Everything about phages, why they are cool, and how they dominate the microbes // Made at BlueskyFeeds.com
Feed on Bluesky
phys.org
How bacteria learned to target numerous cell types
Viruses attack nearly every living organism on Earth. To do so, they rely on highly specialized proteins that recognize and bind to receptors on the surface of target cells, a molecular arms race…
phys.org
Golden Gate method enables fully-synthetic engineering of therapeutically relevant bacteriophages
Bacteriophages have been used therapeutically to treat infectious bacterial diseases for over a century. As antibiotic-resistant infections increasingly threaten public health, interest in bacteriopha...
www.horizons-mag.ch
High hurdles for alternatives to antibiotics
Horizons (EN) - Background
www.sciencedirect.com
Chemical inhibition of a bacterial immune system
The rise of antibiotic resistance motivates a revived interest in phage therapy. However, bacteria possess dozens of anti-phage immune systems that co…
www.biorxiv.org
British Science Association@britsciassoc.bsky.social
#BSF25 was hosted by @ljmuofficial.bsky.social and @liverpooluni.bsky.social from 10-14 September. With the support of our Festival Partners, Astra Zeneca and Liverpool BID Company, we presented 114 events and installations, delivered by over 230 people across 16 central venues! 💪
www.science.org
Bacteriophages mobilize bacterial defense systems via lateral transduction
Bacteriophages and PICIs spread bacterial defenses via lateral transduction, shaping microbial immunity and pathogen evolution.
sco.lt
Scientists Sent Viruses to Space and They Evolved in Surprising Ways
When scientists sent bacteria-infecting viruses to the International Space Station, the microbes did not behave the same way they do on Earth. In microgravity, infections still occurred, but both viruses and bacteria evolved differently over time. Genetic changes emerged that altered how viruses attach to bacteria and how bacteria defend themselves. The findings could help improve phage therapies against drug-resistant infections. In a new study, terrestrial bacteria-infecting viruses were still able to infect their E. coli hosts in near-weightless "microgravity" conditions aboard the International Space Station, but the dynamics of virus-bacteria interactions differed from those observed on Earth. Phil Huss of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A., and colleagues present these findings January 13thin the open-access journal PLOS Biology. Interactions between phages -- viruses that infect bacteria -- and their hosts play an integral role in microbial ecosystems. Often described as being in an evolutionary "arms race," bacteria can evolve defenses against phages, while phages develop new ways to thwart defenses. While virus-bacteria interactions have been studied extensively on Earth, microgravity conditions alter bacterial physiology and the physics of virus-bacteria collisions, disrupting typical interactions. However, few studies have explored the specifics of how phage-bacteria dynamics differ in microgravity. To address that gap, Huss and colleagues compared two sets of bacterial E. coli samples infected with a phage known as T7 -- one set incubated on Earth and the other aboard the International Space Station. Analysis of the space-station samples showed that, after an initial delay, the T7 phage successfully infected the E. coli. However, whole-genome sequencing revealed marked differences in both bacterial and viral genetic mutations between the Earth samples versus the microgravity samples. The space-station phages gradually accumulated specific mutations that could boost phage infectivity or their ability to bind receptors on bacterial cells. Meanwhile, the space-station E. coli accumulated mutations that could protect against phages and enhance survival success in near-weightless conditions. The researchers then applied a high-throughput technique known as deep mutational scanning to more closely examine changes in the T7 receptor binding protein, which plays a key role in infection, revealing further significant differences between microgravity versus Earth conditions. Additional experiments on Earth linked these microgravity-associated changes in the receptor binding protein to increased activity against E. coli strains that cause urinary tract infections in humans and are normally resistant to T7. Overall, this study highlights the potential for phage research aboard the ISS to reveal new insights into microbial adaption, with potential relevance to both space exploration and human health. The authors add, "Space fundamentally changes how phages and bacteria interact: infection is slowed, and both organisms evolve along a different trajectory than they do on Earth. By studying those space-driven adaptations, we identified new biological insights that allowed us to engineer phages with far superior activity against drug-resistant pathogens back on Earth." Published January 2026: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003568
www.biorxiv.org
Genomic epidemiology of Ukraine conflict-associated Klebsiella pneumoniae reveals the emergence of a high-risk clone with a hybrid virulence-resistance plasmid vulnerable to lytic phages
As antimicrobial resistance continues to rise and the development of new antimicrobials lags, we face an urgent threat where routine infections could become life-threatening. Armed conflicts, like the Russian war on Ukraine, intensify this crisis by accelerating the emergence and spread of resistant organisms across regions and borders. Phage Support Ukraine (Phage Sp UKR) is a collaborative effort to provide phages targeting circulating pathogens in Ukraine for delivery of personalized phage therapies. Within this context, we received multidrug-resistant bacterial isolates belonging to a number of different species. We here focus on Klebsiella pneumoniae , the most concerning pathogen with regard to prevalence, virulence and antibiotic resistance. Among the K. pneumoniae isolates, we identified sequence types (ST) 39, 101, 147, 307 and 395, as well as a predominating clonal group—CG10146 (ST23 KL57), first detected in Moscow—carrying a hybrid virulence-resistance plasmid encoding NDM-1 and aerobactin. Over two years (2023–2025), this clonal group expanded and acquired pan-resistance. When tested in virulence assays, only one isolate (ST395) displayed hypervirulence in a Galleria mellonella though not in a mouse infection model. Several phages isolated from Ukrainian sewage were able to lyse these K. pneumoniae strains, including strains obtained from soldiers displaced in Belgium, Germany, and Latvia. Bacterial resistance was observed during in vitro testing. However, some phage-resistant isolates had mutations in virulence factors, including one that completely lost its hybrid plasmid, resulting in restored antibiotic susceptibility. Strategies like Phage Sp UKR are essential to prevent the selection, persistence, and global spread of these MDR clones. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
Rob Edwards 
