microLife

95 new Fellows join the European Academy of Microbiology🔬 The newly elected Fellows represent a wide range of expertise across microbiology and related disciplines , spanning institutions across Europe and beyond. Read the full announcement📄buff.ly/CdRK14U

🦠 How does #Salmonella find #iron in the gut? @CunrathOlivier lab shows acidic pH pushes it to switch from using endogeneous to exogeneous #siderophores—revealing a flexible, pH-driven iron uptake strategy. 👉 buff.ly/90EZoqQ

🦠 Beyond classic probiotics:@SchmitzStreits lab reveals diverse #Bacteroidota gut strains that block #biofilms of major pathogens. Many also disrupt quorum sensing & show bile salt hydrolase activity—expanding the #microbiome toolbox against infection. 👉 buff.ly/sjPk8ZD

🧬 Dive into the small proteome of Methanosarcina mazei (across 5 conditions)! A key resource by @SchmitzStreits @kieluni for uncovering #smallproteins functions, motifs and proteoforms in #archaea. 👉 buff.ly/HJOi3E0

🦠 @LaurentTerradot lab reviews #Brucella’s #T4SS—a key virulence factor—covering its structure, function, and growing effector arsenal. It also explores how effectors enter host cells, opening new paths to understand and target infection. 🔬 👉 buff.ly/KW4kVN4

@Archaellum lab reveals how #cdiAMP and 4 RCK proteins shape osmotic stress responses in H.volcanii 🧬🦠. In highly halophilic #archaea, c-di-AMP coordinates ion balance and cell volume—mirroring bacterial strategies for environmental stress adaptation. 👉 buff.ly/ApWkCtg

Review by @JingYuanMarburg, HG Koch & @BorkBerghoff highlights bacterial small membrane proteins (SMPs) 🧫: from regulating membrane targets and insertion pathways to toxin roles. SMPs also offer potential as tools and templates for new antibiotics. 💊 👉 buff.ly/9UzCwF2

As 2026 begins, the EAM, @vdlorenzo_CNB, Paul B. Rainey and many others remind us the urgency of renewing support to Society Journals and, taking action to reward quality research and curb predatory publishing. 👉 buff.ly/V36xgMO 👉 buff.ly/T8QE90G

🦠Insight into the resilient world of prokaryotes! Koch lab –@UniFreiburg @sfb138– reveals that E.coli use small membrane proteins (YohP & YncL) to condense their DNA & slow down metabolism, helping them survive to stresses. 🧬 buff.ly/dMzcQsP

New insights into #Hpylori’s virulence machinery🕵️🧪 Josenhans & coll. unravel new interactions between CagT4SS surface proteins and outer membrane proteins HopQ & HopZ—key for host interaction and #proinflammatory signaling.🦠 @LMU_Muenchen 👉 buff.ly/toApn0c

🦠 Small changes, big defense! @Jordan_Vacheron & coll. show specific SNPs in #Pseudomonas protegens CHA0 (algC & ykcC) remodel LPS to block #phage ΦGP100—while growth, competitiveness & root colonization stay intact, in lab conditions. 🧬 @unil 👉 buff.ly/MFOH2er

What can an “orphan” #Cas4 do? 🧫 In #archaea M.mazei, Solo-Cas4 cleaves dsDNA in a metal-dependent manner and is upregulated in stationary phase—hinting at roles in stress & DNA metabolism. Biochemical characterization by Schmitz lab @kieluni buff.ly/kpz0yZ1

#C.albicans invades tissues as hyphae but spreads as yeast, How? Jakob Sprague & coll. show yeast can reach the bloodstream by hitchhiking with invasive hyphae or by switching forms. 🧫 More clues for understanding systemic infections ! 👉 buff.ly/0vklJeb

🔍 From rods to stars, bacteria craft their shapes using bPBPs & GTases. Garcia-del Portillo lab’s global analysis reveals unexpected diversity & flexibility in these morphogenetic complexes. 🦠 @CNB_CSIC 👉 Read more : buff.ly/D0pMhMr

De-DUFing the DUFs 🧩 @FranzNarberhaus lab uncovers how small DUF1127 proteins regulate #phosphate uptake by binding the sensor kinase PhoR. Their conserved role from Agrobacterium to E. coli highlights how even small DUFs can shape bacterial physiology 🦠 buff.ly/jJd9Eho

New insights from #CRISPR-Cas systems! 🧬 @CyanolabDE reveals that in the #cyanobacteria Synechocystis, RNase J works with RNase E to mature CRISPR3 RNAs—key for RNA-based immune defense. RNase J can also team up with PNPase in a degradosome-like complex. buff.ly/CrxiQPy

New tools unlock #Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus’s predatory secrets 🦠. By combining inducible gene expression with #CRISPRi-mediated depletion for precise control of essential genes, @LalouxLab uncovered new insights into its unique lifecycle. buff.ly/FcDzAY4

Predatory practices plague science, but the reasons of their success can be spotted—and solutions exist. Instead of blacklists, funding agencies should foster accreditation systems. See analyses & proposals of the EAM Task Force of @FEMSmicro on the matter track.smtpsendmail.com/9032119/c?p=wz…

A new subgroup of #CRISPR-associated transposons, V-K_V2, has been discovered in Nostocales #cyanobacteria by @CyanolabDE & colleagues 🧬. Its unique features suggest genetic mobility and V2 tracrRNAs are now included in the updated CRISPRtracrRNA tool. buff.ly/gioIfEB

Microbes are vital allies for a sustainable future 🌍🦠. At #IUMS2024, 1400+ experts stressed their role in #climate action, health & #biotech—calling for global collaboration, investment in microbial innovation & integration into policy. buff.ly/Im93WQV