Thrilled that our paper "Eco-evolutionary dynamics of massive, parallel bacteriophage outbreaks in compost communities" is out! 🎉🦠🧬 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... w/ @paulbrainey.bsky.social, Petros Skiadas, Paulien Hogeweg, @bedutilh.bsky.social

Our study comparing promoter existence and emergence in random vs genomic DNA is finally published!!! TLDR: the E. coli genome has more promoters than random DNA (even in intergenic regions), and promoters emerge ~3x more readily from random DNA than genomic DNA. (1/2)

I'm looking for an enthusiastic student to join my team as a PhD candidate on archaeal genome evolution 🦠💻 Work in beautiful Utrecht, at @binfutrecht.bsky.social, an international group full of caring, amazing scientists, and with frequent cake breaks! www.uu.nl/en/organisat... Please share! 🙏

Our preprint on the 'Origins of Eukaryotic Metabolism' is out! Take a look at some of the new findings on the origin of eukaryotic membranes, metabolic integrations between archaeal and bacterial ancestors, and other fascinating prokaryotic interactions during eukaryogenesis. doi.org/10.64898/202...

@shrylishreekar.bsky.social and me wrote a commentary on Chunhui Hao's and @stuwest.bsky.social et al.'s recent paper "Cooperation and the evolution of bacterial niche breadth" in PNAS. Please find our commentary here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Very excited with the online publication of our modeling work on the evolution of sexual reproduction during obligate endosymbiosis: doi.org/10.1098/rstb.... The first publication of Alkmini Zania 🎉; together with Paulien Hogeweg.

In case you missed it: our review titled "Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities" is out! 🚨 Let me hit you with some highlights on why spatial structure matters. (and why you should care!) Sharing is appreciated 🙏 🧵👇 doi.org/10.1093/fems...

Space is the place (for microbes 🦠)! Delighted to have contributed to this review on spatial structure in microbial communities by @marcelbaecker.bsky.social @simonvanvliet.bsky.social @bedutilh.bsky.social @bramvandijk.bsky.social and others.

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller? Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase. 1/n

Recently, a Hypothesis was posed in @jcellsci.bsky.social in which the root of eukaryotes was placed between kinetoplastids and all other eukaryotes. From this, it was implied that LECA did not have a kinetochore. We argue this is highly unlikely. A 🧵(1/12) Read our reply here: tinyurl.com/n87myhpr

Two more weeks to apply - come join us () in The Netherlands as a postdoctoral researcher on large-scale metagenomic exploration of new lineages!

Meeting alert! EMBO workshop about molecular and physical principles in evolution in Portugal, 2-5 June 2026. Deadline for registration is March 1st. Check out the website it should be a fun and informative workshop bridging evolutionary biology and physics of life meetings.embo.org/event/26-cel...

How did eukaryotic cells with complex architecture evolve from simpler prokaryotic cells? DNA analyses offer possible answers go.nature.com/4sEMwLH

Less than two 2 weeks to apply for this PhD position in my group. Please do not miss the opportunity to apply if the topic is of interest to you 👇

@guyleonard.bsky.social et al. report a near-complete genome and transcriptome sequence dataset for green algae host Paramecium bursaria, an endosymbiotic model system. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf183 #genome #evolution

Very nice documentary about the origins of complex life with my PhD advisor Berend Snel @binfutrecht.bsky.social!

LMB PhD studentship available in the Baum lab to use informatics to infer cell structure from genomic data in collaboration with the brilliant Tom Williams. If you write to me and I don’t reply - try again - the spam filter is hungry…

Oxford Biology is growing 📢 We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in: 🌱 Plant Sciences 🦉 Animal Behaviour 🔬 Molecular Cell Biology 3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology. Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7 Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3

Excited with two new preprints on evolution of molecular structure, in RNA (doi.org/10.1101/2025..., @n-martin.bsky.social) and proteins (doi.org/10.1101/2025...). Both RNA and protein structures are often conserved across evolution, but the underlying reasons are very different.

And thanks to all poster presenters, including Moisès Bernabeu whose poster was in the top 5 of best posters at #ESEB2025. Congrats!

Sam von der Dunk: we know that RNA structure is robust to mutation yet evolvable. What about protein structure? Take advantage of ESMfold https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade2574 Natural proteins are robust to mutations, whereas random amino-acid sequences are not. Even disordered natural […]

Great to see so many people at our symposium om the origin of eukaryotes. Thanks to all the speakers! #ESEB25 @julianvosseberg.bsky.social

Interactive symbiosis in silico (back) and in vivo (front). #ESEB25

The exciting project of Alkmini Zania on the impact of sex on endosymbiosis reveals complex evolutionary dynamics. What could this mean for early eukaryotes? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🚨 Join us at TBB Utrecht by applying for this evo-devo PhD position! 🚨 www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

One week left to submit your abstract! @eseb2025.bsky.social

Share your work on host-associated microbiomes in our symposium @eseb2025.bsky.social - with speakers Hassan Salem @hassansalem.bsky.social and Carola Petersen. Abstract deadline April 25th. Florent, Klara, and I would love to see you there!

Join us in at #ESEB2025 Barcelona for our symposium on microbial adaptation to changing conditions. Organised by @mtoll8.bsky.social @javierdelafuente.bsky.social and me. Amazing invited speakers @saramitri.bsky.social and Itzik Mizrahi!! @eseb2025.bsky.social

#ESEB2025 Exciting symposium alert: (S50) Unravelling the origin of eukaryotes. 🦑🌴 With speakers Purificación López-García and Mark Field. We are looking forward to your abstract submissions! eseb2025.com/list-of-symp... @julianvosseberg.bsky.social

Here's a cool article doi.org/10.1038/s415..., which supports my evolutionary model of a prokaryotic cell cycle (doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...), in which we allow evolution to exploit the changes in gene dosage induced by replication to improve cell-cycle regulation.

I would really appreciate a wide sharing of this post, as the candidate profile I am looking for is outside of my regular circle. Thank you so much. More info and how to apply here: uu.varbi.com/se/what:job/... (2/2)

New MRC-funded postdoc with me on comparative bacterial genomics/phylodynamics @roslininstitute.bsky.social university of Edinburgh. Great multidisciplinary team and collaboration with partners at Shanghai Jao Tong University. elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Exciting news! 🎉 My article is out in iScience presenting DNNGIOR, a deep learning tool advancing gap-filling in metabolic models. Huge thanks to co-authors @cmelkonian.bsky.social, @hariszaf.bsky.social, Daniel Garza, Andreas Haas and @bedutilh.bsky.social. Read at shorturl.at/REOm8

The last chapter of my PhD is out now! #PLOSCompBio: Intracellular signaling in proto-eukaryotes evolves to alleviate regulatory conflicts of endosymbiosis t.co/IUCEnNcBkG