A fascinating reminder that evolution builds on what already exists! Some of the genes behind animal multicellularity may have first played a role in aggregation, helping unicellular ancestors come together and form groups long before the first animals evolved. Super cool study!
Very very cool!
Also rises the question on whether all 'phase separation' could just be molecular diffusion and binding events yet to be precisely characterized 🤔😅😜
Congrats Deniz @microbiodnz.bsky.social 👏🎉
Asgard #archaea: have we found our microbial ancestors?
New review (also for newcomers to the field!) by Christa Schleper and Thiago Rodrigues-Oliveira
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
With Eugene Koonin, we propose a concept of “the selfish ribosome”, under which evolution of life is viewed as a ribosomal takeover, where the ribosome evolved to consume most of the cell’s resources, while other cellular componentry ensures the propagation of the ribosome. arxiv.org/abs/2602.23268
The origin of complex cells may have been far messier than we thought!
I am months late, but this fascinating study shows that evolution is the ultimate tinkerer!
Benjamin @huepfkiesel.bsky.social et al. showed how a bacterial DNA segregation system was repurposed into a cytoskeleton that controls cell shape in multicellular cyanobacteria.
Excited to share my postdoc work on the cryo‑EM structure of the budding yeast telomerase holoenzyme! 🧫🧬
It’s been a real privilege to be part of the awesome Kelly Lab @kellythd-nguyen.bsky.social. Grateful as well to the incredible facilities @mrclmb.ac.uk.
New preprint! We show that conjugation accelerates the segregation of #plasmid alleles -> horizontal transfer is a route for allele segregation in MGE evolution. Led by Lisa Hartmann, with @mariosanter.bsky.social &Nils Hülter. Naturally, reviewed by @qedscience.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Out today - structure of the human HIRA histone chaperone complex bound to nucleosomes. Ever wondered how nucleosomes are assembled in the wake of transcription? It takes a 'hulk of a protein complex'. Work by the amazing Wei Tian weetian558.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵
Anna Papageorgiou
Anna Papageorgiou
Dr Zeinab Rekad 🔬🧬🧪
The EMBO Journal
1/10
For decades, cellular aggregation was considered an evolutionary dead end.
Cells could come together temporarily.
But complex multicellular organisms like animals?
Our study, led by JP Gerdt, with Ruibao & @jennahed.bsky.social suggests it may be time to rethink that🧵 #ProtistsOnSKy
1/🧵 Can transcription factor condensate formation be explained without phase separation? Our new preprint introduces SPARK, a simulation tool that reproduces condensate behavior (clustering, fusion, FRAP) from diffusion & binding kinetics alone. Movie: 60 sec FRAP sim www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Congratulations to my and @apapageorgiou.bsky.social 's PhD student, @microbiodnz.bsky.social, for winning both travel award and poster prize at the #VAAM2026 @vaam-microbes.bsky.social conference. Thanks to the organizers and more about archaeal HU proteins coming soon.
Anna Papageorgiou
Anna Papageorgiou
Mart Krupovic
Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase that synthesizes telomeric repeats at chromosome ends, safeguarding genome integrity. We present the cryo–electron microscopy structure of the budding yeast telom...
Our paper "Gene ancestries reveal diverse microbial associations during eukaryogenesis.” is finally out in Nature.
Eukaryogenesis was likely a gradual process shaped by multiple microbial partners and virus-mediated gene transfer, rather than a single binary symbiosis.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Out now in @science.org
Repurposing of a DNA segregation machinery into a cytoskeletal system controlling cell shape | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Hongmiao Hu
Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo
Mir Lab
Panagiotis (Panos) Adam 🐐
DaganLab
Karolin Luger
Bacteria, like eukaryotes, use conserved cytoskeletal systems for intracellular organization. The plasmid-encoded ParMRC system forms actin-like filaments that segregate low–copy number plasmids. In m...
Led by Investigator Scientist @hongmiaohu.bsky.social, @kellythd-nguyen.bsky.social’s group in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division have produced the first ever structure of telomerase from yeast.
Read more here: mrclmb.ac.uk/news-events/...
#LMBResearch #cryoEM 🧪
