The Faculty of Medicine of the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburgand theHelmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI, Würzburg)jointly open a call for

Phages employ sophisticated transcriptional regulatory networks to optimize replication. Recently, Silverman et al. used RIL-seq (RNA interaction by l…

Using RIL-seq, Silverman et al. map the RNA interactome of E. coli during phage lambda infection and uncover a conserved phage-encoded sRNA that activates host replication machinery. Their findings re...

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 22 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01253-zThis Genome Watch explores how a new antisense oligomer-based approach enables functional genomics of genetically intractable bacteriophages, revealing essential genes and infection mechanisms without requiring genetic modification.

ERC Starting Grant awarded to Jens Hör from the Helmholtz Institute Würzburg

Barcoding microbial ribosomal RNA creates a recording of gene transfer events without requiring translation.

Abstract. Bacteriophages with RNA genomes are among the simplest biological entities on Earth. Since their discovery in the 1960s, they have been used as i

Signaling from pathogen sensing to effector activation is a fundamental principle of cellular immunity. While cyclic (oligo)nucleotides have emerged as key signaling molecules, the existence of other ...

The HIRI family warmly welcomes Manuel Velasco Gomariz

Abstract. Small RNAs (sRNAs) play a crucial role in modulating target gene expression through short base-pairing interactions and serve as integral compone