Westermann lab

Is it anything Hfq-like (RNA chaperone)? Or similar to CsrA (global translation modulator)? We don't know yet. But as it stands, Bacteroidota RRM proteins appear as excellent candidates to map post-transcriptional networks in gut microbiota species. nature.com/articles/s4146…

We are all living in a bubble that deprives us of experiences needed to understand the true magnitude of the threat posed by the rise of multi-drug resistant infections. It would be wise to allocate resources that match the severity of the threat. science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

1/2 Please mark your calendars for the 8th Conference on Regulating with RNA in Bacteria and Archaea! The meeting will be held September 1 - 4, 2025, at the Strasbourg Convention Centre, Strasbourg, France 🇫🇷. We are very excited and hope to see as many of you as possible!

We determined gene essentiality in 13 Enterobacteriaceae including E. coli, Salmonella and Klebsiella strains, and find ~1/3 of the essential genome is variable -- but! there's no evidence for genus-specific essential genes, implying rapid turnover journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mb…

Thanks to our friends in Dublin for involving us. (-AW)

Last month, Gianluca Prezza (@prezzag) from the lab very successfully defended his PhD. 🎓Congratulations, Gianluca!!! While we will sorely miss you, we wish you the best of luck for your future endeavors with @ProfTomEllis. (-AW)

A small RNA derived from the 5' end of the IS200 tnpA transcript regulates multiple virulence pathways in Salmonella Typhimurium biorxiv.org/cgi/content/sh… #biorxiv_molbio

Happy to share the results of last 5 years' work in #Klebsiella. By performing iRIL-seq in hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (HvKP ATCC 43816), we discover that ArcZ is a core sRNA inhibitor of capsule & virulence, and that its target gene mlaA is a key virulence factor of hvKP in mice

⁦@lab_rudel⁩ introduces the basic concept of ⁦@CRC_DECIDE⁩ at #DGHMVAAM2024 after two great keynotes by ⁦@AndreasPeschel1⁩ and Mathias Hornef: 3 key decisions determine outcome of human infection!

Interested in RNA-targeting antisense technologies to manipulate and kill bacteria? Come join us in Würzburg this September -- registration is open (and free!) helmholtz-hiri.de/en/asobiotics2…

Celebrating @abaumler and his amazing impact in our lives.

The RNA landscape of the human commensal Segatella copri reveals a small RNA essential for gut colonization biorxiv.org/cgi/content/sh… #biorxiv_micrbio

Check out our newest manuscript published today in Cell Host & Microbe cell.com/cell-host-micr…

If you ever wondered why your favorite enteric bacterium does not grow well on a particular carbon source, despite carrying all the genes required for uptake & catabolism, this thread is for you ‼️ @PLOSGenetics

Very excited to finally see our study of global RNA stability in Salmonella out today in @PNASnews, where we use Bayesian statistical modeling to show bacterial transcripts have subminute half-lives, far shorter than previously thought. pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn… 1/n

Over the moon that the DFG is establishing a priority programme to elucidate gene functions in the human gut microbiome. I am delighted to be coordinating this programme with @TypasLab, @JoergLab and @baerboletta. Exciting science to come! dfg.de/de/service/pre…

5/5: Sharing our discoveries with the world! 🌍 Our data, now publicly accessible via Theta-Base (micromix.helmholtz-hiri.de/bacteroides/), serve as a valuable resource for the microbiome research community, fueling further exploration into the fascinating world of gut bacteria.

4/5: What's MasB up to? 🤔 Using MS2 affinity purification and RNA-seq, we identify MasB's target and explore its impact on bacterial phenotypes. #MasB #GeneRegulation

1/5: Molecular intricacies of gut bacteria! 🧬 Our study in @NatureMicrobiol , with colleagues from @Helmholtz_HIRI, @DeutschbauerLab , & @LBarquist groups, unveils B. thetaiotaomicron's transcriptional landscape across 15 gut conditions. nature.com/articles/s4156…