The paper identifies recurrent acquisition of nuclease-protease pairs in bacterial antiviral immunity and shows their proteolytic activation mechanism across different immune systems.

Science · Nov 13, 2025Peer-reviewedMicrobiology

Megaplasmids associate with Escherichia coli and other Enterobacteriaceae

Allison K. Guitor, Shuai Wang, Owen T. Tuck, Brian Firek, Nadezda Kryuchkova-Mostacci, April A. Jauhal, Lin-Xing Chen, Agata H Dziegiel, Stephen G. Baker, Vu Thuy Duong, Alison E. Mather, Jukka Corander, Anu Kantele, Liat Shenhav, Markus Hilty, , Jillian F. Banfield

The paper identifies megaplasmids in Enterobacteriaceae species, showing they are self-transmissible, encode drug resistance, and may enhance bacterial competitiveness.

bioRxiv · Sep 30, 2025 · PreprintMicrobiology

CRISPR-Cas12a bends DNA to destabilize base pairs during target interrogation

Katarzyna M. Soczek, Joshua C. Cofsky, Owen T. Tuck, Honglue Shi, Jennifer A. Doudna

The paper shows CRISPR-Cas12a bends DNA to destabilize base pairs during target recognition, similar to CRISPR-Cas9 but with different hybridization directionality.

Nucleic Acids Research · Nov 15, 2024Peer-reviewedBiochemistry

Rapid DNA unwinding accelerates genome editing by engineered CRISPR-Cas9

Amy R. Eggers, Kai Chen, Katarzyna M. Soczek, Owen T. Tuck, Erin E. Doherty, Bryant Xu, Marena I. Trinidad, Brittney W. Thornton, Peter H. Yoon, Jennifer A. Doudna

The paper shows that engineered GeoCas9 variants enhance genome editing by accelerating DNA unwinding, revealing a new role for the WED domain in this process.

Cell · May 22, 2024Peer-reviewedMolecular Biology