{"id":45,"date":"2026-05-26T13:57:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T13:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/?page_id=45"},"modified":"2026-05-26T15:23:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T15:23:32","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n

The Osterman Group investigates bacterial defense and phage counter-defense strategies to discover new enzymes, metabolites, and pathways linking metabolism and immunity across the tree of life.

<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n \n \n
\n \"image\n \n

\n Ilya Osterman<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n

\n Group Leader (Incoming)\n <\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n

\n ORCID:<\/span>\n \n 0000-0001-7748-980X\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n Edit\n <\/a>\n <\/article>\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n\n

Previous and current research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, our understanding of bacterial immunity against bacteriophages has expanded dramatically. One prominent class of anti-phage defense systems operates by depleting essential metabolites such as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD\u207a), leading to growth arrest or cell death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent work has shown that phages can overcome these defenses by rebuilding NAD\u207a using previously unknown enzymes and biochemical reactions<\/strong>, as well as by producing novel small molecules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Figure 1: The NAD\u207a Arms Race Between Phages and Bacteria. (Osterman et al., Nature<\/em> 2024; Osterman et al., Cell Host and Microbe<\/em> 2026). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, increasing evidence points to shared principles between bacterial and eukaryotic innate immunity, including conserved protein domains, signaling molecules, and regulatory logic (Rousset* & Osterman* et al., Science<\/em> 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, these findings suggest that metabolic conflict is a fundamental and evolutionarily conserved mechanism of immunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future projects and goals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Discovery of new enzymes from phages<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Despite their relatively small genomes, phages are the most abundant biological entities on Earth (~10\u00b3\u00b9 particles globally). As a result, phage genomes represent the largest reservoir of genetic diversity, yet most phage genes remain uncharacterized or misannotated. <\/strong>Our goal is to systematically explore this \u201cdark matter\u201d of phage genomes to uncover new enzymes, metabolites, and metabolic pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Figure 2: The Universe of Phage Genes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Metabolites as a battleground of immunity<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Phage\u2013bacteria interactions are not limited to nucleic acids and proteins; they also unfold at the level of metabolism. Both organisms depend on a shared pool of essential metabolites, including NAD\u207a, nucleotides, SAM, FAD, and amino acids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hypothesize that metabolite depletion and rebuilding represent a general framework of phage\u2013host conflict. A central goal is to create a \u201cmetabolic atlas of infection<\/em>\u201d<\/strong> and show how essential metabolites are produced, degraded, and rebuilt during phage-bacteria conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Why metabolism?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Metabolism is universal: all living systems rely on a conserved set of small molecules, even when their proteins and regulatory networks diverge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many key components of human innate immunity have deep evolutionary roots in bacteria, suggesting that fundamental principles of immunity may be encoded at the level of metabolites and metabolic regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By combining:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • large-scale computational prediction of gene function,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • microbiological and biochemical validation,<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • structural analysis using X-ray crystallography (EMBL Hamburg) and cryo-EM (CSSB).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    We aim to establish a mechanistic framework for metabolism-driven immunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Phages, as the richest source of genetic and enzymatic diversity, provide a powerful entry point into this problem. Our goal is to translate molecular discoveries into general principles linking metabolism and immunity across biological systems.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    \n
    \n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-45","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45\/revisions\/105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/osterman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}