Congratulations to Max Planck Research Group Leader Can Aztekin and his team on their new paper in @science.org. They have discovered how oxygen-sensing explains why amphibians regenerate limbs and mammals do not.
Read the full press release here: tinyurl.com/bsuwmek6
Our work on chromatin evolution in brown algae is finally out!
This is also my first "co-first author" paper!! I’m excited to share what we found 👇
Open postdoc position in my lab on HGT and interbacterial competition. We seek candidates with a PhD in microbiology (or related fields)+ strong 1st-author publications.
Curious, highly motivated, and dedicated team players ready to contribute fully are encouraged to apply. Details: tiny.cc/cz01101
New review in @cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social on the fascinating world of chromatin organization in Asgard archaea. Very nice joint effort with @jvhooff.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
How much protein diversity can Life on Earth actually generate?
With DIAMOND DeepClust, we show how billions of proteins across the tree of life can be clustered at low-identity for downstream analytics tasks.
📚Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
💻Code: github.com/bbuchfink/di...
Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating).
A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)
Another paper on a topic we never worked on before: a new ribosomal hibernation!
Under the leadership of the super-postdoc Diorge, Davis Lab (ribo-cryoEM master), and @vikramalva.bsky.social (protein-evo whisperer), we identified AHA (not the song, but archaeal hibernation AMPKγ factor).
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Have you ever wondered 🤔... Does phenotypic variance respond to environmental perturbation? Does it have a genetic basis? Are mean and variance regulating loci exposed to different selection pressures? These and more questions are explored in our new preprint 🔥
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!
Please spread the word: the Structural Studies Division @mrclmb.bsky.social is looking for a new tenure-track, independent group leader with an exciting plan in any area of Structural (Molecular & Cell) biology, in discovery biology and/or methods development. 🥳
mrc.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...
Aarhus University is seeking a Tenure-Track Assistant/Associate Professor in Bioinformatics/Co… nat.au.dk/en/about-the-faculty/vac... #job
📣 New paper alert! This is a story of molecular tricks that let spirochetes (spiral-shaped bacteria) drill through tissue. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
One protein. One pathway. A whole germline fate.
New paper from my postdoc @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social out in PNAS:
Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
We are hiring for group leaders again — EBI is a great place to start your research group!
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Hin...
New manuscript alert. Turns out that calcium ion coordination may be a more common mechanism than we initially expected to trigger polymerization of extracellular filaments. @mikesleutel.bsky.social @vikramalva.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Excited to be at #SMBE2026 in Copenhagen! Don’t miss Symposium #17: “Unicellular organisms in major evolutionary transitions.” Registration is now open!
#protistsonsky
📝 Abstract deadline: Tuesday, Feb 3, 2026.
Let’s fill #SMBE2026 with #protistsonSky love!
The real drama of life happened "backstage" in the unicellular world. 🎭🧬 #protistsonSky
Our postdoc Vika Shabardina is co-organizing this symposium with Annia (@ankarn.bsky.social). Two brilliant minds leading the evocell way!
Plus, a talk by @vikramalva.bsky.social. 👇
Led by Yimin Hu, with key contributions from
@samuelschwab.bsky.social, @kyq21.bsky.social 21.bsky.social and Yunsen Zhang, and in collaboration with Marcus Hartmann, @damelab.bsky.social and Birte Hernández-Álvarez.
@mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social
Happy to share that our work on HLp, a bacterial histone from Leptospira perolatii, is now published in Nature Communications 🎉
In this study, we show that HLp forms stable tetramers that wrap ~60 bp of DNA, revealing a distinct histone–DNA organization in bacteria.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
SMBE2026 Symposium 17 | Unicellular organisms in major evolutionary transitions Organisers - Victoria Shabardina — Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain (Female) - Anna Karnkowska — Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland (Female) Invited Speaker - Vikram Alva — Max Planck Institute of Biology, Tuebingen, Germany (Male)
Organisers
- Victoria Shabardina | @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social
- @ankarn.bsky.social | University of Warsaw
Invited Speaker
- @vikramalva.bsky.social | @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social
SMBE2026 Symposium 17 | Unicellular organisms in major evolutionary transitions
SMBE2026 Symposium 17 | Unicellular organisms in major evolutionary transitions
📨 Abstract submission
smbe2026.org/abstracts
📋 Programme details
smbe2026.org/programme
#SMBE2026
I’m excited to announce that I will be starting my research group on computational enzyme design at the Generative Biology Institute, Oxford, UK (@eitoxford.bsky.social)! PhD applications are open, deadline is Jan 8th (www.chem.ox.ac.uk/genbio-dtp). Email kiarash.jamali@eit.org with any questions!
Ending my PhD with a bang:
Face-to-face histones are important organizers of archaeal chromatin alongside classical histones.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thank you, Daniela, @danielabarilla.bsky.social, for a wonderful commentary! 🤗🤗 More spotlight on the Asgards and their chromatin! ❤️ #archaea #chromatin
Also see the associated primer video on S-layers made by the @mrclmb.bsky.social Visual Aids department Konstantinos Alexandrou and Shraddha Nayak!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgSf...
Pleased to share our review on S-layers with @bupbuse.bsky.social, Andriko von Kügelgen, and @tbharat-lab.bsky.social, where we explore recent advances and argue that deeper insight into S-layers is key to deciphering microbial interactions and community organization. @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social
We have wondered what a complex archaeal cell might look like ever since 2014. It’s been a long road (and the journey is far from over), but it’s a good time to pause for breath and look. These Asgard archaeal cells are a surprise! And that is the joy of being a cell biologist.
