Publications

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:online 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:e0166124 doi →
Preprint 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
bioRxiv:2025.06.25.661490 doi →
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:2025.09.09.675204 doi →
2023
Nature Communications Ongoing shuffling of protein fragments diversifies core viral functions linked to interactions with bacterial hosts
Bogna J. Smug, Krzysztof Szczepaniak, Eduardo P.C. Rocha, Stanislaw Dunin-Horkawicz, Rafał J. Mostowy
Nature Communications 14(1):7460 doi →
2022
BMC Bioinformatics vCOMBAT: a novel tool to create and visualize a computational model of bacterial antibiotic target-binding
Vi Ngoc-Nha Tran, Alireza Shams, Sinan Ascioglu, Antal Martinecz, Jingyi Liang, Fabrizio Clarelli, Rafal Mostowy, Ted Cohen, Pia Abel zur Wiesch
BMC Bioinformatics 23(1):22 doi →
2020
The ISME Journal Diversity and evolution of surface polysaccharide synthesis loci in Enterobacteriales
Kathryn E. Holt, Florent Lassalle, Kelly L. Wyres, Ryan Wick, Rafał J. Mostowy
The ISME Journal 14:740–758 doi →
Science Advances Horizontal gene transfer rate is not the primary determinant of observed antibiotic resistance frequencies in Streptococcus pneumoniae
Sonja Lehtinen, Claire Chewapreecha, John Lees, William P. Hanage, Marc Lipsitch, Nicholas J. Croucher, Stephen D. Bentley, Paul Turner, Christophe Fraser, Rafał J. Mostowy
Science Advances 6(21):eaaz6137 doi →
2019
PLoS Pathogens Shigella sonnei infection of zebrafish reveals that O-antigen mediates neutrophil tolerance and dysentery incidence
Vincenzo Torraca, Myrsini Kaforou, Jayne Watson, Gina M. Duggan, Hazel Guerrero-Gutierrez, Sina Krokowski, Michael Hollinshead, Thomas B. Clarke, Rafal J. Mostowy, Gillian S. Tomlinson, Vanessa Sancho-Shimizu, Abigail Clements, Serge Mostowy
PLoS Pathogens 15(12):e1008006 doi →
2018
Trends in Microbiology Diversity-generating machines: genetics of bacterial sugar-coating
Rafał J. Mostowy, Kathryn E. Holt
Trends in Microbiology 26(12):1008–1021 doi →
2017
mBio Evolution of the Staphylococcus argenteus ST2250 clone in northeastern Thailand is linked with the acquisition of livestock-associated staphylococcal genes
Danesh Moradigaravand, Dorota Jamrozy, Rafal Mostowy, Annaliesa Anderson, Emma K. Nickerson, Janjira Thaipadungpanit, Vanaporn Wuthiekanun, Direk Limmathurotsakul, Sarunporn Tandhavanant, Chanthiwa Wikraiphat, Gumphol Wongsuvan, Nittaya Teerawattanasook, Yaowaruk Jutrakul, Nuttiya Srisurat, Prajuab Chaimanee, T.Eoin West, Beth Blane, Julian Parkhill, Narisara Chantratita, Sharon J. Peacock
mBio 8(4):e00802–17 doi →
Molecular Biology and Evolution Efficient inference of recent and ancestral recombination within bacterial populations
Rafal Mostowy, Nicholas J. Croucher, Cheryl P. Andam, Jukka Corander, William P. Hanage, Pekka Marttinen
Molecular Biology and Evolution 34(5):1167–1182 doi →
Molecular Biology and Evolution Pneumococcal capsule synthesis locus cps as evolutionary hotspot with potential to generate novel serotypes by recombination
Rafał J. Mostowy, Nicholas J. Croucher, Nicola De Maio, Claire Chewapreecha, Susannah J. Salter, Paul Turner, David M. Aanensen, Stephen D. Bentley, Xavier Didelot, Christophe Fraser
Molecular Biology and Evolution 34(10):2537–2554 doi →
2016
PLoS Biology Horizontal DNA transfer mechanisms of bacteria as weapons of intragenomic conflict
Nicholas J. Croucher, Rafal Mostowy, Christopher Wymant, Paul Turner, Stephen D. Bentley, Christophe Fraser
PLoS Biology 14(3):e1002394 doi →
2014
PLoS Genetics Heterogeneity in the frequency and characteristics of homologous recombination in pneumococcal evolution
Rafal Mostowy, Nicholas J. Croucher, William P. Hanage, Simon R. Harris, Stephen Bentley, Christophe Fraser
PLoS Genetics 10(5):e1004300 doi →
2012
PLoS Computational Biology Evolution of stress response in the face of unreliable environmental signals
Markus Arnoldini, Rafal Mostowy, Sebastian Bonhoeffer, Martin Ackermann
PLoS Computational Biology 8(8):e1002627 doi →
Journal of Evolutionary Biology Host-parasite coevolution induces selection for condition-dependent sex
R. Mostowy, J. Engelstädter
Journal of Evolutionary Biology 25(10):2033–2046 doi →
BMC Evolutionary Biology Non-genetic inheritance and the patterns of antagonistic coevolution
Rafal Mostowy, Jan Engelstädter, Marcel Salathé
BMC Evolutionary Biology 12(1):93 doi →
PLoS Computational Biology Estimating the fitness cost of escape from HLA presentation in HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase
Rafal Mostowy, Roger D. Kouyos, Ilka Hoof, Trevor Hinkley, Mojgan Haddad, Jeannette M. Whitcomb, Christos J. Petropoulos, Can Kesmir, Sebastian Bonhoeffer
PLoS Computational Biology 8(5):e1002525 doi →
2011
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences The impact of environmental change on host-parasite coevolutionary dynamics
Rafal Mostowy, Jan Engelstädter
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278(1716):2283–2292 doi →
PLoS ONE The role of recombination for the coevolutionary dynamics of HIV and the immune response
Rafal Mostowy, Roger D. Kouyos, David Fouchet, Sebastian Bonhoeffer
PLoS ONE 6(2):e16052 doi →
2010
Evolution On the evolution of sexual reproduction in hosts coevolving with multiple parasites
Rafal Mostowy, Marcel Salathé, Roger D. Kouyos, Sebastian Bonhoeffer
Evolution 64(6):1644–1656 doi →

Full list on Google Scholar