Publications

Highlighted Work

Recent Papers:

Patel, P. H., McCarthy, M. R., Taylor, V. L., Cole, G. B., Zhang, C., Edghill, M. M., ... & Maxwell, K. L. (2026). A pore-forming antiphage defence is activated by oligomeric phage proteins. Nature, 1-8.

Taylor, V. L., Patel, P. H., Shah, M., Yusuf, A., Burk, C. M., Sztanko, K. M., ... & Maxwell, K. L. (2025). Prophages block cell surface receptors to preserve their viral progeny. Nature, 644(8078), 1049-1057.

Getz, L. J., Patel, P. H., & Maxwell, K. L. (2025). A solution to the postantibiotic era: phages as precision medicine. Current Opinion in Microbiology, 86, 102613.

Getz, L. J., Fairburn, S. R., Vivian Liu, Y., Qian, A. L., & Maxwell, K. L. (2025). Integrons are anti-phage defence libraries in Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Nature Microbiology, 1-10.

Fitzpatrick, A. D., Taylor, V. L., Patel, P. H., Faith, D. R., Secor, P. R., & Maxwell, K. L. (2025). Phage reprogramming of Pseudomonas aeruginosa amino acid metabolism drives efficient phage replication. mBio, e02466-24.

Getz, L. J., & Maxwell, K. L. (2024). Diverse antiphage defenses are widespread among prophages and mobile genetic elements. Annual Review of Virology, 11.

Patel PH, Taylor VL, Zhang C, Getz LJ, Fitzpatrick AD, Davidson AR, Maxwell KL. (2024)Anti-phage defence through inhibition of virion assembly. Nat Commun. Feb 22;15(1):1644.

Schwartzkopf CM, Taylor VL, Groleau MC, Faith DR, Schmidt AK, Lamma TL, Brooks DM, Déziel E, Maxwell KL (2024) Inhibition of PQS signaling by the Pf bacteriophage protein PfsE enhances viral replication in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Mol Microbiol. Jan;121(1):116-128.

Kronheim S, Solomon E, Ho L, Glossop M, Davidson AR, and Maxwell KL (2023) Complete genomes and comparative analyses of Streptomyces phages that influence secondary metabolism and sporulation. Sci Rep. Jun 17;13(1):9820

Patel P and Maxwell KL (2023) Prophages provide a rich source of antiphage defence systems. Curr Opin in Micro. Apr 28;73:102321

Bondy-Denomy J, Maxwell KL, Davidson AR (2023) Ten years of anti-CRISPR research. J Mol Bio, Apr 1;435(7):168058

Hwang S, Maxwell KL (2023) Diverse mechanisms of CRISPR-Cas9 inhibition by type II anti-CRISPR proteins. J Mol Bio, Apr 1;435(7):168041

Saha S, Olobor C, Li A, MacKinnon E, North O, Bondy-Denomy J, Lam J, Ensminger A, Maxwell KL, and Davidson AR (2023) F-type Pyocins are Diverse Non-Contractile Phage Tail-Like Weapons for Killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J Bacteriol. Jun 27;205(6):e0002923.

Hwang S, Shah M, Garcia B, Hashem N, Davidson AR, Moraes TF, Maxwell KL (2023) Anti-CRISPR protein AcrIIC5 inhibits CRISPR-Cas9 by occupying the target DNA binding pocket. J Mol Bio. Apr 1;435(7):167991

Previous Papers (for a full list of publications, visit pubmed) :

Shah M, Taylor VL, Bona D, Tsao Y, Stanley SY, Pimentel-Elardo SM, McCallum M, Bondy-Denomy J, Howell PL, Nodwell JR, Davidson AR, Moraes TF, Maxwell KL (2021) A phage-encoded anti-activator inhibits quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Mol Cell. Feb 4;81(3):571-583

Highlighted in a commentary in Molecular Cell: van Kessel JC, Mukherjee S (2021) Another battle won in the phage-host arms race: Pseudomonas phage blocks quorum sensing regulator LasR. Mol Cell. Feb 4;81(3):420-422.

Maxwell KL (2021) Cyclic pyrimidines jump on the anti-phage bandwagon. Cell. Nov 11;184(23):5691-5693. PMID: 34767773

Molenda O, Tang S, Lomheim L, Gautam VK, Lemak S, Yakunin AF, Maxwell KL, Edwards EA. (2019) Extrachromosomal circular elements targeted by CRISPR-Cas in Dehalococcoides mccartyi are linked to mobilization of reductive dehalogenase genes. ISME J 13:24-38.

Maxwell KL. 2019. Phages Tune in to Host Cell Quorum Sensing. Cell 176:7-8.

Kronheim S, Daniel-Ivad M, Duan Z, Hwang S, Wong AI, Mantel I, Nodwell JR, Maxwell KL. (2018) A chemical defence against phage infection. Nature 564:283-286.

Davidson AR, Maxwell KL. 2018. Type VI secretion system baseplate. Nat Microbiol 3:1330-1331.

Stanley SY, Maxwell KL. 2018. Phage-Encoded Anti-CRISPR Defenses. Annu Rev Genet 52:445-464.

Pawluk A, Davidson AR, Maxwell KL. 2018. Anti-CRISPR: discovery, mechanism and function. Nat Rev Microbiol 16:12-17.

Harrington LB, Doxzen KW, Ma E, Liu JJ, Knott GJ, Edraki A, Garcia B, Amrani N, Chen JS, Cofsky JC, Kranzusch PJ, Sontheimer EJ, Davidson AR, Maxwell KL, Doudna JA. (2017) A Broad-Spectrum Inhibitor of CRISPR-Cas9. Cell 170:1224-1233 e1215.

Chowdhury S, Carter J, Rollins MF, Golden SM, Jackson RN, Hoffmann C, Nosaka L, Bondy-Denomy J, Maxwell KL, Davidson AR, Fischer ER, Lander GC, Wiedenheft B. (2017) Structure Reveals Mechanisms of Viral Suppressors that Intercept a CRISPR RNA-Guided Surveillance Complex. Cell 169:47-57 e11.

Maxwell KL. 2017. The Anti-CRISPR Story: A Battle for Survival. Mol Cell 68:8-14.

Pawluk A, Amrani N, Zhang Y, Garcia B, Hidalgo-Reyes Y, Lee J, Edraki A, Shah M, Sontheimer EJ, Maxwell KL, Davidson AR. (2016) Naturally Occurring Off-Switches for CRISPR-Cas9. Cell 167:1829-1838 e1829.

Bondy-Denomy J, Qian J, Westra ER, Buckling A, Guttman DS, Davidson AR, Maxwell KL. (2016) Prophages mediate defense against phage infection through diverse mechanisms. ISME J doi:10.1038/ismej.2016.79.

Buttner CR, Wu Y, Maxwell KL, Davidson AR. (2016) Baseplate assembly of phage Mu: Defining the conserved core components of contractile-tailed phages and related bacterial systems. PNAS U S A 113:10174-10179.

Pawluk A, Staals RH, Taylor C, Watson BN, Saha S, Fineran PC, Maxwell KL, Davidson AR. (2016) Inactivation of CRISPR-Cas systems by anti-CRISPR proteins in diverse bacterial species. Nat Microbiol 1:16085.

Bondy-Denomy J, Garcia B, Strum S, Du M, Rollins MF, Hidalgo-Reyes Y, Wiedenheft B, Maxwell KL, Davidson AR. (2015) Multiple mechanisms for CRISPR-Cas inhibition by anti-CRISPR proteins. Nature 526:136-139.

Kala S, Cumby N, Sadowski PD, Hyder BZ, Kanelis V, Davidson AR, Maxwell KL. (2014) HNH proteins are a widespread component of phage DNA packaging machines. PNAS 111:6022-6027.

Bondy-Denomy J, Pawluk A, Maxwell KL, Davidson AR. 2013. Bacteriophage genes that inactivate the CRISPR/Cas bacterial immune system. Nature 493:429-432.