Bridging the membrane lipid divide: bacteria of the FCB group superphylum have the potential to synthesize archaeal ether lipids pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Now out in its final form! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

1/ Excited to share our preprint! 🥳

Degradation of aromatic compounds, including BTEX pollutants, requires highly endergonic aromatic ring reduction. Using #cryoEM and in situ #cryoET, we show how BCRII couples electron bifurcation modules in one giant redox machine

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

How do “LEGO-like” electron-bifurcating modules combine to drive degradation in BTEX-contaminated ecosystems?

Check out our latest preprint, where we use cryo-EM and cryo-ET to reveal how the 1 MDa BCRII complex powers extremely endergonic aromatic ring reduction.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

One of biggest mysteries in biology: how did complex eukaryotic cells evolve from simple microbes? ~1.8 billion years ago, an archaeal cell likely merged with a bacterium to form the first eukaryotic cell, but can we ever find direct evidence of this transformative event? 🦠 🚶‍♂️

Regulation of YAP activity by nuclear G-actin binding Abstract. The Yes-associated protein YAP belongs to the TEAD (TEA/ATTS domain) transcriptional co-activators that shuttle between the cytoplasm and the nuc

Hong's @bdyxwh.bsky.social paper is out with help from @sshamphavi.bsky.social and @archaellum.bsky.social. We discovered a link between nuclear actin and YAP/TAZ: G-actin forms a complex with YAP-TEAD for transcription.
academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Horizontal gene transfer is often depicted as a process distributing pre-existing functions to novel genetic backgrounds. Yet HGT can also increase the rate of functional innovation after transfer. Here's a brief review on the topic: ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v... #evosky #microsky

Asgard archaea: have we found our microbial ancestors? - The EMBO Journal The discovery of Asgard archaea about a decade ago has greatly reshaped our understanding of archaeal evolution and the origin of eukaryotes. Asgards are currently thought to be the closest prokaryoti...

Our Review Article is online!
We are happy to share our summary about molecular and cellular biological discoveries in archaea that have long foreshadowed a close relationship to eukaryotes, which is now so well manifested in the Asgard archaea.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Prediction of eukaryotic cellular complexity in Asgard archaea using structural modelling - Nature Microbiology A structural catalogue of the Asgard archaeal pangenome reveals hundreds of eukaryotic-like proteins that suggest a higher degree of cellular complexity in the archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes.

🧵 1/10 New paper out in @natmicrobiol.nature.com from my postdoc at @mib-wur.bsky.social! 🎉

How eukaryote-like was the archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes? Sequence searches alone can't tell us — so we used protein structure prediction to look deeper. 🧬
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Prediction of eukaryotic cellular complexity in Asgard archaea using structural modelling - Nature Microbiology A structural catalogue of the Asgard archaeal pangenome reveals hundreds of eukaryotic-like proteins that suggest a higher degree of cellular complexity in the archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes.

Prediction of eukaryotic cellular complexity in Asgard archaea using structural modelling www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs

Diversity, ecology, cell biology and evolution of the Asgard archaea - Nature Reviews Microbiology The Asgard archaea have become a cornerstone of archaeal research, particularly for studies aiming to unravel the origin and early evolution of eukaryotes. This Review outlines the current state of th...

Diversity, ecology, cell biology and evolution of the Asgard archaea
#microbiology #archaea #eukaryotes #evolution #MicroSky #ArchaeaSky
@natrevmicro.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🧵 Proud to present a tour de force by postdoc @gregbwhitfield.bsky.social solving the mystery of how bacterial Tad pili can extend and retract with a single motor ATPase. Great collaboration with Lynne Howell, @dr-lori-burrows.bsky.social, @ianyyen.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Very cool work led by @diorgeps.bsky.social from the labs of @archaeon-alex.bsky.social & Joey Davis (MIT)!

They solved the Haloferax volcanii ribosome and characterize AHA, a conserved archaeal hibernation factor.

With several recent related preprints, it’s an exciting moment for the field!

Beyond thrilled to share that our study has been published!
This project encompasses years of work, including my thesis research on Asgard archaea in the @archaeal.bsky.social lab at @utmsi.bsky.social and
@texasscience.bsky.social!!!
#MicroSky #ArchaeaSky 1/12

β-strand complementation within tip initiation complexes licenses assembly of diverse type IV filaments SIGNIFICANCE Prokaryotic type IV filaments are ancient, diverse, and broadly distributed nanomachines that assemble and retract to execute diverse microbial functions. They include type IV pili and type II secretion systems, mediating toxin secretion, motility, surface adhesion, biofilm formation, DNA uptake, and other functions. Here, we show that two widely conserved subunits of the tip, PilI and PilJ, form a module that recognizes the folding of a β-sheet in a third subunit, PilK. The final β-strand in this sheet can be supplied in trans by the last ~10 aminoacyl residues of large PilC/PilY1 adhesins, or in cis by PilK itself. In a working model, this recognition results in formation of a PilIJK trimer, which then licenses fiber polymerization through a templating mechanism.

Here's the preprint. Looking forward to seeing what the type 4 filament community thinks!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

20/20

Thermophilic bacteria employ a contractile injection system in hot spring microbial mats Abstract. Bacterial contractile injection systems (CISs) are multiprotein complexes that facilitate the bacterial response to environmental factors or inte

Contractile Injection Systems - Hot Springs - cryoET: Read the final version of our paper here:
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
#microsky #teamtomo

Postdoc in Archaea Microbiology - Vacancy at Aarhus University Vacancy at Department of Biology - Microbiology, Aarhus University

Postdoc position on Asgard archaea in Thiago’s new lab for someone well trained in biochemistry, cloning, and protein purification:
international.au.dk/about/profil...

This work started as a bachelor project and @1nussi1.bsky.social and @felixgrunberger.bsky.social showed that CsmR is a very interesting regulator important for controlling motiliy and cellshape in Haloferax volcanii.

The preprint is out now: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Multiple protein structure alignment at scale with FoldMason Protein structure is conserved beyond sequence, making multiple structural alignment (MSTA) essential for analyzing distantly related proteins. Computational prediction methods have vastly extended ou...

FoldMason is out now in @science.org. It generates accurate multiple structure alignments for thousands of protein structures in seconds. Great work by Cameron L. M. Gilchrist and @milot.bsky.social.
📄 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🌐 search.foldseek.com/foldmason
💾 github.com/steineggerla...

Archaea may not be well known, nor well studied, but these microorganisms can live in the most extreme environments, but also right on our skin. They’re everywhere.

EMBL researchers are now exploring their unique ecosystem adaptability and link to evolution.

www.embl.org/news/science...

Researcher Florian Wollweber standing next to a cryo-focused ion beam microscope in a laboratory, with technical infrastructure visible in the background.

The origin of eukaryotic cells continues to be one of the greatest mysteries in biology.

EMBL Grenoble is excited to welcome Florian Wollweber, who will use cutting-edge imaging techniques to study Asgard archaea — microbes closely related to our earliest ancestors. 🦠🔬

www.embl.org/news/people-...

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

Trump has been in office for one year. We at @nature.com did a deep dive looking at the administration's disruption of science in numbers.

Take a look—the numbers are staggering. By me, @dangaristo.bsky.social, Jeff Tollefson, @kimay.bsky.social, & help from @noamross.net @scott-delaney.bsky.social

Thank you!!

Thank you Ariane!

Thank you!!

Congrats! It has been a pleasure to have you in the lab and I am lokking forward seeing what you will achieve in the future!

Finally done! Huge thanks to @sfb1381.bsky.social @archaellum.bsky.social at the @biologyunifreiburg.bsky.social and @uni-freiburg.de and all my collaborators over the last years. It was a lot of fun 🎉🎉🎊 and now soon off to new challenges!

Genomic clues to the origin of eukaryotic cells How did eukaryotic cells with complex architecture evolve from simpler prokaryotic cells? DNA analyses offer possible answers.

How did eukaryotic cells with complex architecture evolve from simpler prokaryotic cells? DNA analyses offer possible answers

go.nature.com/4sEMwLH

Nice to see our story on the bacterial archaellum as one of the #editorpicks of 2025!

A big thanks to all the authors, reviewers, and readers of Nature Microbiology for their love and support throughout the year.

We are on a break & will be back on Jan 2nd, in what will be a very special year for us!

In the meantime, enjoy a collage made by @francoismayer.bsky.social

#MicroSky 🦠