Saioa Manzano-Morales (@microbiobits.bsky.social)

Phylogenomics of Asgard archaea reveals a unique blend of prokaryotic-like horizontal transfer and eukaryotic-like gene duplication - Nature Communications The genomes of Asgard archaea, the closest prokaryotic relatives to eukaryotes, are larger than those of other archaea and contain multiple genes seemingly acquired from bacteria. Here, Manzano-Morales and Gabaldón quantify gene duplication, loss, and transfer events in Asgard genomes, showing that gene duplications, rather than horizontal gene transfers, are the primary drivers behind the increased genome sizes. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-71534-5