Félix Ramos-León

Excited to share my latest work in the @ramamurthilab.bsky.social, now in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social! We show that division geometry organizes surface adhesins in S. aureus and enables the formation of abscess communities that protect bacteria from immune cells. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Great department with great people! 😊

🧬 How do bacteria open a molecular ring to start DNA replication? Excited to share our new work in @narjournal.bsky.social @academic.oup.com, where we reveal how the ancestral helicase loader DciA opens the replicative helicase DnaB. @cib-csic.bsky.social 🧵👇 🔗 academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Our story on an altORF-encoded microprotein is available on BioRxiv now ☺️

I’m very excited to share the first big project from my PhD (my first proper-first, yay!) where we use cryoET and a fun new flavour of CLEM to study the re-organisation of photosynthetic machinery of cyanobacteria growing beyond the red limit of light. doi.org/10.64898/202...

The relevance of GGCC methylation for cyanobacterial gene expression regulation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.20.760421v1

MapZ phosphorylation drives EzrA recruitment to the future division site of #Streptococcus pneumoniae. New study from Cassandra Lenoir, Hugo Millat, Christophe Grangeasse and colleagues @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social: rupress.org/jcb/article/... #Microbiology #CellCycle #CellDivision

A DTP PhD opportunity in our group: Breaking Code: Deciphering the Biology of the Selfless Virus-like Gene Transfer Agents. Come help us figuring out!!! retweet = nice. Thank you!!! Apply 👉 shorturl.at/1v9ms #PhD #Microsky #phages #GTA #Caulobacter

Visualization of co-transcriptional binding of an E. coli rRNA methyltransferase RsmB and importance of rsmB in cellular fitness. #RNASky www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New in JB: Zhan, Du et al. provide evidence that in the elongasome, MreC alternates between an active and an inactive state and interacts with PBP2 and RodZ, indicating a key regulatory role for RodZ. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriol @microsky.bsky.social

Our Biochem Dept is hiring! Come join us! Please Repost! 👍

🫳 Topological, Functional, and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Cell Division Site Selection Protein MinJ of Bacillus subtilis in: Molecular Microbiology | Microbiology Journal | Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #subtiwiki #subtilis @molecularmicro.bsky.social

Two PhD opportunities in our lab: 1. What do bacterial NLR proteins do beyond phage defence? Join us to explore how these proteins regulate viability, multicellular development and antibiotic production in Streptomyces. Apply 👉 shorturl.at/N8Abx #PhD #Microsky #Bioinformatics #Streptomyces

Cool new super-res imaging tools for bacteria from @michriscopy.bsky.social lab! A simple platform for in situ DNA-PAINT optimization enables improved multiplexed super-resolution imaging in Gram-negative bacteria www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

1/10 I am thrilled to announce my first first-author preprint, now live on bioRxiv! This focuses on my favorite little protein, GpsB, and its ties to fosfomycin resistance through phosphoregulation in S. aureus (a 🧵) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I am so proud of this work spearheaded by @lilymcknight.bsky.social! In this ~4-year effort, we reveal that the presence of GpsB is crucial for cell wall stress response and antibiotic resistance (via Stk/PknB and VraSR) in S. aureus. See the thread below for more info! #MicroSky #AMR #ProudPI

MinC influences the Min oscillation period in Escherichia coli by priming MinD on the membrane https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756812v1

I am delighted to share our latest paper on mycomembrane protein assembly which came out last week in @pnas.org This was a fantastic collaboration between my former colleague, Elizabeth (#Betsy) Hart, and my first PhD student, Dieuwertje (#Didi) de Bruin. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... (1/n)

Diverse S-layer anchoring mechanisms create an epiplasmic space in prokaryotic cell envelopes. Our review with @bupbuse.bsky.social and @vikramalva.bsky.social discussing a cellular compartment created by the S-layer out in Current Opinion in Microbiology. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Flagellar toxicity: Flagellar synthesis is lytic for Bacillus subtilis in the absence of PBP1 | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Identification of a novel RNA-modifying enzyme! RlmS! #SubtiWiki www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Join us and become my colleague! The School of Biological Sciences is opening the search for an Assistant Professor in the field of Host-Microbe Interactions with the targeted start date of Fall 2027. Please reach out to me with any questions you have: jobsearch.illinoisstate.edu/jobs/assista...

We (Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech) are #hiring TWO tenure-track Molecular Microbiology professors! Review of applications starts 1 Nov. I'm happy to answer questions about the department, VT, life in Blacksburg, etc.! More info / to apply: jobs.apply.vt.edu/jobs/assista... 🧪👩‍🔬🦠 #academicjobs

A microbiome-derived metabolite from Staphylococcus epidermidis inhibits Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation and virulence https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.23.753553v1

Bacillus subtilis biofilm formation is strongly stimulated by manganese. New results from Sachla et al. show that a Mn export protein (MeeY) and YybP are important for biofilm regulation, maturation, and proper matrix metalation 🎉🧪🦠 #Microsky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Interested in #archaea, #methane, #cell-envelopes? New paper out @nature.com ! We discovered an enzyme that specifically cleaves the cell wall of methanogens, revealing a new chemical structure of archaeal peptidoglycan, 50 yrs after its first description www.nature.com/articles/s41... #MicroSky 🧵👇

This is very cool @kelleygallagher.bsky.social et al Regulatory divergence and functional diversification of a c-di-GMP-controlled sigma factor in Actinomycetota doi.org/10.1128/msys...

A cis-encoded RNA interaction controls sub-operonic spoVG expression in Staphylococcus aureus https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752551v1

Applications are now being accepted for the 2027 Bacterial Cell Biology & Development GRC, June 6–11! GRS will be on June 5-6, 2027 We’ll likely be oversubscribed, so please apply early!

A two-step model of FtsZ-ring disassembly in Bacillus subtilis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.14.751412v1

Folks have known for years that adding magnesium to media rescues the lethality of deleting many 'essential' genes, but why? @eswaralab.bsky.social and @subtisilly.bsky.social say that free iron builds up in these mutants. Mg2+ mitigates this by redirecting metabolism towards limiting ROS production

Structural diversity and functional versatility in Gram-positive S-layers #microbiology #bacteria #MicroSky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

How do proteins localize in bacteria? Usually by binding to a prelocalized protein-but how does that protein localize? @vanipande.bsky.social found a #Bacillus subtilis protein that localizes via a lipid cue,undecaprenyl phosphate,that guides it to sites of PG synthesis www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Our paper (and my first first-author) is out! The alarmone pGpp inhibits translation through GTP depletion academic.oup.com/nar/article/... 🦠🚨🤠 @narjournal.bsky.social

Mycobacterial rRNA methyltransferase GidB modulates discrimination of mischarged tRNA doi.org/10.7554/eLif... #MicroSky #RNASky 🧪

Pyridoxal-phosphate-dependent biosynthesis of aminovaleramide by AvaS in tRNA 🦠💫 Discovery of AvaS, the enzyme cqtqlyzing ava2C modificqtion on tRNA-ile www.nature.com/articles/s41...

UNC Greensboro Department of Biology is hiring for three positions this year including one in microbiology! spartantalent.uncg.edu/postings/35918

Excited to share our preprint on Ignicoccus cell divison: only the inner membrane divides, progeny cells accumulate in cell clusters and pop-out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Great work with the labs: @buzzbaum.bsky.social @curiousdina.bsky.social @anja1.bsky.social @tbharat-lab.bsky.social

Really important from @ellinoralseth.bsky.social & @brownlab.bsky.social - a framework for defense as an evolved adaptation, in a world where ‘defense’ & ‘immune’ are often used to mean anti-infection The bacterial immune system: identifying evolved defense adaptations www.cell.com/trends/micro...

Acidic and alkaline conditions enhance Staphylococcus aureus α-toxin pore formation and cytotoxicity

Oral Actinobacteria sense and defend against parasitic epibionts https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.08.750141v1

Most cells require carbonic anhydrase and/or bicarbonate import to sustain pools of soluble inorganic carbon (SIC=CO2+HCO3-). Here, we identify proteins required for SIC homeostasis in Bacillus subtilis and identify a mutation that bypasses their requirement. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Genetic access to the obligate cyanobacterial endosymbiont Nostoc azollae within the Azolla fern host academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...

Cyclic di-AMP signalling affects cell division and penicillin susceptibility in Streptococcus pneumoniae. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.06.749708v1

Colibactin produced by a honeybee gut symbiont mediates pathogen defence: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #bee #honey @natmicrobiol.nature.com

Defining the order of assembly of the Clostridioides difficile divisome complex #microbiology #Clostridia #MicroSky @asm.org journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Sharing the link to our updated Vibrio preprint, where we compare and contrast Ecospecies with other genetic structures, and using the opportunity to fix typos and update some bluesky handles! with @danielfalush.bsky.social @whqqq.bsky.social @yjchao.bsky.social @chaooo.bsky.social

Really excited to share our new manuscript on how the #NLR protein #AfsR regulates #Streptomyces antibiotic production - and how we can use its similarity to plant NLR immune receptors to enhance this production! 📄🧵 (1/17) @johninnescentre.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Thrilled to share this insightful work of Asher King @subtisilly.bsky.social and Pilar Horigian @pilarhorigian.bsky.social! #ProudPI #MicroSky #AMR #SubtiWiki In this work, we reveal the *magic* behind the protective effects of magnesium in Bacillus subtilis. Read Asher's 🧵 below for more details.

I hadn't thought about the problem of division site selection in a long time. Really cool to see these new studies shining fresh light on such a fundamental question. Especially checkout this work by @aducret.bsky.social & Christophe Grangeasse: doi.org/10.1038/s415...