Luca Troman
@lucatroman.bsky.social
CryoEM of bacterial filaments and eukaryotic cytoskeleton. Postdoc within the Ghosal Lab at University of Melbourne, Australia. Formally at Birkbeck, University of Bristol.
Pinned
Luca Troman
@lucatroman.bsky.social
· Feb 6
🌀 We solved the structure for T. denticola periplasmic flagella!
I'm very happy to finally showcase this work. A huge collaborative effort between myself, @bindusmitapaul.bsky.social, @debnathghosal.bsky.social, Jack Kim, @banfieldlab.bsky.social, Eric Reynolds and the Chris Fenno lab.
🦠 Enjoy!
I'm very happy to finally showcase this work. A huge collaborative effort between myself, @bindusmitapaul.bsky.social, @debnathghosal.bsky.social, Jack Kim, @banfieldlab.bsky.social, Eric Reynolds and the Chris Fenno lab.
🦠 Enjoy!
Reposted by Luca Troman
Quinone-transporting filaments extend the respiratory chain of Gram positive bacteria www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.26.734721v1 #cryoem
June 28, 2026 at 7:10 AM
Quinone-transporting filaments extend the respiratory chain of Gram positive bacteria www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.26.734721v1 #cryoem
Reposted by Luca Troman
CPR bacteria form a superphylum that may account for 15–50% of all bacterial diversity (!!), yet we know remarkably little about them. Recently, we showed that the dwarf CPR bacterium JR1 entangles its host with specialized filaments and kills using a lance-like structure. 🦠⚔️
June 13, 2026 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Luca Troman
This Visual-omics approach is kind of amazing: "We resolved each to sufficient
resolution (2.8 and 3.6 Å) to predict the amino acid composition directly from the 3D electrostatic potential map"
resolution (2.8 and 3.6 Å) to predict the amino acid composition directly from the 3D electrostatic potential map"
By using visual-omics, we managed to assign the molecular identity of these filaments directly from structure, without relying on sequence homology. It turned out to be a completely novel filament system, never before described in any bacteria.
June 13, 2026 at 11:09 AM
This Visual-omics approach is kind of amazing: "We resolved each to sufficient
resolution (2.8 and 3.6 Å) to predict the amino acid composition directly from the 3D electrostatic potential map"
resolution (2.8 and 3.6 Å) to predict the amino acid composition directly from the 3D electrostatic potential map"
Excited to be presenting this work today at the 3DEM Gordon Research Seminar and later this week at the Gordon Research Conference. Looking forward to the discussions and feedback!
www.grc.org/three-dimens...
www.grc.org/three-dimens...
June 13, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Excited to be presenting this work today at the 3DEM Gordon Research Seminar and later this week at the Gordon Research Conference. Looking forward to the discussions and feedback!
www.grc.org/three-dimens...
www.grc.org/three-dimens...
Reposted by Luca Troman
New paper alert!! We just discovered a new filament system that is widespread exclusively within CPR bacteria! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6.... Short thread below. 🦠🔬🚀
A Novel Pilus System in Candidate Phyla Radiation Bacteria
The Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR) represents a bacterial superphylum estimated to include between 15–50% of all bacterial species, yet CPR bacteria remain challenging to culture and have been primar...
www.biorxiv.org
June 12, 2026 at 3:20 PM
New paper alert!! We just discovered a new filament system that is widespread exclusively within CPR bacteria! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6.... Short thread below. 🦠🔬🚀
Reposted by Luca Troman
Join #EMBOCryoEM to get a comprehensive foundation in advanced single-particle and cellular tomography techniques – we'll cover the entire workflow from sample preparation to data collection and image processing.
https://s.embl.org/cry26-01-bl
Apply by: 11 May 2026
@embo.org
https://s.embl.org/cry26-01-bl
Apply by: 11 May 2026
@embo.org
March 11, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Join #EMBOCryoEM to get a comprehensive foundation in advanced single-particle and cellular tomography techniques – we'll cover the entire workflow from sample preparation to data collection and image processing.
https://s.embl.org/cry26-01-bl
Apply by: 11 May 2026
@embo.org
https://s.embl.org/cry26-01-bl
Apply by: 11 May 2026
@embo.org
Reposted by Luca Troman
My first manuscript in MPI colours! With @tothpetroczylab.bsky.social, we show that AlphaFold PAE-derived contact probabilities are well calibrated to the fraction of true interface contacts across experimentally determined protein dimers.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
March 4, 2026 at 8:45 AM
My first manuscript in MPI colours! With @tothpetroczylab.bsky.social, we show that AlphaFold PAE-derived contact probabilities are well calibrated to the fraction of true interface contacts across experimentally determined protein dimers.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I am very grateful to @lorneproteins.bsky.social for the opportunity to speak and share my work! Such a great atmosphere, thank you for the warm welcome and excellent questions.
S3: Luca Troman-Spirochete flagellar motors rotate in opposite directions; periplasmic flagella are more complex.
Treponema denticola. 2 motors, thick and thin flagella. SPA Native flagella isolation w optiprep cushion, inner core, outer sheath, mystery density - modelangelo! 🕵♀️
#lorneproteins2026
Treponema denticola. 2 motors, thick and thin flagella. SPA Native flagella isolation w optiprep cushion, inner core, outer sheath, mystery density - modelangelo! 🕵♀️
#lorneproteins2026
February 9, 2026 at 12:03 AM
I am very grateful to @lorneproteins.bsky.social for the opportunity to speak and share my work! Such a great atmosphere, thank you for the warm welcome and excellent questions.
🌀 We solved the structure for T. denticola periplasmic flagella!
I'm very happy to finally showcase this work. A huge collaborative effort between myself, @bindusmitapaul.bsky.social, @debnathghosal.bsky.social, Jack Kim, @banfieldlab.bsky.social, Eric Reynolds and the Chris Fenno lab.
🦠 Enjoy!
I'm very happy to finally showcase this work. A huge collaborative effort between myself, @bindusmitapaul.bsky.social, @debnathghosal.bsky.social, Jack Kim, @banfieldlab.bsky.social, Eric Reynolds and the Chris Fenno lab.
🦠 Enjoy!
February 6, 2026 at 4:23 AM
🌀 We solved the structure for T. denticola periplasmic flagella!
I'm very happy to finally showcase this work. A huge collaborative effort between myself, @bindusmitapaul.bsky.social, @debnathghosal.bsky.social, Jack Kim, @banfieldlab.bsky.social, Eric Reynolds and the Chris Fenno lab.
🦠 Enjoy!
I'm very happy to finally showcase this work. A huge collaborative effort between myself, @bindusmitapaul.bsky.social, @debnathghosal.bsky.social, Jack Kim, @banfieldlab.bsky.social, Eric Reynolds and the Chris Fenno lab.
🦠 Enjoy!
It has been great to be part of this team, thank you to everyone involved!
Wonderful collaboration with #EricReynolds, #JillBanfield, and #ChrisFenno labs. Terrific effort from @lucatroman.bsky.social who drove the high-resolution work, great support from @bindusmitapaul.bsky.social and #JackKim, @CCeMMP, @UniMelbMDHS, @CGCPT.
February 5, 2026 at 10:02 PM
It has been great to be part of this team, thank you to everyone involved!
Reposted by Luca Troman
Wonderful spirochete asymmetric flagellar structural work by @lucatroman.bsky.social Grateful to be part of the story supported by @debnathghosal.bsky.social
📣 New paper alert! This is a story of molecular tricks that let spirochetes (spiral-shaped bacteria) drill through tissue. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
February 5, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Wonderful spirochete asymmetric flagellar structural work by @lucatroman.bsky.social Grateful to be part of the story supported by @debnathghosal.bsky.social
Reposted by Luca Troman
📣 New paper alert! This is a story of molecular tricks that let spirochetes (spiral-shaped bacteria) drill through tissue. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
February 5, 2026 at 2:19 PM
📣 New paper alert! This is a story of molecular tricks that let spirochetes (spiral-shaped bacteria) drill through tissue. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🌀 How do spirochete bacteria swim through thick fluids like champions?
We solved T. denticola flagella structure - asymmetric proteins expand one side, compress the other for perfect corkscrew motion!
@debnathghosal.bsky.social
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#StructuralBiology #CryoEM #Microbiology
We solved T. denticola flagella structure - asymmetric proteins expand one side, compress the other for perfect corkscrew motion!
@debnathghosal.bsky.social
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#StructuralBiology #CryoEM #Microbiology
February 5, 2026 at 6:37 AM
🌀 How do spirochete bacteria swim through thick fluids like champions?
We solved T. denticola flagella structure - asymmetric proteins expand one side, compress the other for perfect corkscrew motion!
@debnathghosal.bsky.social
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#StructuralBiology #CryoEM #Microbiology
We solved T. denticola flagella structure - asymmetric proteins expand one side, compress the other for perfect corkscrew motion!
@debnathghosal.bsky.social
🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...
#StructuralBiology #CryoEM #Microbiology