Eukaryotes didn't just arise from two partners. Phylogenomics of the LECA proteome reveals multiple waves of bacterial HGT, some predating mitochondrial endosymbiosis, plus a possible role for giant viruses.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10....
#ESCMIDGlobal2026 is over. The group participated with oral presentations from Hrant Hovhannisyan (computational multiplexing optimization) and @tonigabaldon.bsky.social (evolutionary genomics of #Candida ), there was a lot of learning and networking.
Will be at #ESCMIDGlobal2026 for the next days. Looking forward to meet colleagues and present our work on #Candida
🔬 New #FAQ drops key insights on Barcelona's #AfricanSwineFever outbreak from @gabaldonlab.bsky.social: They've sequenced the outbreak strain's genome and compared it with known variants to trace origins and characteristics.
➡️ https://shorturl.at/P02ME
#ASF @tonigabaldon.bsky.social
#Paper Our new study on #Asgard archaea is out in Nature Communications. We find a distinctive evolutionary pattern: widespread #HGT, but genome expansion mainly through gene duplication. An interesting window into the origins of #eukaryotic complexity.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We put together this FAQ on the African swine fever outbreak in Barcelona, based on current evidence. My group helped sequence the outbreak strain and compare it with other #ASFV virus genomes to explore its origins and features. #AfricanSwineFever
www.pig333.com/articles/fre...
fitness costs are associated with acquired antifungal resistance in N. glabratus, and these trade-offs can be targeted by drugs as shown by @gabaldonlab.bsky.social ➡️ link.springer.com/article/10.1...
As part of @bsc-cns.bsky.social participation at the #MWC26 and #4YN I will be presenting our applications of using hashtag#IA for the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer from fecal microbiome profiles (#MiCRC)
Come and meet me on the 4th March at our booth
x4hpc.cat/mwc26/agenda...
For 25 years, @icreacommunity.bsky.social has strengthened Catalonia’s research ecosystem by attracting top scientific talent worldwide.
This report by @crisaez.bsky.social for @ara.cat shows why investing in top scientific talent is a decisive research strategy.
➡️ https://shorturl.at/SANnO
🦠"Estem estudiant com els canvis que es produeixen en la microbiota intestinal s’associen al càncer colorectal. O com els bacteris de la boca estan implicats en la hipertensió".
🗞 Toni Gabaldon, investigador @icreacommunity.bsky.social del BSC i @irbbarcelona.org a l' @ara.cat
Són poc més de les 6.30 del matí. La paleoantropòloga nord-americana Ashley Hammond fa estona que és desperta, donant mamar al seu fill, de dos mesos. Ho té tot calculat...
(1/3) I am very happy to share that I’ll be moving to Aarhus University as an Assistant Professor in March. During these years, I’ve met so many great people who supported me on this path, and even if I can’t name everyone here, I’m truly grateful to all of you!
Congratulations to @paucarazo.bsky.social and the other organizers of the #sesbe2026 meeting of the @sesbe-org.bsky.social . It has been a wonderful conference with nice talks, posters and networking, I the wonderful city of Valencia, my home town.
This has been my last meeting as president of @sesbe-org.bsky.social and I wish all the best for the new board, led by the excellent newly elected president @isabelalmudi.bsky.social . I am sure they will do amazing things.
And……. The best #sesbe2026 oral presentation award goes to….
Congratulations Moisès!
Moisès Bernabéu from the group presented our work on the origins of the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor at #sesbe2026. Multiple interacting partners shaped our ancestor’s genome
Now Edu Ocaña Pallarès, previous postdoc in the group, now PI at UOC presenting the timetree of fungi, calibrated with fossils and HGT. Nice to see #fungi at the paleobiology session in #sesbe2026
Several of us are attending #sesbe2026 in Valencia. Today Saioa Manzano @microbiobits.bsky.social presented her work on evolution of Asgard archea genomes, showing they show a blend of eukaryotic-like and prokaryotic like processes.
4- Diverse background-dependent or mutational-dependent trade-offs revealing complex underlying epistatic interactions.
5- However, Machine Learning models captured key genotype-phenotype links
6- By targeting the trade-off we managed to overcome resistance, pointing to new potential therapies
1- Massive phenotyping enabled by Q-Phast to find stress-related growth defects in hundreds of drug-resistant strains
2- Drug adaptation is not for free: 98% of strains acquired some fitness trade-off in stress conditions.
3- Fluconazole and anidulafungin resistance linked to specific stress
📣 #paper "Uncovering actionable trade-offs of antifungal resistance in a yeast pathogen"
Check out our new publication in @molsystbiol.org where we systematically map stress-related trade-off associated with drug resistance in Candida glabrata (N. glabratus)
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Shocked and sad after reading that Peer Bork has passed away. A pioneer and inspiring leader in bioinformatics applied to comparative genomics, protein evolution, function prediction, microbiome, and many other relevant biological questions. His legacy will remain.
www.embl.org/news/embl-an...
Last days to apply for these postdoctoral positions, including one in my group.
auspire.eu/research-tea...
Los análisis genéticos sugieren que el virus de la peste porcina africana no salió del laboratorio de la Generalitat que estaba a cientos de metros, según los primeros resultados "no concluyentes" de @tonigabaldon.bsky.social
elpais.com/ciencia/2025...
This work didn't happen in a vacuum and benefited by wonderful collaborators in our lab, namely Elsa Iliopoulou and Claire Julliot de La Morandière, as well as the labs of
@jsb-ucla.bsky.social and @tonigabaldon.bsky.social.
Evolutionary dynamics of temporal transcription factor series in the insect optic lobe www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01...
Several opportunities to join our group as a PhD candidate with bioinformatics or experimental background and interests in #microbiome, #Candida, or #evolution.
👉 IRB call:
www.irbbarcelona.org/en/careers/y...
👉 Inphinit call:
lacaixafoundation.org/en/doctoral-...
👉 EvoMG call
www.evomg-dn.eu
Very proud of the new doctor in the group, Olfat Khannous-Lleiffe congratulations for the great work and excellent defense @olfatkl.bsky.social ! Thank you also to the jury members Mani Arumugam, Mireia Valles-Colomer and Lara Nonell for their insights and discussions.
📢 #BSCSeminar: Integrating data-driven microbiome analysis with ex vivo gut models.
🗣 Mani Arumugam, University of Copenhagen
📆 27 November
➡ bsc.es/44C
@sommalliance.bsky.social @tonigabaldon.bsky.social
Our group just finished two exciting and productive days during our annual retreat. We looked back and forward, we assessed, discussed and planned. We also enjoyed our time together.