Ponce-Toledo et al. confirm the presence, homology, and monophyletic origin of the SELMA protein complex in Cryptophyta, Alveolata, Stramenopiles, and Haptophyta, shedding light on the evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf167 #evobio #molbio

Enjoying the mountains that forams built for us (with some help from plate tectonics) long ago.

New paper is out! We have studied the cute tiny Discocelia plataet sp. n. to obtain the first molecular data of the order Discocelida and clarify its cell structure. All this for a better understanding of the evolution of Cercozoa. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

We're very happy to release our new database Metalog metalog.embl.de ! It offers manually curated and harmonised contextual data for 110k metagenomics samples across the globe, incl. precomputed taxonomic profiles, for interactive browsing and for download 🧵 1/7 #microsky

Our paper describing our new improved GFmix models for phylogenetic inference that capture site-and-branch heterogeneity in amino acid composition. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

In our ongoing saga of description of new protists, we are happy to introduce Multisulcus malaysiensis, a deep-branching heterolobosean that forms highly unusual multiflagellated cells with multiple ventral grooves. Great work by @kristina-prokina.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Check out our paper to explore how the evolutionary history of SELMA supports or challenges various hypotheses on the origin of red complex plastids. academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

🚨 Fresh off the press! We have just published our paper on the evolution of the SELMA translocon of red secondary plastids‬. We analyze the phylogeny of each individual protein and the implications for the evolutionary history of the entire complex. academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

Out in @natbiotech.nature.com: Metagenome taxonomy profilers usually ignore unknown species. SingleM is an accurate profiler which doesn't, even detecting phyla with no MAGs. Profiles of 700,000 metagenomes at sandpiper.qut.edu.au. A 🧵

Some ceramic protists from our talented friend Anabel López-Archilla. Do you recognize them?

Partez à la quête des origines de la vie avec Puri Lopez-Garcia, naturaliste du monde microbien ! Puri López-García est chercheuse en biologie et directrice de recherche @cnrs.fr au laboratoire Écologie, société et évolution (ESE - Univ. Paris-Saclay/CNRS/AgroParisTech).   🔗 tinyurl.com/2cm7zn27

The cultivation of anaerobic microbes is essential in geomicrobiology and increasingly impactful in geosciences — yet remains underrepresented.🔬

We are very happy to welcome Benjy Sedano @bencyano7.bsky.social , our new PhD student who will be working with some of our favorite cyanobacteria!

The "most beautiful" but also the most intelligent experiment in biology.

Excited to share our new paper in @cellreports.bsky.social that reshapes our understanding of chromosome organization's deep evolutionary roots! Our work dives into the origins of the machinery that structures our very genomes. 🔗: doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... #Genomics #Evolution #CellBiology #LECA

We have contributed to a paper led by Kenneth Timmis on the murky world of predatory journals: enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#NewResearch 🚨Out Now Phylogenomic analyses indicate the archaeal superphylum DPANN originated from free-living euryarchaeal-like ancestors, by @bbaker24.bsky.social @deemteam.bsky.social and team #MicroSky #Archaea 🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

📣 We are proud of the publication of the second paper of @bbaker24.bsky.social PhD thesis. In collaboration with friends in Halifax we have studied the difficult question of the phylogeny of the DPANN archaea, composed of several phyla of highly reduced, fast-evolving epiparasites 🧵 rdcu.be/erkkU

Some of us have participated in writing the "Early Microbial Life: Our Past, Present, and Future" report, a comprehensive summary of knowledge on early life, from its origins to the emergence of complex multicellular lineages: asm.org/reports/earl...

Mesquite 4.beta2 released! Much faster reading of files with thousands of matrices. New features since 4.beta include Trace All Changes (known from MacClade) and Import GenBank Numbers. www.mesquiteproject.org & discuss at groups.google.com/g/mesquite-p... ‪@bembidion.bsky.social ‬🧪 #evolbio

Puri giving a short speech yesterday at the French Academy of Sciences to acknowledge her nomination as a new member. The fancy Napoleonic-style attire is part of the official Academy's protocol. @academiesciences.bsky.social‬

A brief introduction to the #SeqCode is now online! Check it out, share it with your colleagues, and let us know what you think! Bravo to @rodriguez-r.bsky.social for preparing and recording this! Part# 1 www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-wk...

Our friends of atacamensis.cl have just published this short video about our fieldtrip to the Atacama Desert in March.

Today, the ERC formally adopted a decision to increase its support for researchers moving to Europe. On top of its normal grants, the ERC offers 'start-up' funding to help PIs establish laboratories / research teams in Europe. This extra funding is now x2 (up to €2 million!) europa.eu/!6Vdgmp

The ERC welcomes the offer of substantial additional budget from @ec.europa.eu for the development of a new ERC funding instrument offering larger, longer-term grants, as announced by President Ursula Von der Leyen at the Sorbonne this morning. 👉 europa.eu/!NTYTTV

#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

Not really my announcement to make--I am but a lesser co-author--but IQ-TREE 3 has just been released! (Most credit to Minh Bui and @roblanfear.bsky.social and their labs) ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

Some volcanoes reflected in the turquoise waters of Laguna Brava.

Working in another world: Salar de Carcote

These arid evaporitic landscapes of the Atacama Desert are often referred to as "Mars analogues" (probably with excessive optimism). Yet, one only has to turn over the salt crust to discover colorful microbial life.

Amazing transition between living microbialites, a photosynthetic microbial mat, and fossil microbialites in a high-altitude salt flat in Chile

Walking to our sampling point on a vast microbial mat (pink-salmon areas) in Laguna Azufrera, with the fumaroles of the Lastarria volcano visible on the horizon.

Frozen morning in our camp at Lagunas Bravas (4250 m high).

Some flamingos and other aquatic birds in the 3676 m high Salar de Aguas Calientes, near the volcanos of the Lullaillaco National Park in Chile.

We have collaborated with our colleagues in the University of Bordeaux to characterize a new dynamin protein family involved in mitochondrial remodeling and interconnection in Trypanosoma. Its overexpression produces hyper-reticulated mitochondria. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🚨 New paper alert! 🚨 A robustly rooted tree of eukaryotes sheds light on their deep evolutionary ancestry—suggesting that the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA) may have had an excavate-like cell architecture. 🧵🔬 (1/) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Sampling the sulfur-rich Laguna Azufrera in Northern Chile

Golden 'paja brava' (Festuca orthophylla) and some vicuñas in our way to Salar de Pedernales

Dust (salt) devil in front of the Lastarria volcano and its sulfur fumaroles

Sunset in Antofagasta, before climbing to our 4000 m high camping site in the Andes.

A cyanobacterial river in Northern Chile

Sampling with some flamingos in Salar de Huasco.

The beauty of Salar de Carcote, Northern Chile.

Fossil microbialites en Atacama @deemteam.bsky.social @biomin-impmc.bsky.social

Isolated in just 3 years! (previously, 12 years). We obtained two strains from 'Hodarchaeales', proposed to be closest to our archaeal ancestor. Our analysis suggests the ancestor was an anaerobic, syntrophic, peptidotrophic, archaeon with a simple intracellular structure and possible aerotolerance.

Microbial mats and volcanoes in Salar de Carcote.

A microbiologist, a geologist and a geomicrobiologist having a scientific discussion on top of a beautiful formation of fossil stromatolites

The amazing landscape of Salar de Pujsa

A rainbow on the hyperarid Salar de Atacama

Sunset in Peine, in the middle of Salar de Atacama.