Lori L. Burrows

🧵 Proud to present a tour de force by postdoc @gregbwhitfield.bsky.social solving the mystery of how bacterial Tad pili can extend and retract with a single motor ATPase. Great collaboration with Lynne Howell, @dr-lori-burrows.bsky.social, @ianyyen.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Beautiful, now I can retire 😁

Happy International Day for Women and Girls in Science! @mcmasteriidr.bsky.social @mcmasternexus.bsky.social @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) | Biofilm Research Center | Binghamton University

Summer REU in biofilms! Pls share.
www.binghamton.edu/centers/biof...

A bar graph showing the differences in fractional inhibitory concentrations of beta lactam-adjuvant combinations against MRSA versus MSSA, where synergy is lost in MSSA.

Are you trying to kill #MRSA? The Burrows & the Pinho labs are too, and we found that an old anti-inflammatory compound can resensitize it to pen G and other beta lactams in a wall teichoic acid-dependent way, but unlike other WTA adjuvants. @mcmasteriidr.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Now available - PhD student Veronica Tran reviews the importance of identifying & reporting #phage receptors to build better therapeutic cocktails with diverse #bacteriophages for tough pathogens like #Pseudomonas
journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10....
@mcmasteriidr.bsky.social @mcmasternexus.bsky.social

Canada’s research and scientific spending is declining relative to other nations, report says Low rate of R&D investment plays key role in productivity crisis, according to Council of Canadian Academies

The report, issued Tuesday by the Council of Canadian Academies, takes a comprehensive look at the state of science and technology in Canada – the first such assessment since 2018. At its focus is the role that research and development plays in economic growth across the country.

New paper alert! PhD candidate Veronica Tran asked what types of resistance mutations were selected in #Pseudomonas by type IV pilus-specific #phages & whether they were reversible, Qs relevant to #phagetherapy - she got some interesting answers! Read the paper here: www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Twitching motility suppressors reveal a role for FimX in type IV pilus extension dynamics Author summary Type IV pili enable Pseudomonas aeruginosa to attach to surfaces, move (twitch), and form biofilms. Pilus extension is powered by the motor protein PilB, which is regulated by other fac...

New paper alert! We used our fav technique, genetic suppression, to understand how FimX controls function of the T4P PilB motor ATPase in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Great collab with the Ellison lab at U Georgia who helped with some fancy microscopy to capture pilus dynamics! doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Separation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa type IV pilus-dependent twitching motility and surface-sensing responses | mBio The ability of bacteria to sense and respond to contact with surfaces is important for triggering changes in secondary messenger levels and gene expression, leading to the formation of biofilms and in...

New paper! Specific PilA and PilY1 sequences make PilU dispensable for T4P-dependent twitching motility in P. aeruginosa. However, most suppressors still had high cAMP levels from loss of PilU, showing that motility and surface sensing responses can be uncoupled.🧐 ⏩ journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

@knutdrescher.bsky.social is advertising a PhD position in their group in Basel 🇨🇭 with a focus on bacterial biofilms

Application deadline: 14 November 2025

www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/open-positio...

Such a fun project & massive team effort. We sampled tree cores my 1st yr of grad school then took a year to figure out how to grind wood… ! But we were amazed to find such a complex & unexpected ecosystem inside trees. And we’ve just scratched the surface! We explored 150 trees— 3 trillion to go!

Zip "prevents internalization and destruction of newly released phage progeny, a phenomenon that we call the anti-Kronos effect after the Greek god who consumed his offspring. Zip activity promotes the accumulation of free phages in bacterial lysogen communities, thereby enhancing viral spread."

Twitching motility suppressors reveal a role for FimX in type IV pilus extension dynamics In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, retractable protein filaments called type IV pili (T4P) facilitate surface adherence, sensing, and directional movement known as twitching motility. T4P are necessary for th...

New paper alert! PhD candidate Nathan Roberge is studying regulation of the #T4P assembly ATPase PilB and identified suppressors of FimX with enhanced motility. Where did they map? Find out here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Conformational changes in the motor ATPase CpaF facilitate a rotary mechanism of Tad pilus assembly - Nature Communications The bacterial Tad pilus extends and retracts using a single bifunctional ATPase CpaF. Here, the authors employ cryo-EM, fluorescent microscopy, and AlphaFold modelling to propose how a rotary mechanis...

Lovely work by @ianyyen.bsky.social and @gregwhitfield99.bsky.social on the bifunctional ATPase that powers assembly and disassembly of #T4cP type IV pili! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Nifty - circular pilins! Cryo-EM structure of the conjugation H-pilus reveals the cyclic nature of the TrhA pilin | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Against Optimization We are bombarded by messages telling us to worship the gods of efficiency and optimization, life hacking our way to prosperity. It's a trap. Resilience is a smarter, sturdier goal.

While I watch chaotic dismantling efforts in the name of efficiency: 'Few humans on their deathbed have celebrated their achievement of “Inbox Zero.”'
www.forkingpaths.co/p/against-op...

If I was 30 years younger...awesome lab!

Please repost!!!!!
Abstraction submission for the next Great Wall Symposium is now open!
Come to Sicily in September and learn the latest on bacterial cell wall biology.
thegreatwall-symposium.org/abstract-sub...

Great week at BLAST XVIII in Cancún - terrific science and conversations with smart people, plus no polar vortex!

Distribution of the four type VI secretion systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and classification of their core and accessory effectors - Nature Communications Populations of a single bacterial species can possess a great diversity of type VI secretion systems (T6SSs) and secreted effectors. Here, Habich et al. apply molecular population genetics to the T6SS...

Distribution of the four type VI secretion systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and classification of their core and accessory effectors

@naturecomms.bsky.social from Daniel Unterweger

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Confirmed speakers for the next Great Wall Symposium is coming along! thegreatwall-symposium.org/program/
Abstracts will open next week 15th so start thinking!
September 15-17th, Catania, Sicily

Its a Microbiological opportunity you cant refuse!

Bird flu will be the next pandemic unless health officials take 6 critical steps, experts say The time for urgency, the experts say, is now.

“Now is the time to halt the spread of #H5N1 that is encroaching all around us.”—Bright

6 steps that Biden or Trump admin can take now to prevent a pandemic...
fortune.com/well/2025/01...
#BlueSky  #MedSky 🧪 #IDSky #scisky #medtwitter #EMSky #EMedSky #nurseSky #MedEd #fmSky #PedSky #birdflu

🤯

Streptomyces secretes a siderophore that sensitizes competitor bacteria to phage infection - Nature Microbiology A secondary metabolite sensitizes competitor Bacillus subtilis to a wide panel of lytic phages by sequestering iron and preventing the activation of Spo0A.

Another newly discovered mechanism of bacteria inhibiting competitors - increasing their sensitivity to phages - fascinating
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Trojan horse peptide conjugates remodel the activity spectrum of clinical antibiotics doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Bacteria use exogenous peptidoglycan as a danger signal to trigger biofilm formation - Nature Microbiology Peptidoglycan released by neighbouring kin or non-kin cell lysis induces physiological changes that protect from a range of stresses, including phage predation.

We found that many bacterial species use exogenous peptidoglycan fragments - released by lysis of neighboring cells - as a general danger signal, triggering a danger response that protects bacteria against many dangers: biofilm formation.

Details here 👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Bacteria use exogenous peptidoglycan as a danger signal to trigger biofilm formation - Nature Microbiology Peptidoglycan released by neighbouring kin or non-kin cell lysis induces physiological changes that protect from a range of stresses, including phage predation.

Peptidoglycan as danger signal promotes biofilm formation - great article by the Drescher lab

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Lay abstracts are hard. It's surprisingly difficult to thread the needle between: "Streptomyces are Gram-positive actinobacteria that biosynthesise a spectrum of bioactive metabolites," and "There is a tiny magic creature that lives in the soil and will make the bad-bad go away."
🧪🦠