Borgs carry incredibly versatile gene repertoires: many encode MCR complexes, and some even encode entire rRNA operons! 🤯
Even cooler: we provide evidence that giant Borgs (up to 1.146 Mbp in genome length) evolved from small mini-Borgs (~100 kbp on average) via gene acquisition!
Excited to share our discovery of archaeal circular, jumbo extrachromosomal elements (up to ~535 kb genomes). One related, 409-kb genome is integrated in CH4-eating Methanoperedens, representing the largest integrative element in Archaea so far! Curious about what they are doing? See the paper
This evolutionary trajectory of archaeal Borgs well aligns with that observed in the giant viruses of eukaryotes and bacteria, suggesting that the process of genome expansion leads to ECE complexity across all three domains of life! 🪐
Please check out our preprint for details!
Super excited to share the final project of my postdoc career! We found that Borgs and mini-Borgs are widespread across diverse ecosystems. They don't just exist in Banfield Lab — they are everywhere! 🌎
Huge thanks to all the co-authors and the data generators! @banfieldlab.bsky.social @innovativegenomics.bsky.social
Huge thanks to @banfieldlab.bsky.social @bethanykolody.bsky.social @wshuai.bsky.social @luisvalentin.bsky.social @Shufei @archaeaologist.bsky.social , etc.
Ling-Dong Shi
Studying DNA modification in microbes shouldn't be limited by methodology. 🧬
We’re excited to introduce MODIFI, our new scalable method for detecting DNA modifications in PacBio metagenomic data and estimating ECE-host linkage. Check out the preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Very interesting observation on the ribosomes of our distant relatives!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
New preprint alert 🚨:
Who actually drives methane production in anoxic sediments 🧬🔥?
We point to a transcriptionally dominant 🦠 clade: VadinHA17.
shorturl.at/Rijc0
@bledinadede.bsky.social
@taylorpriest.bsky.social
Ling-Dong Shi
Ling-Dong Shi
Ling-Dong Shi
Ling-Dong Shi
Ling-Dong Shi
Today in Nature Communications, a team of IGI researchers from The Banfield Lab and Pam Ronald's labs uncover a new way to reduce methane emissions from rice by influencing the activity of rice paddy soil #microbes. Read more: https://ow.ly/45j150Y3WsI
Shuai Wang
Michael Murphy
The origin and evolution of archaeal Borg extrachromosomal elements https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.22.727314v1
