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
s-lab.bsky.social
Happy to see our collaborative work on the contractile injection system (CIS) in Streptomyces published. We show that the membrane protein CisA gives Streptomyces CIS a licence to kill.
@pilhoferlab.bsky.social & Bastien Casu, @joesallmen.bsky.social #MicroSky

elifesciences.org/articles/104...
Function and firing of the Streptomyces coelicolor contractile injection system requires the membrane protein CisA
CryoEM, genetic, and cell biological analyses reveal that the conserved membrane protein CisA mediates membrane recruitment of contractile injection systems Streptomyces coelicolor, enabling their act...
elifesciences.org
July 9, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
veeninglab.com
New tenure track assistant professor position in molecular microbiology in our department @dmf-unil.bsky.social @unil.bsky.social! We are casting a wide net for an experimental molecular microbiologist. Apply here: wwwfbm.unil.ch/releve/appli...
DMF: Tenure Track Assistant Professor towards Associate Professor in Molecular Microbiology - Site des postulations FBM
wwwfbm.unil.ch
June 10, 2025 at 1:53 PM
crodrigueslab.bsky.social
Checkout the latest paper from our lab in PLOS Genetics: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Thanks to our wonderful collaborators, @sgribaldo.bsky.social, @cavalab.bsky.social, @perbullough.bsky.social and Cecile Morlot.
SpoIIIL is a forespore factor required for efficient cell-cell signalling during Bacillus subtilis sporulation
Author summary Bacterial endospores allow bacteria to survive stress, persist in the environment and seed new and recurring infections. Cell-cell signalling is a cornerstone of how bacteria develop in...
dx.plos.org
July 3, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
junlab.bsky.social
Our paper on the E. coli Min system in vivo with @physicsoflifelmu.bsky.social & Judy Kim (UCSD) has been published in Nature Physics today. Tight integration of experiment and theory, and physiology and biophysics. Incredible perseverance of our young students. rdcu.be/ekIpO
Robust and resource-optimal dynamic pattern formation of Min proteins in vivo
Nature Physics - Oscillatory Min protein patterns prevent abnormal bacterial cell division. Now it is shown that Min pattern formation is resource efficient and involves wavelength-invariant...
rdcu.be
May 5, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
plosbiology.org
How do intracellular #bacteria breach vacuoles to enter the host cytosol? @leaswistak.bsky.social @matthijnvos.bsky.social @enningalab.bsky.social &co show that #Shigella uses its T3SS system to damage endomembranes via mechanoporation to initiate cytosolic access @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4jXrr9Z
Left: Group of three T3SS localizing in the same zone of the bacteria surface. T3SS n°1 and 2 contact, deform, and perforate the vacuole membrane at the same spot. T3SS n°1 needle (83 nm) is long and seems to deviate from basal body axis showing that strong constraints between T3SS and the vacuole at are play. The locally relaxed vacuole to bacteria space (~50–55 nm) potentially limits additional damage by the T3SS n°3 needle (56 nm) that only slightly deforms the membrane. Right: Model of initial vacuolar membrane breaching by T3SS-induced mechanoporation. Shigella actively enters host cells in a specialized endomembrane compartment, the vacuole, that is rapidly injured and ruptured for cytosolic access. After host cell entry, the vacuole membrane is intact and tightly juxtaposed to the surface of Shigella, permitting contact between T3SSs and the endomembrane. In the authors’ proposed model, vacuole membrane injury is supported both by the vacuole tightness and the length of individual T3SSs.
May 6, 2025 at 12:46 PM
crodrigueslab.bsky.social
Checkout out our computational framework for studying toroidal membranes of biological dimensions, present at division and fission sites. We studied lipid behaviour at these sites but also simulated membrane fission. Collaboration with @chrislbgraham.bsky.social and @pstansfeld.bsky.social
chrislbgraham.bsky.social Chris LB Graham @chrislbgraham.bsky.social · May 3
Just released a pre-print: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We simulate lipid membrane toroids of bacteria, representing the point where one cell splits into two. We see they are stable and then look at how a key protein might behave at them @crodrigueslab.bsky.social @pstansfeld.bsky.social
May 6, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
plosbiology.org
The unique #CellEnvelope of #corynebacteria: @tbharat-lab.bsky.social &co map the C. glutamicum cell surface, revealing a patchy S-layer & specific assembly of the PS2 protein, thereby informing our understanding of cell envelopes that contain #MycolicAcids @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3Y6JNgw
Left: The atomic model of the PS2 lattice is shown in top and side views. PS2 hexamers are repeated in the 2D sheet with a lattice constant of 176 Å. Each PS2 monomer is colored and labeled separately within the hexamer, which repeats throughout the lattice (with pore dimensions highlighted). The side view of the lattice shows the smooth surface facing the extracellular space and rough surface with coiled-coil segments protruding towards the MM. Top right: Interactions at the hexameric and trimeric interfaces are stabilized by both hydrophilic and hydrophobic residues. Bottom right: A cell envelope tomogram was used to overlay the cryo-EM structure of the S-layer onto the in situ S-layer tomographic density. A single slice of the tomogram is shown, with the overlayed PS2 S-layer lattice in green and the tomogram in grayscale. The S-layer (surface layer), MM (mycomembrane), IM (inner membrane), and Cytosol are labeled.
April 22, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
epcrocha.bsky.social
New postdoc position in our lab (2 y+): evolutionary genomics of integrons and MGEs with focus on vibrio-phage interactions. Great environment @pasteur.fr for science, career building. Super collaborators @celineloot.bsky.social @amazeld.bsky.social @fredoleroux.bsky.social 3 weeks to apply!
April 16, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by Rodrigues Lab
poojag96.bsky.social
The preprint is out now - we describe how Bacillus spores restart energy metabolism as they exit dormancy! Dormant spores are dehydrated, very robust for long periods, but when they sense nutrient availability, they can germinate rapidly to make the most of the favourable environmental conditions 1/
biorxiv-biophys.bsky.social bioRxiv Biophysics @biorxiv-biophys.bsky.social · Mar 16
Bioenergetic metabolism restarts alongside germinant sensing and hydration in bacterial spore germination https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.13.642030v1
March 18, 2025 at 1:55 PM