Joe Parham
@joeparham19.bsky.social
PhD student in Buzz Baum's lab at the MRC-LMB, interested in mechanisms of DNA segregation and cell division. Also birding from time to time.
First patch foray of 2026 at Fen Drayton. Nice stumble upon this Red-breasted Merg, which I believe is the first for some years. Two drake Smew visible from the reserve on St Ives gravel pits. Merlin, Goosander and lots of expected wildfowl the supporting cast. #PWC2026 @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social
January 10, 2026 at 4:54 PM
First patch foray of 2026 at Fen Drayton. Nice stumble upon this Red-breasted Merg, which I believe is the first for some years. Two drake Smew visible from the reserve on St Ives gravel pits. Merlin, Goosander and lots of expected wildfowl the supporting cast. #PWC2026 @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social
Reposted by Joe Parham
I’m excited to announce that I will be starting my research group on computational enzyme design at the Generative Biology Institute, Oxford, UK (@eitoxford.bsky.social)! PhD applications are open, deadline is Jan 8th (www.chem.ox.ac.uk/genbio-dtp). Email kiarash.jamali@eit.org with any questions!
GenBio DTP
Optional supporting text
www.chem.ox.ac.uk
December 9, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I’m excited to announce that I will be starting my research group on computational enzyme design at the Generative Biology Institute, Oxford, UK (@eitoxford.bsky.social)! PhD applications are open, deadline is Jan 8th (www.chem.ox.ac.uk/genbio-dtp). Email kiarash.jamali@eit.org with any questions!
Reposted by Joe Parham
New preprint from the lab!!🎉
We show that Asgard archaea ESCRT-III proteins can trigger membrane fission and reveal its molecular mechanism, offering clues to how these cells may have built internal compartments. But do these organisms even have these compartments?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We show that Asgard archaea ESCRT-III proteins can trigger membrane fission and reveal its molecular mechanism, offering clues to how these cells may have built internal compartments. But do these organisms even have these compartments?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Molecular basis for cellular compartmentalization by an ancient membrane fission mechanism
The emergence of cell compartmentalization depends on membrane fission to create the endomembrane compartments. In eukaryotes, membrane fission is commonly executed by ESCRT-III, a protein complex con...
www.biorxiv.org
December 1, 2025 at 9:09 AM
New preprint from the lab!!🎉
We show that Asgard archaea ESCRT-III proteins can trigger membrane fission and reveal its molecular mechanism, offering clues to how these cells may have built internal compartments. But do these organisms even have these compartments?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We show that Asgard archaea ESCRT-III proteins can trigger membrane fission and reveal its molecular mechanism, offering clues to how these cells may have built internal compartments. But do these organisms even have these compartments?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
While admiring this diorama in the Roman baths museum (in Bath..) I noticed this small tribute to the Life of Brian- a figure (under supervision) vandalising the walls with red writing!
November 10, 2025 at 1:45 PM
While admiring this diorama in the Roman baths museum (in Bath..) I noticed this small tribute to the Life of Brian- a figure (under supervision) vandalising the walls with red writing!
Reposted by Joe Parham
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Joe Parham
How common cuckoos adapt to multiple hosts | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
How common cuckoos adapt to multiple hosts
Genomic data reveal the complexity of egg mimicry evolution in cuckoos
www.science.org
November 2, 2025 at 5:21 AM
How common cuckoos adapt to multiple hosts | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
131 species for the week by public transport in north Norfolk. Self-found GGS and Richard’s Pipit the highlights. Best of rest: Hume’s, many YBW, Glossy Ibis, L Yellowlegs. Classic coastal autumn vismig with many Crossbill, Brambling, thrushes etc. Curlew and Purple Sands, Little Stint.
October 20, 2025 at 4:20 PM
131 species for the week by public transport in north Norfolk. Self-found GGS and Richard’s Pipit the highlights. Best of rest: Hume’s, many YBW, Glossy Ibis, L Yellowlegs. Classic coastal autumn vismig with many Crossbill, Brambling, thrushes etc. Curlew and Purple Sands, Little Stint.
Just having tea in Cley visitor centre and a Great Grey Shrikes flies past the window! Managed to get a few people on it, appears to have gone down in a hedgerow east of visitor centre. Best bird I’ve found while mid-cup of tea @birdguides.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Just having tea in Cley visitor centre and a Great Grey Shrikes flies past the window! Managed to get a few people on it, appears to have gone down in a hedgerow east of visitor centre. Best bird I’ve found while mid-cup of tea @birdguides.bsky.social
Come and join our lab @mrclmb.bsky.social for your PhD! A wonderful environment to explore our archaeal origins with supportive and collaborative colleagues and the chance to investigate big evolutionary and cell biology questions.
LMB PhD studentship available in the Baum lab to use informatics to infer cell structure from genomic data in collaboration with the brilliant Tom Williams. If you write to me and I don’t reply - try again - the spam filter is hungry…
October 2, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Come and join our lab @mrclmb.bsky.social for your PhD! A wonderful environment to explore our archaeal origins with supportive and collaborative colleagues and the chance to investigate big evolutionary and cell biology questions.
Reposted by Joe Parham
We are excited to share our preprint describing how Sulfolobus cells coordinate DNA segregation with cell division! In eukaryotes this type of regulation involves checkpoints and CDK-cyclins. But how does this work in archaea? This is the question we ask in our paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Temporal and spatial coordination of DNA segregation and cell division in an archaeon.
Cells must coordinate DNA segregation with cytokinesis to ensure that each daughter cell inherits a complete genome. Here, we explore how DNA segregation and division are mechanistically coupled in ar...
www.biorxiv.org
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
We are excited to share our preprint describing how Sulfolobus cells coordinate DNA segregation with cell division! In eukaryotes this type of regulation involves checkpoints and CDK-cyclins. But how does this work in archaea? This is the question we ask in our paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Finally, an enormous thank you to everyone involved! It has been a wonderful collaboration. Thanks also to the @mrclmb.bsky.social core staff. And thanks to Arthur for sharing reagents and data prior to publication and to Steve Bell for coordinating submission. We appreciate it!
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Finally, an enormous thank you to everyone involved! It has been a wonderful collaboration. Thanks also to the @mrclmb.bsky.social core staff. And thanks to Arthur for sharing reagents and data prior to publication and to Steve Bell for coordinating submission. We appreciate it!
In this sense, Sulfolobus cells use a regulatory decision point (analogous to a eukaryotic cell cycle checkpoint) to ensure that they only trigger DNA segregation once they are ready to divide.
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
In this sense, Sulfolobus cells use a regulatory decision point (analogous to a eukaryotic cell cycle checkpoint) to ensure that they only trigger DNA segregation once they are ready to divide.
Taken together, our data suggest a new model for Sulfolobus cell division: First, CdvA forms a ring. This isn't enough to trigger DNA segregation, though, since this requires the recruitment of a medial ESCRT-III ring, which triggers DNA segregation and defines the axis of DNA segregation.
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Taken together, our data suggest a new model for Sulfolobus cell division: First, CdvA forms a ring. This isn't enough to trigger DNA segregation, though, since this requires the recruitment of a medial ESCRT-III ring, which triggers DNA segregation and defines the axis of DNA segregation.
Nevertheless, using live imaging we observed that while mutant cells can still segregate their DNA in the absence of SegA or SegB, they often suffer serious DNA compaction errors, leading to constricting cells with bridging DNA.
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Nevertheless, using live imaging we observed that while mutant cells can still segregate their DNA in the absence of SegA or SegB, they often suffer serious DNA compaction errors, leading to constricting cells with bridging DNA.
We also used a knockout strategy. SegA, SegB and SegAB deletion strains only observed modest division defects by flow cytometry, implying redundancy in the system.
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
We also used a knockout strategy. SegA, SegB and SegAB deletion strains only observed modest division defects by flow cytometry, implying redundancy in the system.
To explore how ring assembly and DNA segregation might be coupled, we turned our attention to the ParA homologue, SegA, and its partner SegB, using antibodies kindly gifted by @acharlesorszag.bsky.social (see www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...)
Archaeal SegAB forms a bipolar structure that promotes chromosome segregation in spherical cells
Archaeal segAB operons are thought to promote chromosome segregation, but their mechanism remains unknown. We employ comparative genomics, structural biology, genetic knockouts, and quantitative cell ...
www.biorxiv.org
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
To explore how ring assembly and DNA segregation might be coupled, we turned our attention to the ParA homologue, SegA, and its partner SegB, using antibodies kindly gifted by @acharlesorszag.bsky.social (see www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...)
Furthermore, blocking ESCRT-III ring recruitment prevented DNA segregation. These data show that the completion of ESCRT-III ring formation is necessary for cells to segregate their DNA and divide. In addition, ring position determines the axis of DNA segregation.
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Furthermore, blocking ESCRT-III ring recruitment prevented DNA segregation. These data show that the completion of ESCRT-III ring formation is necessary for cells to segregate their DNA and divide. In addition, ring position determines the axis of DNA segregation.
To do this, we quantified DNA segregation in cells with different ring compositions. While there was little to no DNA segregation in cells with a CdvA-only ring, once cells had recruited a medial ESCRT-III-positive division ring, they tended to have segregated their DNA.
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
To do this, we quantified DNA segregation in cells with different ring compositions. While there was little to no DNA segregation in cells with a CdvA-only ring, once cells had recruited a medial ESCRT-III-positive division ring, they tended to have segregated their DNA.
Using coarse-grain molecular dynamic simulations they showed that DNA mobility followed by rapid compaction can aid entropic DNA segregation, even in spherical cells like Sulfolobus. Next, we assessed the relative timing of DNA segregation and division ring formation.
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Using coarse-grain molecular dynamic simulations they showed that DNA mobility followed by rapid compaction can aid entropic DNA segregation, even in spherical cells like Sulfolobus. Next, we assessed the relative timing of DNA segregation and division ring formation.
In interphase DNA was associated with the membrane. Then, just before DNA segregation, the DNA became diffuse and mobile, before rapidly compacting into two spatially separated foci. To determine a possible role for these changes, we teamed up with @vsorichetti.bsky.social and Andela Saric.
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
In interphase DNA was associated with the membrane. Then, just before DNA segregation, the DNA became diffuse and mobile, before rapidly compacting into two spatially separated foci. To determine a possible role for these changes, we teamed up with @vsorichetti.bsky.social and Andela Saric.
Like eukaryotic cells, Sulfolobus has an ordered cell cycle with distinct non-overlapping phases. But they lack CDK-cyclins. So how is DNA segregated in archaea? To find out, we imaged DNA and membrane in live dividing cells at 75°C. Unexpectedly, this revealed dynamic changes in DNA organisation.
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Like eukaryotic cells, Sulfolobus has an ordered cell cycle with distinct non-overlapping phases. But they lack CDK-cyclins. So how is DNA segregated in archaea? To find out, we imaged DNA and membrane in live dividing cells at 75°C. Unexpectedly, this revealed dynamic changes in DNA organisation.
We are excited to share our preprint describing how Sulfolobus cells coordinate DNA segregation with cell division! In eukaryotes this type of regulation involves checkpoints and CDK-cyclins. But how does this work in archaea? This is the question we ask in our paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Temporal and spatial coordination of DNA segregation and cell division in an archaeon.
Cells must coordinate DNA segregation with cytokinesis to ensure that each daughter cell inherits a complete genome. Here, we explore how DNA segregation and division are mechanistically coupled in ar...
www.biorxiv.org
May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
We are excited to share our preprint describing how Sulfolobus cells coordinate DNA segregation with cell division! In eukaryotes this type of regulation involves checkpoints and CDK-cyclins. But how does this work in archaea? This is the question we ask in our paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Joe Parham
Excited to announce the Molecular Biology of Archaea (MBoA) 2026!
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated to Archaea.
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated to Archaea.
April 18, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Excited to announce the Molecular Biology of Archaea (MBoA) 2026!
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated to Archaea.
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated to Archaea.
Reposted by Joe Parham
Happy to share our paper’s final version on the evolution, structure, and membrane binding / remodeling of Asgard ESCRT-III proteins! And my first 🦋 post! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Asgard archaea reveal the conserved principles of ESCRT-III membrane remodeling
Asgard archaea have two ESCRT-III subunits with the conserved traits that drive stepwise membrane remodeling in eukaryotes.
www.science.org
February 8, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Happy to share our paper’s final version on the evolution, structure, and membrane binding / remodeling of Asgard ESCRT-III proteins! And my first 🦋 post! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...