Microbial Genomics · MCB Jagiellonian University · Kraków

Decoding how microbes evolve

A computational group at the Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology at Jagiellonian University in Krakow studying phage–bacteria co-evolution through bioinformatics, comparative genomics and data analysis.

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

Preprint

Structural modularity of receptor-binding proteins underlies host-range strategy diversification in Klebsiella pneumoniae phages

Vyshakh R. Panicker, Bogna J. Smug, Victor Klein-Sousa, Mark C. Enright, Nicholas M.I. Taylor, Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa, Rafał J. Mostowy

bioRxiv doi →

2026

Nature Communications

DepoCatalog: mapping diversity of 129 recombinantly produced Klebsiella phage depolymerases

Aleksandra Otwinowska, Sebastian Olejniczak, Agnieszka Latka, Maria Pozniak, Grazyna Majkowska-Skrobek, Barbara Maciejewska, Janusz Koszucki, Vyshakh R. Panicker, Sara Jablonska, Mathilde Hulsens, Jana Stender, Maha Niazi, Sabrina Green, Joachim J. Bugert, Régis Tournebize, Stan J.J. Brouns, Flavia Squeglia, Rita Berisio, Jens A. Hammerl, Rob Lavigne, Yves Briers, Rafal J. Mostowy, Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa

Nature Communications doi →

2026

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

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News

Latest updates

1 June 2026

New preprint! A huge piece of work by our PhD student, Vyshakh R Panicker, is out on bioRxiv – an atlas of structural modularity of Klebsiella pneumoniae phage receptor binding proteins! Read →

22 May 2026

New article! An important milestone for our collaboration with Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa is now out in Nature Communications. Read →

13 May 2026

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

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Funding

Our supporters

Past support