Heather Feaga
@heatherfeaga.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at Cornell studying translation in bacteria. Nothing bad ever happens to a scientist, it's all data.
Pinned
Heather Feaga
@heatherfeaga.bsky.social
· Dec 30
This work was also our first time doing membrane localization (way to go Cassidy)! And so proud of Bella’s gorgeous Paenibacillus tree showing the distribution of the transmembrane containing Spo0B! Also it’s the lab’s first paper without ribosomes 🫨, but don’t worry - the ribosomes made the Spo0B!
Reposted by Heather Feaga
I'm excited to share my first publication! It’s a preview of a research article on oak tree microbiomes, written with my PI, Dr. Tory Hendry. I worked on the background literature review and designed the graphical abstract. - Free access for 50 days here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1mbW96t8JE...
Please wait whilst we redirect you
All content on this site: Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
authors.elsevier.com
February 11, 2026 at 4:26 PM
I'm excited to share my first publication! It’s a preview of a research article on oak tree microbiomes, written with my PI, Dr. Tory Hendry. I worked on the background literature review and designed the graphical abstract. - Free access for 50 days here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1mbW96t8JE...
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Long in the making, but happy to present the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome!
Cryo-ET🔬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins.
bioRxiv 📖: shorturl.at/q44tG
This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected!
1/n 🧵
Cryo-ET🔬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins.
bioRxiv 📖: shorturl.at/q44tG
This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected!
1/n 🧵
February 10, 2026 at 8:35 AM
Long in the making, but happy to present the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome!
Cryo-ET🔬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins.
bioRxiv 📖: shorturl.at/q44tG
This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected!
1/n 🧵
Cryo-ET🔬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins.
bioRxiv 📖: shorturl.at/q44tG
This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected!
1/n 🧵
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Everyone in power is one hundred years old
February 7, 2026 at 12:31 PM
Everyone in power is one hundred years old
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Starvation-independent alarmone production inhibits translation through GTP depletion:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#subtiwiki (p)ppGpp
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#subtiwiki (p)ppGpp
www.biorxiv.org
February 7, 2026 at 11:31 AM
Starvation-independent alarmone production inhibits translation through GTP depletion:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#subtiwiki (p)ppGpp
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#subtiwiki (p)ppGpp
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Starvation-independent alarmone production inhibits translation through GTP depletion
- bioRxiv from @heatherfeaga.bsky.social
#ppGpp #Bsubtilis
- bioRxiv from @heatherfeaga.bsky.social
#ppGpp #Bsubtilis
Starvation-independent alarmone production inhibits translation through GTP depletion https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.12.699007v1
February 7, 2026 at 11:26 AM
Starvation-independent alarmone production inhibits translation through GTP depletion
- bioRxiv from @heatherfeaga.bsky.social
#ppGpp #Bsubtilis
- bioRxiv from @heatherfeaga.bsky.social
#ppGpp #Bsubtilis
Reposted by Heather Feaga
rince & JB Editor's Choice: Lin, Prince & Feaga identified sporulation genes via analyzing almost 1500 genomes. They show that that an unusual membrane-localized variant of Spo0B is found throughout Paenibacillaceae.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology
February 4, 2026 at 6:00 PM
rince & JB Editor's Choice: Lin, Prince & Feaga identified sporulation genes via analyzing almost 1500 genomes. They show that that an unusual membrane-localized variant of Spo0B is found throughout Paenibacillaceae.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Hey alpha aficionados - it's almost time for CauloCon 2026! This free, virtual meeting will feature talks from @brunlabcaulo.bsky.social @thanbichlerlab.bsky.social and @lamasonlab.bsky.social with opps for trainee talks. Register using the link below. 👇
CauloCon 2026 is coming! 🔬✨ March 3–5 (fully virtual + free). Keynotes by Yves Brun, Becky Lamason & Martin Thanbichler. Great chance for grad students & postdocs to present their work (work-in-progress welcome!). Submit an abstract by Sun Feb 8. Register + submit: www.caulocon.com
CauloCon 2026
A free, 3-day virtual meeting on all things Caulobacter and Alphaproteobacteria
www.caulocon.com
February 2, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Hey alpha aficionados - it's almost time for CauloCon 2026! This free, virtual meeting will feature talks from @brunlabcaulo.bsky.social @thanbichlerlab.bsky.social and @lamasonlab.bsky.social with opps for trainee talks. Register using the link below. 👇
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Our paper on the structural and functional basis of the human dimeric OS9–SEL1L–HRD1 ERAD complex, together with @qilabuva.bsky.social, is now out! Huge congratulations to Leo, Emir, and Elina!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 27, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Our paper on the structural and functional basis of the human dimeric OS9–SEL1L–HRD1 ERAD complex, together with @qilabuva.bsky.social, is now out! Huge congratulations to Leo, Emir, and Elina!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Heather Feaga
In case anyone was wondering how it’s going over on American Girl doll Instagram
January 25, 2026 at 10:21 PM
In case anyone was wondering how it’s going over on American Girl doll Instagram
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Come be our colleague--we're hiring! We have an opening for TT Asst. Prof. in Physical Chemistry in the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Interests in spectroscopy, optics, or biophysics broadly defined!
I know we're late to the game, but see our add here: apply.interfolio.com/180223
Please RT!
I know we're late to the game, but see our add here: apply.interfolio.com/180223
Please RT!
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
January 22, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Come be our colleague--we're hiring! We have an opening for TT Asst. Prof. in Physical Chemistry in the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Interests in spectroscopy, optics, or biophysics broadly defined!
I know we're late to the game, but see our add here: apply.interfolio.com/180223
Please RT!
I know we're late to the game, but see our add here: apply.interfolio.com/180223
Please RT!
Mamdani taking pride in doing his job and clearly loving it is such a singular bright spot. Inject it straight into my veins.
If you book a hotel for $200, you should pay $200.
Today, we shut down hotel junk fees and surprise credit card holds. The price you see is the price you pay.
Today, we shut down hotel junk fees and surprise credit card holds. The price you see is the price you pay.
January 22, 2026 at 12:41 AM
Mamdani taking pride in doing his job and clearly loving it is such a singular bright spot. Inject it straight into my veins.
All I do is not hear about grants I applied for 8 months ago.
Someone shared a video posted on X on the official NIH Director's account.
It is a video set to DJ Khalid's "All I Do is Win..."
1/2
It is a video set to DJ Khalid's "All I Do is Win..."
1/2
January 21, 2026 at 8:06 PM
All I do is not hear about grants I applied for 8 months ago.
Reposted by Heather Feaga
We have a lot of interest in culturing the Dino Triops (Cerarium) furca, Protoperidinium, and a couple of others. Only problem is my knowledge of Dino culture is awful. Anyone have any experience or advice? Or want to collaborate :)?
January 19, 2026 at 10:32 PM
We have a lot of interest in culturing the Dino Triops (Cerarium) furca, Protoperidinium, and a couple of others. Only problem is my knowledge of Dino culture is awful. Anyone have any experience or advice? Or want to collaborate :)?
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Think about what they were able to accomplish (building democratic societies, improving existing ones, housework with no electricity or mod cons, keeping up with what was New in Hats) without most of the technology we take for granted. Also no amoxicillin: sinus infections for eternity. And yet.
once again saying: our ancestors accomplished more, with less, against worse.
January 17, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Think about what they were able to accomplish (building democratic societies, improving existing ones, housework with no electricity or mod cons, keeping up with what was New in Hats) without most of the technology we take for granted. Also no amoxicillin: sinus infections for eternity. And yet.
Reposted by Heather Feaga
My first first-author paper is posted! Glad to have this out! 🦠🚨🕺
We show that pGpp production depletes GTP, inhibits translation, and remodels the transcriptome faster than (p)ppGpp.
...and more!
We show that pGpp production depletes GTP, inhibits translation, and remodels the transcriptome faster than (p)ppGpp.
...and more!
Starvation-independent alarmone production inhibits translation through GTP depletion https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.12.699007v1
January 13, 2026 at 2:09 AM
My first first-author paper is posted! Glad to have this out! 🦠🚨🕺
We show that pGpp production depletes GTP, inhibits translation, and remodels the transcriptome faster than (p)ppGpp.
...and more!
We show that pGpp production depletes GTP, inhibits translation, and remodels the transcriptome faster than (p)ppGpp.
...and more!
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Latest work on the Diadema pathogen and its seasonal occurrence at a time series site
Host-independent persistence of the Diadema antillarum Scuticociliatosis Philaster clade in coastal environments https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.07.698123v1
January 8, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Latest work on the Diadema pathogen and its seasonal occurrence at a time series site
Reposted by Heather Feaga
"Conflates answers [or outcomes] with learning" - this a is perfect distillation of the shift in how higher ed's value is perceived, and something we need to keep fighting against, particularly in the age of AI.
In case anyone needs it for their syllabi, my statement in gen-Ai from the minicomic I made as a syllabus for class last semester. All online and printable here spinweaveandcut.com/fall-2025-sy...
January 6, 2026 at 9:26 PM
"Conflates answers [or outcomes] with learning" - this a is perfect distillation of the shift in how higher ed's value is perceived, and something we need to keep fighting against, particularly in the age of AI.
Reposted by Heather Feaga
A (belated!) highlight from an excellent collaboration with
@dunhamlab.bsky.social and #HouLabTJU.
In this Nat Commun paper, we combine smFRET and cryo-EM to show how the tRNA modification m¹G37 stabilizes the reading frame—and what happens when it’s missing.
@dunhamlab.bsky.social and #HouLabTJU.
In this Nat Commun paper, we combine smFRET and cryo-EM to show how the tRNA modification m¹G37 stabilizes the reading frame—and what happens when it’s missing.
January 4, 2026 at 6:34 PM
A (belated!) highlight from an excellent collaboration with
@dunhamlab.bsky.social and #HouLabTJU.
In this Nat Commun paper, we combine smFRET and cryo-EM to show how the tRNA modification m¹G37 stabilizes the reading frame—and what happens when it’s missing.
@dunhamlab.bsky.social and #HouLabTJU.
In this Nat Commun paper, we combine smFRET and cryo-EM to show how the tRNA modification m¹G37 stabilizes the reading frame—and what happens when it’s missing.
Penelope’s new years resolution is to be cozy. Thinks that should be your resolution too.
January 2, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Penelope’s new years resolution is to be cozy. Thinks that should be your resolution too.
Reposted by Heather Feaga
A single DNA methylation site regulates cell fate during Clostridioides difficile sporulation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A single DNA methylation site regulates cell fate during Clostridioides difficile sporulation
DNA methylation is a widespread phenomenon in bacteria that can regulate gene expression, although the mechanisms underlying this epigenetic regulation are often poorly understood. In Clostridioides d...
www.biorxiv.org
January 2, 2026 at 1:59 PM
A single DNA methylation site regulates cell fate during Clostridioides difficile sporulation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over
January 1, 2026 at 4:43 AM
Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Marking 17 years today that I arrived in Ithaca and started as an assistant professor at Cornell. This was the view from the plane at the airport- it was 17F…
January 1, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Marking 17 years today that I arrived in Ithaca and started as an assistant professor at Cornell. This was the view from the plane at the airport- it was 17F…
Reposted by Heather Feaga
What a cool thing it was to write a guest blog post for Small Things Considered as a graduate student. I have never had such a great editor as Elio Schaecter. ♥️
a special treat for biofilm aficionadas y aficionados 👇
#MicroSky
we're glad to have restored your timeless "😊-blog" from 2012 now, heidi @heidiarjes.bsky.social
smallthingsconsidered.blog/schaechter/2...
#MicroSky
we're glad to have restored your timeless "😊-blog" from 2012 now, heidi @heidiarjes.bsky.social
smallthingsconsidered.blog/schaechter/2...
The Slime That Smiles
by Heidi Arjes — Have you ever wondered how individual fingers form? If you have taken a developmental biology class, you know that the hand first develops as a mitten-like structure with the futu…
smallthingsconsidered.blog
December 31, 2025 at 3:19 AM
What a cool thing it was to write a guest blog post for Small Things Considered as a graduate student. I have never had such a great editor as Elio Schaecter. ♥️
Reposted by Heather Feaga
Just in time for 2026! 🎆 Presenting a nascent-centric view on the shape of the ribosomal exit tunnel topology, based on MD-derived occupancy maps for 55 distinct ribosomes. 🧶🧬🖥️
📄 Read the preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#StructuralBiology #Ribosome #CryoEM #Evolution #Biophysics
📄 Read the preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#StructuralBiology #Ribosome #CryoEM #Evolution #Biophysics
Evolution of the ribosomal exit tunnel through the eyes of the nascent chain
The ribosomal exit tunnel is a universally conserved feature of the large subunit that directs the nascent polypeptide chain into the cellular environment and is involved in co-translational folding, ...
biorxiv.org
December 30, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Just in time for 2026! 🎆 Presenting a nascent-centric view on the shape of the ribosomal exit tunnel topology, based on MD-derived occupancy maps for 55 distinct ribosomes. 🧶🧬🖥️
📄 Read the preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#StructuralBiology #Ribosome #CryoEM #Evolution #Biophysics
📄 Read the preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#StructuralBiology #Ribosome #CryoEM #Evolution #Biophysics
This work was also our first time doing membrane localization (way to go Cassidy)! And so proud of Bella’s gorgeous Paenibacillus tree showing the distribution of the transmembrane containing Spo0B! Also it’s the lab’s first paper without ribosomes 🫨, but don’t worry - the ribosomes made the Spo0B!
December 30, 2025 at 2:01 PM
This work was also our first time doing membrane localization (way to go Cassidy)! And so proud of Bella’s gorgeous Paenibacillus tree showing the distribution of the transmembrane containing Spo0B! Also it’s the lab’s first paper without ribosomes 🫨, but don’t worry - the ribosomes made the Spo0B!