Alina Demkina

Sequencing-Free Protospacer-Adjacent Motif Discovery for Uncharacterized CRISPR-Cas9 Orthologs via Active Learning

This paper introduces an active learning method to discover PAMs for uncharacterized CRISPR-Cas9 orthologs without sequencing, reducing data requirements and validating it on known and novel Cas9 variants.

Water-mass origin and transformation shapes seawater microbiomes in the northeastern Barents Sea and the St. Anna Trough

The study links seawater microbiome composition to water-mass origin and transformation in the northeastern Barents Sea and St. Anna Trough, identifying distinct microbial signatures for different water masses.

OLD sentinel: an abortive tRNase surveys phage replication and DNA defects in RecBCD-compromised cells

This paper characterizes OLD, an abortive immunity protein, revealing its structure and activation mechanism in response to phage replication and DNA defects in RecBCD-compromised cells.

Phages infecting the common gut commensal Escherichia coli HS reveal tropism for its Klebsiella-like capsule

The paper identifies phages infecting E. coli HS, shows their resistance to restriction via modifications, and links phage infection to a Klebsiella-like capsule.

Characterization of Streptococcus uberis Cas9 (SuCas9) - a Type II-A Ortholog Functional in Human Cells

This study characterizes SuCas9, a compact Cas9 ortholog from Streptococcus uberis, showing it can cleave DNA in vitro and function in human cells with a novel PAM sequence.

A census of anti-CRISPR proteins reveals AcrIE9 as an inhibitor of Escherichia coli K12 Type IE CRISPR-Cas system

The paper identifies AcrIE9 as an inhibitor of E. coli K12 Type IE CRISPR-Cas system through a census of anti-CRISPR proteins in Enterobacterales.

New viruses infecting hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus

The paper isolates and analyzes new phages infecting Thermus thermophilus from diverse hot springs, revealing both known relatives and novel phages with unique genetic features.

Benchmarking DNA Isolation Methods for Marine Metagenomics Studies

This study benchmarks DNA isolation methods for marine metagenomics by evaluating eight kits across three sample types, focusing on quality, contamination, and community composition.