Mikrobiologický ústav AV ČR

This unique mechanism was described by IMIC scientists together with colleagues from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
🦠🔬🐭
Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Bacterial Pathogens

Bacteria deliver a microtubule-binding protein into mammalian cells to promote colonization Pathogenic Bordetella bacteria use protein adhesins to infect the ciliated respiratory epithelia of vertebrate hosts. In this work, we show that the filamentous hemagglutinin FhaB adhesin of Bordetell...

How Bordetella resist removal by the mucociliary “escalator” that normally clears the respiratory tract of microbes?

#paper in Science (2026). Costello et al.📄
Bacteria deliver a microtubule-binding protein into mammalian cells to promote colonization🦠
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Glycosylated mycotoxins: a hidden enemy Covering: 2010 up to 2025 (May) Mycotoxins, secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi, are highly toxic contaminants of food crops. These contaminated plants pose a significant health risk…

🔓Check out this #OpenAccess review in our latest issue by Vladimír Křen & co. @vschtpraha.bsky.social & @mbuavcr.bsky.social summarising the formation and occurrence of glycosylated mycotoxins and their transformations in the food chain #natprod

Read it in full here👇

🧠Týden mozku 2026 vám od 9. do 15. března otevře dveře do světa myšlení, paměti i emocí.

📍V Praze na Akademii věd ČR i v dalších městech Česka chystáme přednášky a workshopy pro všechny, kdo chtějí pochopit, jak tento „vnitřní kosmos“ funguje.

Great collaboration
IMIC researchers🤩Photosynthesis (R. Sobotka, M. Lukeš, L. Kovářová ) and Structural Biology and Cell Signaling (T. Smrčka, P. Man) @peterslab1.bsky.social

#CryoEM, #Photosystem

The cryo-EM structure of Photosystem I from Chromera velia with a bound superoxide dismutase heterodimer - Nature Communications The alveolate alga Chromera velia is a close relative of parasitic apicomplexans that possesses an unusual Photosystem I. Here, the authors present the cryo-EM structure of this complex, revealing sev...

@czechacademy.bsky.social 🔬The cryo-EM structure of Photosystem I from Chromera velia with a bound superoxide dismutase heterodimer. Yuan, X., Lukeš, M., Qian, P. et al.
Nat Commun (2026)
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

How can we communicate science in a society that is growing more polarized?

Tackling hate speech, anti-elitism, anti-rationalism, mistrust in scientists & populism were all discussed at SciComm 360° ➡️ www.avcr.cz/en/news-arch... @maxplanck.de @tomaskoblizek.bsky.social @flu-cas.bsky.social

Vyšší koncentrace než v čističce. Vědci z Akademie věd zkoumají zamoření jizerských stop fluorovými vosky Nemažte lyže vosky s fluorem, škodí zdraví i horám - apelují na lyžaře mikrobiologové. Profesionální lyžaři fluorové vosky už používat nesmějí. Rekreační lyžaři je ale do stop stále zanáší.

❄Cílem projektu je zhodnotit kontaminace věčnými chemikáliemi z lyžařských vosků v modelovém území chráněné oblasti CHKO Jizerské Hory.
Závodníci fluorové vosky už používat nesmí. Pro rekreační lyžaře zatím podobný zákaz neplatí. Jak vypadají průběžné výsledky👇
www.irozhlas.cz/zpravy-domov...

Colorimetric determination of the plant toxin β-cyano-l-alanine using a multistep enzyme reaction The non-proteinogenic amino acid β-cyano-l-alanine (AlaCN) is a plant toxin formed during HCN detoxification. The presence of AlaCN and its dipeptide,…

📄Publication
Colorimetric determination of the plant toxin β-cyano-l-alanine using a multistep enzyme reaction. Talanta (2026); L. Martínková, R. Příhodová, L. Rucká, M. Kotik, B. Křístková, V. Křen, P. Bojarová
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Laboratory of Biotransformation

Proč dal mikrobiolog Rufin Kouipou přednost Česku před Japonskem? V rámci MERIT hledá v @mbuavcr.bsky.social nová antibiotika. 🦠 Rufin vysvětluje, proč je pro vědce stabilita důležitější než prestižní, ale krátká stipendia. Oceňuje českou otevřenost i přímočarost.

👉 bit.ly/4qFHixF

The study reveals a previously unknown strategy in the bacterial arsenal against the antibiotic rifampicin.
🦠
dual-promoter architecture, helD, RNAP, RIF

A new paper🧬Bacteria sense the antibiotic rifampicin through a widespread dual-promoter based alarm system
Nucleic Acids Research (2026)
Lab of Microbial Genetics and Gene Expression IMIC, @iocbprague.bsky.social @ibtcas.bsky.social @akademievedcr.bsky.social

➡️ academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Mikrobiom řídí vše. Co udělat, aby lépe fungoval? Strčte ruce do hlíny, říká vědec Říká se mu druhý mozek. Mikrobiom ovlivňuje v našem těle všechno. Co mu prospívá a jak souvisí i s dlouhověkostí, vysvětluje v rozhovoru laureát Ceny Neuron Martin Schwarzer.

Bakterie v našich střevech ovlivňují naši náladu, imunitu, rychlost stárnutí i to, jestli máme chuť na 🍫 nebo 🥕🥦.
Jak „druhý mozek“ funguje a co mu prospívá, zkoumá Martin Schwarzer @schwarzergnoto.bsky.social z MBÚ @akademievedcr.bsky.social
@gnotobiology.bsky.social

➡️ forbes.cz/mikrobiom-ri...

Scientists from CEITEC @masarykuniversity.bsky.social contributed to @sciencecharles.bsky.social and @mbuavcr.bsky.social research revealing how resilient mycobacteria are able to adapt to different temperature conditions 🦠

Read more ➡️ www.ceitec.eu/how-do-bacte...

Producing Trojans: hijacking of monocyte differentiation by pathogens Pathogens can exploit the plasticity of host immune cells, such as the pathway of monocyte differentiation into macrophages and dendritic cells. This review discusses how microbial pathogens hijack th...

📄Producing Trojans: hijacking of monocyte differentiation by pathogens
Trends in Microbiology (2025)🦠
review by Jawid Nazir Ahmad & Peter Šebo
Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Bacterial Pathogens, IMIC

www.cell.com/trends/micro...

new year,
new seminar series 😉

See you on Fridays at FGÚ (IPHYS) lecture hall.

„‚K lesu zády, k Ivanovi čelem” ❄️
Michal si vezme na pomoc model a spočítá, jestli by kyj loupežníků dokázal změnit děj jedné zimní pohádky.“ 👇

Happy holidays ✨🎄🎁
and a wonderful New Year! ❤️

🧠 Can the gut affect how well multiple sclerosis treatment works? New Czech research says yes.

📄 Ocrelizumab transiently alters microbiota and modulates immune response depending on treatment outcome; Coufal, S. et al. iScience (2025)
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Bimodal expression of Type 3 Secretion System 2 enables cooperative virulence among intracellular Salmonella Typhimurium Author summary Systemic infection and survival of Salmonella within host cells depend on expression of effector proteins that manipulate host cell functions. Here, we show that expression of these eff...

📄🦠
Bimodal expression of Type 3 Secretion System 2 enables cooperative virulence among intracellular Salmonella Typhimurium
M. Pospíšilová, A. Dreus, P. Matheova, J. Schmidtova, B. Pravdova, M. Blazikova, M. Capek, O. Cerny
Laboratory of Bacterial Virulence
PLOS: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

👏🧫🦠🐭
Lucie Petrásková
Pavla Bojarová
Leoš Valášek
Martina Slaninová Kyselková
Marek Kovář
Jan Jansa
Marek Šinkora
Petra Urajová
Dagmar Šrůtková
Ondřej Prášil
Martin Schwarzer
Saurav Kumar
Peter Šebo
Alan Kádek
Jan Janouškovec
gacr.cz/ga-cr-podpor...

👏We would like to congratulate our researchers who have been awarded new GAČR projects as principal investigators as well as co-investigators!

In addition to providing substantial financial support for research, obtaining GAČR funding is a measure of high-quality scientific work.

🎉 Congratulations to our 2025 Czech Science Foundation awardees from Lab of Gnotobiology: Drs Marek Šinkora, Martin Schwarzer, Dagmar Šrůtková and Sudhanshu Shekhar
👏 A special shout-out to Dr Martin Schwarzer’s group for securing three grants this year @mbuavcr.bsky.social
gacr.cz/en/next-year...

Open Science high school internships in English offered at our @fzuavcr.bsky.social, @mbuavcr.bsky.social, @utia.cas.cz, @iocbprague.bsky.social, @ibtcas.bsky.social, @flu-cas.bsky.social, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, & Institute of Inorganic Chemistry.

Register by 30 Nov!

www.otevrenaveda.cz

Comparative gene expression analysis in closely related dermatophytes reveals secondary metabolism as a candidate driver of virulence | Microbiology Spectrum Trichophyton benhamiae var. luteum is an emerging fungal pathogen responsible for a rising number of skin infections transmitted from guinea pigs to humans, especially in Europe. We investigated why t...

The fungal skin pathogen apparently helps itself by producing toxin-like substances that facilitate infection of new hosts.

These substances can suppress the immune response and thus accelerate the spread of the pathogen among humans.

Study ➡️ journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @mbuavcr.bsky.social

Koulukiusaamisen jäljet näkyvät aivoissa vielä aikuisenakin | Verkkouutiset Koulukiusaamisen jäljet näkyvät aivoissa vielä aikuisenakin | Verkkouutiset

Today is the International Day Against Violence and Bullying at School.

An ERC-funded research has revealed that bullying triggers the same stress responses in the brain as physical threats.

Let’s continue raising awareness, offering support, and speaking up.

👉

Regenerating liver uses ammonia to support de novo pyrimidine synthesis and cell proliferation - Nature Communications The authors show that regenerating liver requires de novo pyrimidine synthesis and it uses ammonia as precursors differentially as it traverses the liver zones. Tracing studies and spatial metabolomic...

📄Regenerating liver uses ammonia to support de novo pyrimidine synthesis and cell proliferation. Nat Commun 16, 9664 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s414...
International team driven by Jiri Neuzil @ibtcas.bsky.social
🐁📊
#MassSpectrometryImaging
Laboratory of Molecular Structure Characterization, IMIC

📣 Meet the new ERC Synergy Grant awardees!

Sixty-six research teams have been selected for funding, bringing together 239 scientists. Congratulations to all!

➡️ buff.ly/PSn3bi9

#EUfunded #HorizonEurope #ERCSyG

Leoš Valášek from the Czech Academy of Sciences (Institute of Microbiology).

Julius Lukeš from the Czech Academy of Sciences (Biology Centre).

Jan Zouplna from the Czech Academy of Sciences (Oriental Institute).

Two @erc.europa.eu Synergy Grants have been awarded to @czechacademy.bsky.social researchers!

🎉 Congratulations to Leoš Valášek @mbuavcr.bsky.social and Julius Lukeš (our Biology Centre) & Jan Zouplna (our Oriental Institute). #3Stops2Go #CLOSER #ERCSyG

Details ➡️ www.avcr.cz/en/news-arch...

🦠 Kožní infekce, které se šíří od domácích morčat na lidi, způsobuje houba Trichophyton benhamiae var. luteum.

🔬 Nová studie týmu z @mbuavcr.bsky.social nyní odhaluje, proč je tak úspěšná – zřejmě si pomáhá tvorbou látek podobných toxinům.

www.avcr.cz/cs/pro-media...