Dear colleagues in science - it is time to stop normalising the emerging fascism of the US by attending conferences there as though everything is fine.

I’m happy to share that our latest work is now published and available open access in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social .

Many thanks to Ingrid Richter, Katharina Dornblut, Alicia, and Christian Hertweck for our excellent collaboration 🎉

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

🎓 Open PhD position at the interface of natural product discovery & biotechnology in our group!

In this interdisciplinary project in collaboration with the Bio Pilot Plant, you will develop co-cultivation methods for mosses and bacteria to trigger the production of novel natural products. 🦠↔️ 🌱

Schaut dieses Video. Verbreitet es weiter. Beobachtet, wie der Journalismus die entsprechende Entwicklung in Deutschland begleitet. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHdU...

bottle with yellow pigmented substance

🤓New insights into biomass utilization: Researchers at @leibniz-hki.de and @mpi-ce.bsky.social I-CE have decoded the structure of the 🟡"Yellow Affinity Substance" from A. thermocellus, a pigment that binds cellulose and could boost biofuel production and antibiotic research.
#biotech #research #ERC

The graphic shows how the bacterium Pandoraea sputorum absorbs iron (Fe³⁺) with the help of pandorabactins and thus competes with other lung bacteria for this resource.

Blue-colored scanning electron micrograph shows numerous oval bacterial cells of Pandoraea sputorum in dense distribution.

Pandorae bacteria produce #pandorabactins to steal #iron from other microbes, thus limiting competitors in the diseased lung of patients with cystic fibrosis or sepsis, as we show in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social Int Ed. #NewPaper #NaturalProducts #LeibnizHKI
🔎 PR: lmy.de/VoJXp
📖 Paper: lmy.de/mGWPV

I'm happy that our latest study has been accepted in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social! This work elucidates the final steps of malleicyprol biosynthesis.
A big thank you to all co-authors for their contributions to this project.
Full article: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Many thanks to all the authors, especially @jonasfiedler.bsky.social for leading this study!

Thiotemplated Polyketide Chain Fusion and Reductive Cyclization Build the Reactive Butenolide Core of Malleicyprol Malleicyprol, a virulence factor of notorious animal and human pathogens of the Burkholderia pseudomallei (BP) group, features a molecular cyclopropanol warhead linked to a reactive butenolide core. ...

Excited to share the second publication of my PhD published in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social! Using chemical synthesis, full in vitro reconstitution and trapping of intermediates, we elucidated the final steps in the biosynthesis of the virulence factor malleicyprol. 🧪
doi.org/10.1002/anie...

X-Post von Schloss Ettersburg mit Ankündigung eines Auftritts von Karlheinz Weißmann, 20.5.2025.

„Karlheinz #Weißmann, einer der meinungsstärksten Vertreter des Konservatismus“. Geht’s noch, Schloss Ettersburg? Der Mann ist nicht konservativ, sondern radikaler #Geschichtsrevisionist und Vordenker der Neuen Rechten. Er gründete das rechtsextreme Institut für Staatspolitik in #Schnellroda.

My group is looking for a postdoc to explore novel chemistry in the moss microbiome! 🧪🌱🧫

If you have experience in natural product isolation and structural elucidation, apply now.

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2025

More info & apply here: 🔗 jobs.hki-jena.de/jobs/Postdoc...

The characteristic swarming behavior of the environmental bacterium Chromobacterium haemolyticum can be seen on an agar plate.

Comparison on blood agar: While the wild type of C. haemolyticum (right) shows a clear, bright hemolysis zone, the mutant lacking the gene cluster for the production of the jagaricins (left) lacks this zone.

🚨 New dual-use #Jagaricin function uncovered: it drives red blood cell destruction by C. haemolyticum, enabling infections while normally aiding survival via biofilms. A case of accidental virulence, as we show in #mBio. 🔎 doi.org/10.1128/mbio...
@microverse.bsky.social #ChemBioSys #NaturalProducts

Eine Petrischale mit Kulturen vor orangem Licht. Foto: Jens Meyer / Uni Jena

Some bacteria use a chemical radar to protect themselves from predators: how this happens, was discovered by #UniJena, @leibniz-hki.de and @unibayreuth.bsky.social with our Cluster of Excellence @microverse.bsky.social, as they reported in "Cell". 🦠

➡️ www.uni-jena.de/en/307648/pr...

Redirecting

Second publication from my previous work in the Group of Prof. Schofield @ox.ac.uk! We show that silaproline-bearing derivatives of SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors can convalently inhibit Mpro, resulting in viral progression inhibiton in cells. Great work everyone!
doi.org/10.1016/j.ej... 🧪

The dual-use virulence factors not only act as hemolysins, but also induce swarming and biofilm formation, presenting an intriguing case where features that enhance survival in the ecological niche simultaneously faciliate the switch to a pathogenic lifestyle inside a human host. 2/2

Dual-use virulence factors of the opportunistic pathogen Chromobacterium haemolyticum mediate hemolysis and colonization | mBio Despite the rising incidence of Chromobacterium haemolyticum as a serious opportunistic pathogen, there is limited information on whether the competitive traits that ensure its survival in its freshwa...

I am very excited to share the first work of my PhD published in mBio @asm.org! 🦠🧪 In short, we discovered why the opportunistic human pathogen Chromobacterium haemolyticum is hemolytic - the reason are jagaricins, a family of cyclic lipodepsipeptides! #secmet 1/2 journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Fun day with motivated students! 🦠🧪

The photo shows a light blue gloved hand handling a metallic frame containing microscope slides with biological samples on them. The frame is being inserted into or removed from a white laboratory instrument, likely used for imaging or analysis. The setting is a laboratory. The gloves and the specialized equipment indicate that the procedure involves precision and sterility.

#AllEyesOn our department Biomolecular Chemistry! We explore bacteria and fungi to study their microbial interactions, discover and identify pharmacologically relevant bioactive compounds or toxins and elucidate their biosynthetic pathways. lmy.de/rBnwi