François Rousset

CBASS is a cyclic nucleotide-based antiviral system in bacteria that is related to cGAS-STING signaling in animals. One of the big questions is how CBASS is activated during phage infection? We made some progress on this during my final year in the Kranzusch lab.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Out today: We discovered new viral proteins that target immune signaling molecules, solely based on their AlphaFold-predicted shapes

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Congrats Nitzan Tal and coauthors! Thank you Kranzusch lab for the fun collaboration!

Linking below previous thread on our findings

@nitzantal.bsky.social @romihadary.bsky.social @soreklab.bsky.social use structure prediction and in silico binding site analysis to discover viral immune evasion proteins! Exciting for our lab @reneechang.bsky.social @riveralopz.bsky.social to help with this project.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

"Remarkably, dCas12f–RNA–σE complexes drove potent gene expression in the absence of any requisite promoter motifs, with de novo transcription start sites defined exclusively by the relative distance from the dCas12f-mediated R-loop." 🤯

Ground-breaking studies reveal the mechanism of "natural CRISPRa" 🤩

Looking forward to seeing all the technological applications !

Out now! In collaboration with Leifu Chang, we uncover the molecular and structural underpinnings of CRISPR-Cas12f-like RNA-guided transcription systems!

Links to the published articles:
tinyurl.com/55kpavet
tinyurl.com/sk6djwx3

Previous thread for the preprint:
bsky.app/profile/did:...

New post-doctoral research position in my phage-host interactions (Phi) laboratory in @otagomicroimmuno.bsky.social at @universityofotago.bsky.social New Zealand. The project is focused on defences against jumbo phages. Please share and if interested apply using the link in the comments.

In our latest work, we characterise the Tmn defence system. We reveal plasmolysis as a new way to block phage infection, dramatically reducing secondary infections.

🎉 We are thrilled to share our latest study revealing a new mechanism by which Legionella pneumophila evades antibiotic killing via reversible genetic variation mediated by integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs).
📖 Here for the full story:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A while back, we showed that P2-like phages and their P4-like satellites encode hotspots of defense systems.

Great work from @jmouradesousa.bsky.social et al. majorly expands the diversity of these systems and explores gene flows with other MGEs 🤩 Striking that P2s and P4s never exchange systems !

Congratulations to Sonomi Yamaguchi for her paper at @nature.com. Sonomi discovered Clover defense and explained how nucleotide signals control each step of viral sensing, immune regulation, and viral restriction – named for her beautiful "four-leaf" structures 🍀

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

Chemical inhibition of a bacterial immune system Bacteriophages are promising alternatives to antibiotics for treating bacterial infections. However, bacteria possess immune systems that neutralize bacteriophages. Zang et al. discover small molecule...

Chemical inhibition of a bacterial immune system

Small molecules inhibit type II Thoeris anti-phage systems from diverse bacteria. One compound, IP6C, improves phage-therapy against P. aeruginosa & is effective against Thoeris in polymicrobial communities
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

New layers to the NAD+ immune arms race - it’s a never ending fight!🦠🧪

I was very happy to contribute to this story. Congratulations Ilya for an amazing discovery!!🎉

🧬 Metabolic arms race continues!
We discovered a new NAD⁺-depleting bacterial immune system aRES and phage enzymes that overcome it.
Our preprint is out: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Great new story from Sophie Helaine and Molly Sargen!

www.helainelab.com

Postdoctoral position - Synthetic Biology / Bacterial Immunity - Research The Bikard lab at Institut Pasteur in Paris is seeking to hire postdoctoral researchers. We are investigating bacteria / bacteriophages interactions, and the genetic innovation that happens at this in...

🚨 Hiring Alert! 🚨My lab at Institut Pasteur is recruiting several Postdocs! We have exciting open projects in: 🦠 Synthetic Biology and🛡️ Bacterial Immunity. Come do great science with us in the middle of Paris! 🇫🇷🥐 research.pasteur.fr/en/job/postd...

Wow 😮 Phage-mediated degradation of the bacterial genome generates di-nucleotides that are sensed by the ApeA defense system ! Beautiful structures and elegant mechanism !

Hello world! I am excited to announce my lab is open at the University of Utah in the Department of Biochemistry. We are looking for scientists at all levels interested in studying host-virus interactions in both bacteria and animals. Come join us in beautiful Utah! (photo is 10 steps from lab)

Congrats Philip !! A very well deserved recognition of the pioneering science done in your lab 👏

Poste de MCU en Bacteriologie - Département de Biologie ENS de Lyon / CIRI :
ciri.ens-lyon.fr/teams/I2BA/n...

Preprint out: We characterise PUA-Cal-HAD, a widespread bacterial antiphage defence family. An infection cue switches a preassembled complex into an immune filament that drains dNTPs via a coupled two-enzyme cascade, and phage DNA mimics can block filament assembly (anti-polymerisation).

A phage protein screen identifies triggers of the bacterial innate immune system - Nature Microbiology A library of 400 phage protein-coding genes is used to find a trove of antiphage systems, revealing systems that target tail fibre and major capsid proteins.

I’m thrilled to share our work on phage triggers of the bacterial immune system in its final form @natmicrobiol.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Bien évidemment, il me semblait que "maître de conférence" couvrait tous les genres mais je me trompe peut-être !

🚨L'ENS de Lyon recrute un.e maître de conférence qui rejoindra le CIRI pour développer ses recherches sur l'immunité bactérienne, les transferts horizontaux et les MGE.

📖 Une très belle opportunité d'enseigner à des étudiants brillants tout en menant des recherches excitantes !

Une opportunité unique de former des étudiants talentueux à la biologie des bactéries à l'ENS Lyon et mener des recherches sur les phages, l'immunité bactérienne, le transfert génétique horizontal (HGT) et/ou les éléments génétiques mobiles au sein du département de bactériologie du CIRI.

Happy to share our recent preprint:
"DNA-intercalating antiphage molecules trigger abortive infection through mutual destruction and synergize with bacterial immunity"

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

@spp2330.bsky.social, @mibinet.bsky.social, @dfg.de @hhu.de @fzj.bsky.social

Here, we find that many Genomic islands have origins of transfer (oriT) mobilisable by conjugation, incl. known Pathogenicity & defense islands. iOriT use only an oriT for transfer by hitching on conjugative elements: they make abundant, diverse, ancient families of mobile genetic elements. See🧵

I'm humbled to receive the Paoletti Prize awarded by @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social 😌 and very grateful to present and past mentors !

I'm recruiting 1-2 grad students through the AITHYRA-CeMM PhD program! Applications are due January 30th. This is a fully-funded PhD program, combining AI and biology to advance biological discovery. Please forward to anyone who may be interested! You can apply here: apply.cemm.at

Diverse bacterial pattern recognition receptors sense the conserved phage proteome Recognition of foreign molecules inside cells is critical for immunity in all domains of life. Proteins of the STAND NTPase superfamily, including eukaryotic nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain ...

🧫 🧪 We’re so excited to share our new preprint, where we tackle the wealth of structural and functional diversity across antiviral STAND NTPases in bacteria.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...