Nora Pyenson
@norapyenson.bsky.social
Postdoc at NYU
www.norapyenson.com
www.norapyenson.com
Reposted by Nora Pyenson
Happy to see our work on the evolution of antiviral repertoires in P4-like satellites and their P2-like helper phages (check out the 🧵 👇) out in @narjournal.bsky.social
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
#phagesky #MicroSky #evosky
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
#phagesky #MicroSky #evosky
Shuttling, swapping, and mixing: the rapid modular evolution of antiviral repertoires in temperate phages and their satellites
Abstract. Interactions between bacteria, bacteriophages, and their satellites are shaped by a myriad of defence and counter-defence mechanisms. Here, we id
doi.org
September 20, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Happy to see our work on the evolution of antiviral repertoires in P4-like satellites and their P2-like helper phages (check out the 🧵 👇) out in @narjournal.bsky.social
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
#phagesky #MicroSky #evosky
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
#phagesky #MicroSky #evosky
Reposted by Nora Pyenson
Come work with @viromehunter.bsky.social and myself at UBC! We have a postdoctoral position available for someone with an interest in bioinformatics and genomics, using sociovirology to understand disease dynamics in plant viruses.
Advert: ppvlab.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2026/0...
Advert: ppvlab.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2026/0...
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ppvlab.sites.olt.ubc.ca
September 16, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Come work with @viromehunter.bsky.social and myself at UBC! We have a postdoctoral position available for someone with an interest in bioinformatics and genomics, using sociovirology to understand disease dynamics in plant viruses.
Advert: ppvlab.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2026/0...
Advert: ppvlab.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2026/0...
Reposted by Nora Pyenson
Like a prophage being awakened from its slumber, the phage field has seen a lot of renewed activity during the last decade. Check out our new @natrevmicro.nature.com review on the temperate phage life cycle here to stay up-to-date 🧫🦠
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Revisiting the life cycle of temperate phages - Nature Reviews Microbiology
The life cycle of temperate bacteriophages involves lytic or lysogenic cycles and has historically served as a model for studying genetic regulation. This Review provides an updated overview of these ...
www.nature.com
May 20, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Like a prophage being awakened from its slumber, the phage field has seen a lot of renewed activity during the last decade. Check out our new @natrevmicro.nature.com review on the temperate phage life cycle here to stay up-to-date 🧫🦠
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Nora Pyenson
Happy to share our new work on how phages escape bacterial immunity.
We show that a phage homing endonuclease drives segmental amplification of anti-defense genes, pointing to a versatile and rapid mode of adaptation.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PhageSky #MicroSky
We show that a phage homing endonuclease drives segmental amplification of anti-defense genes, pointing to a versatile and rapid mode of adaptation.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PhageSky #MicroSky
Phage homing endonuclease amplifies anti-defense genes to evade bacterial immunity - Nature Communications
Phages employ diverse counter-defense strategies to overcome bacterial immune systems. Here, the authors reveal that the phage homing nuclease SegB facilitates immune evasion by promoting the segmenta...
www.nature.com
April 20, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Happy to share our new work on how phages escape bacterial immunity.
We show that a phage homing endonuclease drives segmental amplification of anti-defense genes, pointing to a versatile and rapid mode of adaptation.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PhageSky #MicroSky
We show that a phage homing endonuclease drives segmental amplification of anti-defense genes, pointing to a versatile and rapid mode of adaptation.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PhageSky #MicroSky
Reposted by Nora Pyenson
How to study adaptation in organisms that we can’t see, living in environments that we can’t visit? Some thoughts in our perspective piece out today in @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @biology.ox.ac.uk @stuwest.bsky.social
Studying adaptation at the invisible scale | PNAS
In order to understand adaptation by natural selection, it is necessary to observe
organisms in their natural habitat. For this reason, the field o...
www.pnas.org
February 24, 2026 at 9:28 AM
How to study adaptation in organisms that we can’t see, living in environments that we can’t visit? Some thoughts in our perspective piece out today in @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @biology.ox.ac.uk @stuwest.bsky.social
Reposted by Nora Pyenson
Excited to share a preprint of work from my postdoc with @paulturnerlab.bsky.social exploring how prophages can impact host thermal ecology and evolution. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
February 20, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Excited to share a preprint of work from my postdoc with @paulturnerlab.bsky.social exploring how prophages can impact host thermal ecology and evolution. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Nora Pyenson
We (with Clement Coclet, not on Bsky) had the chance to work on a broad "state of viromics" review. We tried to use this to give an overview of how the field changed over the last ~ 15 years, and also what we think are some of the major remaining challenges. Full-text access at -> rdcu.be/excHt
July 22, 2025 at 3:06 PM
We (with Clement Coclet, not on Bsky) had the chance to work on a broad "state of viromics" review. We tried to use this to give an overview of how the field changed over the last ~ 15 years, and also what we think are some of the major remaining challenges. Full-text access at -> rdcu.be/excHt
Is it “winner-takes all” when the simplest living things compete? Check out my fresh publication on phage coexistence in Science and a thread below🧵 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Diverse phage communities are maintained stably on a clonal bacterial host
Bacteriophages are the most abundant and phylogenetically diverse biological entities on Earth, yet the ecological mechanisms that sustain this extraordinary diversity remain unclear. In this study, w...
www.science.org
December 12, 2024 at 7:22 PM
Is it “winner-takes all” when the simplest living things compete? Check out my fresh publication on phage coexistence in Science and a thread below🧵 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Nora Pyenson
Is a healthy microbiome one that is rich in phages? Excited to share this work where we apply ecological theory on the role of parasites in ecosystems & explore whether viromes can be used as signatures of microbiome health 🦠
Phage as signatures of healthy microbiomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.18.585470v1
Phage as signatures of healthy microbiomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.18.585470v1
Parasites are foundational to ecosystem health both as indicator species of community productivity b
www.biorxiv.org
March 19, 2024 at 9:11 AM
Is a healthy microbiome one that is rich in phages? Excited to share this work where we apply ecological theory on the role of parasites in ecosystems & explore whether viromes can be used as signatures of microbiome health 🦠
Reposted by Nora Pyenson
One week left to apply to the Social Lives of Viruses 2024!
50-person meeting on viral sociality, from virology to evolution, in Puerto Rico this June. All welcome; free accommodation and registration.
Apply here: forms.gle/SvgCix9Njr8r...
#SocialViruses
#ViroSky #MicroSky #EvoSky
50-person meeting on viral sociality, from virology to evolution, in Puerto Rico this June. All welcome; free accommodation and registration.
Apply here: forms.gle/SvgCix9Njr8r...
#SocialViruses
#ViroSky #MicroSky #EvoSky
Announcing the Social Lives of Viruses 2024!
Do you study social evolution in viruses? Do you want to?
Join us in Puerto Rico this June for a 50-person meeting dedicated to viral sociality. All costs covered.
Apply here: forms.gle/sHTEcHJjryDh...
#ViroSky
#MicroSky
#EvoSky
#SocialViruses
Do you study social evolution in viruses? Do you want to?
Join us in Puerto Rico this June for a 50-person meeting dedicated to viral sociality. All costs covered.
Apply here: forms.gle/sHTEcHJjryDh...
#ViroSky
#MicroSky
#EvoSky
#SocialViruses
February 8, 2024 at 2:48 PM
One week left to apply to the Social Lives of Viruses 2024!
50-person meeting on viral sociality, from virology to evolution, in Puerto Rico this June. All welcome; free accommodation and registration.
Apply here: forms.gle/SvgCix9Njr8r...
#SocialViruses
#ViroSky #MicroSky #EvoSky
50-person meeting on viral sociality, from virology to evolution, in Puerto Rico this June. All welcome; free accommodation and registration.
Apply here: forms.gle/SvgCix9Njr8r...
#SocialViruses
#ViroSky #MicroSky #EvoSky
Reposted by Nora Pyenson
So excited to share that my paper with Rees Kassen in American Naturalist is officially typeset and available on the AmNat website!
Please check out our exploration of how ecological interactions emerge de novo as populations diversify.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Please check out our exploration of how ecological interactions emerge de novo as populations diversify.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
October 16, 2023 at 8:03 PM
So excited to share that my paper with Rees Kassen in American Naturalist is officially typeset and available on the AmNat website!
Please check out our exploration of how ecological interactions emerge de novo as populations diversify.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Please check out our exploration of how ecological interactions emerge de novo as populations diversify.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...