Incredibly cool new transposon biology!
Super excited to share my postdoctoral work at @imbavienna.bsky.social @viennabiocenter.bsky.social -
We discovered that some retrotransposons, or "jumping genes" 🧬, are able to spread from cell to cell via a new viral infectivity route.
A short thread: 🧵👇 (1/7)
We discovered that some retrotransposons, or "jumping genes" 🧬, are able to spread from cell to cell via a new viral infectivity route.
A short thread: 🧵👇 (1/7)
September 24, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Incredibly cool new transposon biology!
All you want for christmas is.... transposon mutagenesis!
Our new work at @cultivarium.bsky.social screening lots of transposon vectors in lots of bacteria, from @charliegilbert.bsky.social and team.
Transposon and promoter modular parts available on Addgene (pooled library will be there soon too)
Our new work at @cultivarium.bsky.social screening lots of transposon vectors in lots of bacteria, from @charliegilbert.bsky.social and team.
Transposon and promoter modular parts available on Addgene (pooled library will be there soon too)
December 24, 2025 at 3:03 PM
All you want for christmas is.... transposon mutagenesis!
Our new work at @cultivarium.bsky.social screening lots of transposon vectors in lots of bacteria, from @charliegilbert.bsky.social and team.
Transposon and promoter modular parts available on Addgene (pooled library will be there soon too)
Our new work at @cultivarium.bsky.social screening lots of transposon vectors in lots of bacteria, from @charliegilbert.bsky.social and team.
Transposon and promoter modular parts available on Addgene (pooled library will be there soon too)
piRNAs are essential for transposon silencing in the animal germline.
But how do hosts trap transposon sequences in genomic loci that help establish a piRNA response?
Looking at a natural transposon invasion, Baptiste Rafanel and Kirsten Senti made some remarkable observations.
But how do hosts trap transposon sequences in genomic loci that help establish a piRNA response?
Looking at a natural transposon invasion, Baptiste Rafanel and Kirsten Senti made some remarkable observations.
Antisense transposon insertions into host genes trigger piRNA mediated immunity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.28.667215v1
August 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM
piRNAs are essential for transposon silencing in the animal germline.
But how do hosts trap transposon sequences in genomic loci that help establish a piRNA response?
Looking at a natural transposon invasion, Baptiste Rafanel and Kirsten Senti made some remarkable observations.
But how do hosts trap transposon sequences in genomic loci that help establish a piRNA response?
Looking at a natural transposon invasion, Baptiste Rafanel and Kirsten Senti made some remarkable observations.
OUT NOW: Inducible transposon mutagenesis identifies bacterial fitness determinants during infection in mice
#microsky 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#microsky 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Inducible transposon mutagenesis identifies bacterial fitness determinants during infection in mice - Nature Microbiology
InducTn-seq, a method for inducible mutagenesis followed by transposon insertion site sequencing, enables temporal control of transposition to bypass population bottlenecks and enable the quantificati...
www.nature.com
March 27, 2025 at 4:35 PM
OUT NOW: Inducible transposon mutagenesis identifies bacterial fitness determinants during infection in mice
#microsky 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#microsky 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
PIWI clade Argonautes are essential for transposon silencing. Without them, animals are sterile due to massive transposon activity.
But how does piRNA-guided target interaction translate into silencing?
PhD student Júlia Portell Montserrat has an intriguing answer
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
But how does piRNA-guided target interaction translate into silencing?
PhD student Júlia Portell Montserrat has an intriguing answer
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
September 17, 2025 at 10:39 AM
PIWI clade Argonautes are essential for transposon silencing. Without them, animals are sterile due to massive transposon activity.
But how does piRNA-guided target interaction translate into silencing?
PhD student Júlia Portell Montserrat has an intriguing answer
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
But how does piRNA-guided target interaction translate into silencing?
PhD student Júlia Portell Montserrat has an intriguing answer
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
How do transposons jump when they’re released from host control?
I babysat two chromosomes for 2 years, making sure they are ok without most piRNAs.
Here’s what we found & excited to share my 1st postdoc paper:
“piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I babysat two chromosomes for 2 years, making sure they are ok without most piRNAs.
Here’s what we found & excited to share my 1st postdoc paper:
“piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts
In Metazoa, transposon expression is suppressed by the piRNA pathway, and disruption of this pathway leads to rampant transposon expression. However, it remains unclear whether increased transposon ex...
www.biorxiv.org
July 17, 2026 at 2:07 PM
How do transposons jump when they’re released from host control?
I babysat two chromosomes for 2 years, making sure they are ok without most piRNAs.
Here’s what we found & excited to share my 1st postdoc paper:
“piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I babysat two chromosomes for 2 years, making sure they are ok without most piRNAs.
Here’s what we found & excited to share my 1st postdoc paper:
“piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Dual transposon sequencing profiles the genetic interaction landscape in bacteria | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Dual transposon sequencing profiles the genetic interaction landscape in bacteria
Gene redundancy complicates systematic characterization of gene function as single-gene deletions may not produce discernible phenotypes. We report dual transposon sequencing (dual Tn-seq), a platform...
www.science.org
September 25, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Dual transposon sequencing profiles the genetic interaction landscape in bacteria | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@tbadet.bsky.social and I have a preprint out on transposon silencing in fungi!
Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation.
What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation.
What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
January 16, 2025 at 9:09 PM
@tbadet.bsky.social and I have a preprint out on transposon silencing in fungi!
Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation.
What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation.
What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Is it a gene or a transposon? 🤔
Thrilled to see this published today!
Truly special because we made the initial discovery >15 yrs ago!
We found two copies of a human gene called BC200 embedded in a human poxvirus. BC200 blurs the line between gene & transposon—both functional & mutagenic!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧵1/n
Truly special because we made the initial discovery >15 yrs ago!
We found two copies of a human gene called BC200 embedded in a human poxvirus. BC200 blurs the line between gene & transposon—both functional & mutagenic!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧵1/n
Escape of the BC200 gene to a human poxvirus reveals its persistent transposition in primates
Transposable elements mobilize within and occasionally between genomes, including from host to virus. We identified two insertions of the human BC200 noncoding RNA gene in the poxvirus molluscum conta...
www.science.org
September 24, 2026 at 9:31 PM
Is it a gene or a transposon? 🤔
🧬🌽 Happy Transposon Day! 🌽🧬
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
June 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
🧬🌽 Happy Transposon Day! 🌽🧬
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
Out Now! Systematic mapping of bacteriophage gene essentiality with HIDEN-SEQ #MicroSky
Systematic mapping of bacteriophage gene essentiality with HIDEN-SEQ
Nature Microbiology, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02455-8HIDEN-SEQ (hidden Acr-enabled transposon-insertion sequencing) is a transposon-insertion sequencing method for phages that systematically links their genes to selectable phenotypes.
go.nature.com
September 25, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Out Now! Systematic mapping of bacteriophage gene essentiality with HIDEN-SEQ #MicroSky
Antirrhinum ‘Purple Twist’ showing fabulous variegated petal colour #transposon
June 13, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Antirrhinum ‘Purple Twist’ showing fabulous variegated petal colour #transposon
Cool, elegant paper. Inverted repeat transposon near EFR affects chromatin organization and gene expression to fine-tune immune responses. #MPMI #plantimmunity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Transposon-triggered epigenetic chromatin dynamics modulate EFR-related pathogen response - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
Here, the authors show that an inverted-repeat transposon located next to the pattern recognition receptor ELONGATION FACTOR-TU RECEPTOR (EFR)-encoding gene in Arabidopsis controls chromatin organizat...
www.nature.com
January 1, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Cool, elegant paper. Inverted repeat transposon near EFR affects chromatin organization and gene expression to fine-tune immune responses. #MPMI #plantimmunity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our TnSeq in E. coli phages uses a Himar1 transposon. For a similar tool targeting P. aeruginosa phages, check this work of @jbdsf.bsky.social: tinyurl.com/yv5x97j7. A complementary method using Tn5 in Serratia is described by @peterfineran.bsky.social and out today as well: tinyurl.com/mueaa7nm 4/4
Bacteriophage genome-wide transposon mutagenesis
A technique enabling phage transposon mutagenesis and sequencing reveals previously
unknown non-essential and fitness-conferring genes in both jumbo phages and base-modified
phages.
www.cell.com
September 25, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Our TnSeq in E. coli phages uses a Himar1 transposon. For a similar tool targeting P. aeruginosa phages, check this work of @jbdsf.bsky.social: tinyurl.com/yv5x97j7. A complementary method using Tn5 in Serratia is described by @peterfineran.bsky.social and out today as well: tinyurl.com/mueaa7nm 4/4
Now officially published in Current Biology 🥳🥳 @mfseidl.bsky.social @binfutrecht.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
December 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Now officially published in Current Biology 🥳🥳 @mfseidl.bsky.social @binfutrecht.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
This week @science.org Dual #transposon sequencing profiles the #genetic interaction landscape in #bacteria | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🦠🔬🧫🧬
Dual transposon sequencing profiles the genetic interaction landscape in bacteria
Gene redundancy complicates systematic characterization of gene function as single-gene deletions may not produce discernible phenotypes. We report dual transposon sequencing (dual Tn-seq), a platform...
www.science.org
September 26, 2025 at 7:01 PM
This week @science.org Dual #transposon sequencing profiles the #genetic interaction landscape in #bacteria | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🦠🔬🧫🧬
Here it is online, a week after the teaser talk at #EMBOBacNet... @natmicrobiol.nature.com by @humollidorentina.bsky.social et al from @aharms485.bsky.social
with @veeninglab.com
Systematic mapping of bacteriophage gene essentiality with HIDEN-SEQ
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
with @veeninglab.com
Systematic mapping of bacteriophage gene essentiality with HIDEN-SEQ
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
September 25, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Here it is online, a week after the teaser talk at #EMBOBacNet... @natmicrobiol.nature.com by @humollidorentina.bsky.social et al from @aharms485.bsky.social
with @veeninglab.com
Systematic mapping of bacteriophage gene essentiality with HIDEN-SEQ
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
with @veeninglab.com
Systematic mapping of bacteriophage gene essentiality with HIDEN-SEQ
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Extensive horizontal transfer of transposable elements shapes fungal mobilomes
@currentbiology.bsky.social by @jromeijn.bsky.social et al from @mfseidl.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
@currentbiology.bsky.social by @jromeijn.bsky.social et al from @mfseidl.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Extensive horizontal transfer of transposable elements shapes fungal mobilomes
Romeijn et al. reveal that horizontal transposon transfer is widespread in fungi,
contributing up to 70% of transposon content in some taxa. The authors uncover thousands
of events across diverse line...
www.cell.com
December 6, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Extensive horizontal transfer of transposable elements shapes fungal mobilomes
@currentbiology.bsky.social by @jromeijn.bsky.social et al from @mfseidl.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
@currentbiology.bsky.social by @jromeijn.bsky.social et al from @mfseidl.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Teratorn. 180-kb transposon. Freakin scary.
May 8, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Teratorn. 180-kb transposon. Freakin scary.
Cool result: Transposon insertion sequencing reveals novel hypermutator genes in Acinetobacter baumannii
"Exposure of a transposon insertion mutant library to extended weak antibiotic selection ... revealed genes that indirectly increased fitness due to elevated general mutation rates"
"Exposure of a transposon insertion mutant library to extended weak antibiotic selection ... revealed genes that indirectly increased fitness due to elevated general mutation rates"
Transposon insertion sequencing reveals novel hypermutator genes in Acinetobacter baumannii | mBio
All organisms have the capacity for evolution through mutation. Bacteria with high
mutation rates have a survival advantage in some stressful environments because they
generate beneficial mutations mo...
journals.asm.org
June 29, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Cool result: Transposon insertion sequencing reveals novel hypermutator genes in Acinetobacter baumannii
"Exposure of a transposon insertion mutant library to extended weak antibiotic selection ... revealed genes that indirectly increased fitness due to elevated general mutation rates"
"Exposure of a transposon insertion mutant library to extended weak antibiotic selection ... revealed genes that indirectly increased fitness due to elevated general mutation rates"
Lazy corn is a natural mutant in the lazy1 gene (great name). My favorite of course is a transposon insertion. A CACTA transposon jumps in, inactivates the gene, plant falls down. To the extent you can actually grow corn as a hanging plant. 4/4
January 22, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Lazy corn is a natural mutant in the lazy1 gene (great name). My favorite of course is a transposon insertion. A CACTA transposon jumps in, inactivates the gene, plant falls down. To the extent you can actually grow corn as a hanging plant. 4/4
Here’s an interesting new paper on ROS1, an enzyme that removes DNA methylation and that is POSITIVELY controlled by DNA methylation.
It’s repression during heat stress 🥵🌱 is crucial to suppress transposon mobility! 🧬
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It’s repression during heat stress 🥵🌱 is crucial to suppress transposon mobility! 🧬
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Plants repress ROS1 expression to attenuate heat-induced transposon burst - Nature Plants
Plants suppress the DNA demethylase ROS1 under heat stress to limit transposon activation, preventing genome instability. This conserved mechanism balances stress adaptation with genome protection.
www.nature.com
August 11, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Here’s an interesting new paper on ROS1, an enzyme that removes DNA methylation and that is POSITIVELY controlled by DNA methylation.
It’s repression during heat stress 🥵🌱 is crucial to suppress transposon mobility! 🧬
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It’s repression during heat stress 🥵🌱 is crucial to suppress transposon mobility! 🧬
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Rose ‘Brush Strokes’ putting on a fine show. The freshly opened buds are dramatic, but they soon fade once open. Every flower is unique #transposon
June 13, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Rose ‘Brush Strokes’ putting on a fine show. The freshly opened buds are dramatic, but they soon fade once open. Every flower is unique #transposon
You can read the complete paper here – lots of new data and findings compared to the preprint: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 2/4
Systematic mapping of bacteriophage gene essentiality with HIDEN-SEQ - Nature Microbiology
HIDEN-SEQ (hidden Acr-enabled transposon-insertion sequencing) is a transposon-insertion sequencing method for phages that systematically links their genes to selectable phenotypes.
www.nature.com
September 25, 2026 at 10:19 AM
You can read the complete paper here – lots of new data and findings compared to the preprint: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 2/4