Fengbin (Jerry) Wang
@jerryknowsnothing.bsky.social
Principal Investigator UAB_Biochem, cryo-EM, protein/peptide scientist working on microbial pili and nanotube design | Views are my own | 😺⚡️👨🔬🍷☕️
https://jerryuab.org
https://jerryuab.org
Check out the fancy anti-parallel cytochrome nanowire bundles structure we've solved. This structure originates from a bacterium, strain name WTL (well-to-live), isolated by the Bond group from the Soudan Underground Iron Mine, located 713 m below the surface. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A Bundled Antiparallel Cytochrome Nanowire Structure Suggests Roles in Cell-Cell Electron Transfer and Biofilm Formation
Long-range extracellular electron transfer enables respiring microbes to use minerals, other organisms, or electrodes as electron acceptors by transporting electrons microns away from the cell surface...
www.biorxiv.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Check out the fancy anti-parallel cytochrome nanowire bundles structure we've solved. This structure originates from a bacterium, strain name WTL (well-to-live), isolated by the Bond group from the Soudan Underground Iron Mine, located 713 m below the surface. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Fengbin (Jerry) Wang
Our Pyrodictium cannulae paper is out in its final form! Cannulae assemble into calcium-stabilized tubular filaments stable at 100 °C—a unique archaeal cell–cell connection. Led brilliantly by @mikesleutel.bsky.social & @vinceconticello.bsky.social.
www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64120-8
www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64120-8
October 14, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Our Pyrodictium cannulae paper is out in its final form! Cannulae assemble into calcium-stabilized tubular filaments stable at 100 °C—a unique archaeal cell–cell connection. Led brilliantly by @mikesleutel.bsky.social & @vinceconticello.bsky.social.
www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64120-8
www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64120-8
Reposted by Fengbin (Jerry) Wang
Lab’s first paper is out!! We show the first structures of #Asgard #chromatin by #cryo-EM 🧬❄️
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
October 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Lab’s first paper is out!! We show the first structures of #Asgard #chromatin by #cryo-EM 🧬❄️
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
First time posting on Bluesky! 🥳 We discovered a new pilus family in cyanobacteria. The pilin has a novel protein fold that forms a super-tight double-layer tube. Similar gene clusters exist in a few cyanobacterial orders. A great collaboration with John and others! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A family of tubular pili from harmful algal bloom forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa - Nature Communications
Ricca et al discover a new family of tubular pili in Microcystis aeruginosa, a harmful algal bloom-forming cyanobacterium. These pili are crucial for buoyancy by forming cell micro-colonies, which inc...
www.nature.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:08 AM
First time posting on Bluesky! 🥳 We discovered a new pilus family in cyanobacteria. The pilin has a novel protein fold that forms a super-tight double-layer tube. Similar gene clusters exist in a few cyanobacterial orders. A great collaboration with John and others! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Fengbin (Jerry) Wang
Cannulae paper published in final form. Thanks to the many collaborators and to the reviewers. @jerryknowsnothing.bsky.social @mikesleutel.bsky.social @vikramalva.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eKVlI
rdcu.be/eKVlI
Client Challenge
rdcu.be
October 14, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Cannulae paper published in final form. Thanks to the many collaborators and to the reviewers. @jerryknowsnothing.bsky.social @mikesleutel.bsky.social @vikramalva.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eKVlI
rdcu.be/eKVlI
Reposted by Fengbin (Jerry) Wang
I missed the original share on this article since I was locked out of my Bluesky account due to algorithmic impotence. Hate when that happens. Really cool structure from @jerryknowsnothing.bsky.social and co-authors. rdcu.be/eHQ1N
A family of tubular pili from harmful algal bloom forming cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa
Nature Communications - Ricca et al discover a new family of tubular pili in Microcystis aeruginosa, a harmful algal bloom-forming cyanobacterium. These pili are crucial for buoyancy by forming...
rdcu.be
September 23, 2025 at 8:28 PM
I missed the original share on this article since I was locked out of my Bluesky account due to algorithmic impotence. Hate when that happens. Really cool structure from @jerryknowsnothing.bsky.social and co-authors. rdcu.be/eHQ1N
Reposted by Fengbin (Jerry) Wang
Archaeal pili are wild! In #archaeon Saccharolobus islandicus the same adehesive type 4 pilin exists in 4 different conformations forming two structurally very different pili. Collaboration with the groups of @jerryknowsnothing.bsky.social and Ed Egelman. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Two distinct archaeal type IV pili structures formed by proteins with identical sequence - Nature Communications
Type IV pili (T4P) are long surface appendages assembled from small pilin proteins that participate in diverse functions such as adhesion and biofilm formation in archaea. Here, the authors show that ...
www.nature.com
June 14, 2024 at 11:14 PM
Archaeal pili are wild! In #archaeon Saccharolobus islandicus the same adehesive type 4 pilin exists in 4 different conformations forming two structurally very different pili. Collaboration with the groups of @jerryknowsnothing.bsky.social and Ed Egelman. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Fengbin (Jerry) Wang
Have a look at our paper on a new group of pleomorphic viruses infecting marine hyperthermophilic #archaea of the class Archaeoglobi. The virus coexists in a stable relationship with its host. Congrats to Diana Baquero and Eduardo Bignon. @ISMEJ doi.org/10.1093/isme...
January 25, 2024 at 5:14 PM
Have a look at our paper on a new group of pleomorphic viruses infecting marine hyperthermophilic #archaea of the class Archaeoglobi. The virus coexists in a stable relationship with its host. Congrats to Diana Baquero and Eduardo Bignon. @ISMEJ doi.org/10.1093/isme...