Microbial Genomics · MCB Jagiellonian University · Kraków

Decoding how microbes evolve

A computational group at the Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology studying phage–bacteria co-evolution through bioinformatics, comparative genomics and evolutionary modelling.

No wet lab — just code, data and ideas

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Research

Three open questions

We study receptor-binding proteins (RBPs) in Klebsiella pneumoniae phages — the proteins that determine which bacteria a phage can infect, and the primary drivers of host-range evolution.

Area 1

Genetic & structural diversity

What RBP diversity exists? We catalogue and characterise RBPs computationally at sequence and structural scale.

Area 2

Functional diversity & breadth

How does sequence map to function? The relationship is more complex than assumed — many RBPs are enzymes, the activity and specificity of which against polysaccharides is hard to predict.

Area 3

Adaptation via innovation

How does domain and sub-domain recombination generate new RBP functions and structures? We trace the evolutionary paths by which phages adapt to new hosts.

Full research overview →

Publications

Selected recent papers

PLOS Biology

Capsular specificity in temperate phages of Klebsiella pneumoniae is driven by diverse receptor-binding enzymes

Aleksandra Otwinowska, Janusz Koszucki, Vyshakh R. Panicker, Jade Leconte, Sebastian Olejniczak, Kathryn E. Holt, Edward J. Feil, Eduardo P.C. Rocha, Bogna Smug, Barbara Maciejewska, Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa, Rafal J. Mostowy

PLOS Biology doi →

2026

Preprint

DepoCatalog: mapping the diversity of 105 recombinant Klebsiella phage depolymerases across sequence, structure, and substrate specificity

Aleksandra Otwinowska, Sebastian Olejniczak, Agnieszka Latka, Maria Pozniak, Grażyna Majkowska-Skrobek, Barbara Maciejewska, Janusz Koszucki, Vyshakh Panicker, Sara Jabłońska, Mathilde Hulsens, Joachim J. Bugert, Régis Tournebize, Stan J.J. Brouns, Flavia Squeglia, Rita Berisio, Yves Briers, Rafal Mostowy, Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa

bioRxiv doi →

2025

mSystems

Exploration of the genetic landscape of bacterial dsDNA viruses reveals an ANI gap amid extensive mosaicism

Wanangwa Ndovie, Jan Havránek, Jade Leconte, Janusz Koszucki, Leonid Chindelevitch, Evelien M. Adriaenssens, Rafal J. Mostowy

mSystems doi →

2025

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News

Latest updates

13 May 2026

Rafal gives two radio interviews about phages, one in Polskie Radio Jedynka and one in Radio Kraków. Check our Outreach page!→

28 Apr 2026

New article! Our work on the diverse capsule-targeting enzymes of temperate phages in Klebsiella pneumoniae is out in PLOS Biology. Read →

27 Apr 2026

We collaborated with a comic book artist to create a comic book about phages. Check our Outreach page!→

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Funding

Our supporters

Past support