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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Also huge shoutout to our collaborators @masarunobu.bsky.social and @hiro-imachi.bsky.social for sharing their strain and lively discussions. And also to our collaborators on the eukaryotic side, @klemens-actin.bsky.social and Michael Sixt at @istaresearch.bsky.social for their input and support!

masarunobu.bsky.social

Masaru Nobu (@masarunobu.bsky.social)

Biologist at JAMSTEC exploring the evolution and frontiers of life

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Dimitris Dalkidis @dimdalk.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

So happy for this work! Huge thanks for the teamwork and the amazing collaborative effort to everyone participating in this! #archaea #nitrification #inhibitors #environmental #microbiology #nitrogencycle

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Philipp Radler @radler92.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The first paper of my PostDoc in Christa Schlepers group (@archaea-vienna.bsky.social) on the dynamics of Asgard archaea is now out in Nature! www.nature.com/articles/s41... This was a great team effort and I am looking forward to uncover the complex behavior of these cells further!

nature.com

Dynamic protrusions mediate crawling motility in Asgard archaea - Nature

Anoxic live-cell imaging shows actin-dependent crawling motility and dynamic protrusions in Asgard archaea, providing insights into cellular innovations that may have contributed to eukaryotic evoluti...

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

We added experiments during revision showing that actin inhibition stops dynamics in both tested Asgard archaeal strains, further supporting the idea of a shared mechanism dependent on Lokiactin. We’re excited to see what other surprises these archaea have in store for us! @radler92.bsky.social

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Our paper on the dynamics of Asgard archaea (Promethearchaeota) is now out in Nature! Huge thanks to the reviewers for helping make the manuscript stronger. www.nature.com/articles/s41... Two “Lokis” stained for Lokiactin (FastAct, magenta), reaching toward each other to celebrate 🎉 #archaea

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Svetlana Dodonova @dodonova-sveta.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

New preprint from Dodonova lab 🔔! Capturing multiple states by cryo-EM❄️, we show for the first time how archaeal RNA Polymerase engages a nucleosome and forms direct contacts with histones! 🧬 Great work by Gabriele & a fantastic collaboration with Dina Grohmann! 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Congrats to Dimitri and all co-authors on their new publication! Common Nitrification Inhibitors Exhibit Distinct Mechanisms on the Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeon Nitrososphaera viennensis A great and in-depth look at SNIs and AOA! @dimdalk.bsky.social #archaea #omics doi.org/10.1021/acs....

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Excited to share the final version of this great project! Oxygen production as an electron overflow pathway in ammonia-oxidizing archaea www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #archaea #oxygen #AOA #nitrification #physiology

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Nika Pende @nikapende.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Happy to share that our review "Assessing transporter systems of methanogens to boost archaea biotechnology" is finally out! 🥳 Great collaboration between @archaea-vienna.bsky.social and Alto University! Thanks to all the co-authors and the reviewers 🥰 #methanogens #biotechnology #archaea

sciencedirect.com

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Dimitris Dalkidis @dimdalk.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Very excited to share my first preprint! Great teamwork and an amazing collaborative effort. Looking forward to the next one 😉

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Do biofilms give an ecological advantage? Yes! A fantastic follow-up to our previous biofilm work in ammonia-oxidizing archaea: "Biofilm Lifestyle Drives Ecophysiological Niche Expansion in an Archaeal Soil Nitrifier" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Congratulations to all authors! #archaea

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

We are excited to share a new preprint from Dimitris Dalkidis that identifies the effects of inhibitors DMPP and ATU in ammonia-oxidizing archaea! #archaea "Common nitrification inhibitors exhibit varied physiological mechanisms on an ammonia-oxidizing microorganism" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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STCmicrobeblog @stcmicrobeblog.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Cultivating the Ancestors… in Motion What electron microscope images hint at, but can only be seen in videos: how 'Asgard' archaea move.

smallthingsconsidered.blog

Cultivating the Ancestors… in Motion

What electron microscope images hint at, but can only be seen in videos: how 'Asgard' archaea move.

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Available now on BBC radio "In our time: Archaea" with Christa Schleper, Thorsten Allers and Buzz Baum discussing the evolution of complex cells with Misha Glenny. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Archaea

How a discovery in the 1970s changed the theory of the origin of complex life on earth.

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Slow and steady! After 15 years of continuous cultivation, we finally isolated the first psychrotolerant ammonia-oxidizing archaeon (AOA) from an arctic environment, Ca. Nitrosocosmicus articus! Our new article in Frontiers in Microbiology: doi.org/10.3389/fmic...

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Our Review Article is online! We are happy to share our summary about molecular and cellular biological discoveries in archaea that have long foreshadowed a close relationship to eukaryotes, which is now so well manifested in the Asgard archaea. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.com

Asgard archaea: have we found our microbial ancestors? - The EMBO Journal

The discovery of Asgard archaea about a decade ago has greatly reshaped our understanding of archaeal evolution and the origin of eukaryotes. Asgards are currently thought to be the closest prokaryoti...

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Congratulations Silvia Bulgheresi, PROSE Award Category Winner for her book Brave Genomes: shop.elsevier.com/books/brave-...

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Thank you @carlzimmer.com for sharing the excitement for our favorite organisms and introducing them to the broader audience! www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/s...

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Thank you Susanne Erdmann and @schurlab.bsky.social for this collaboration and our excellent cultivation crew for the support!

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

We are happy to share our newest preprint on a novel strain of Ca. Lokiarchaeum ossiferum, that contains an active provirus, capable of excision and independent replication! We propose a novel virus family: Fylgjaviridae. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Soil Microbial Ecology Group @soilmicrobes.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

📣 We are happy to announce two University of Lyon-China Scholarship Council-funded #PhD projects examining Soil Virus Ecology! 🦠 ✍️ To apply: please send a detailed CV and letter of motivation by January 30, 2026. Interviews will take place in February. Further details can be found here 👇

soilmicrobes.fr

Join

Let’s Team Up Vacancies PhD Scholarship: University of Lyon – China Scholarship Council TOPIC: Probing the soil RNA virosphere: Viral interactions with key microbial drivers of biogeoch…

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

There are a couple of possibilities, but one is trying to move! We were able to get some more info from the lead author and just reposted some of his comments on new videos to help guide us more. They might offer some insights as well!

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Thank you! We are very proud of our group members' hard work. The 𝘝𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 video is also amazing! Very fun to see.

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

This work was led by PostDoc Philipp Radler @radler92.bsky.social with the help of Tobias Viehböck. Strain HC1 and actin inhibitors were provided by Hiro Imachi @hiro-imachi.bsky.social and Klemens Rottner/Theresia Stradal respectively. We thank all collaborators for excellent input and discussions!

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Thus, we suggest that these dynamics are a common feature of Promethearchaeota. The motility seems dependent on internal, actin filaments, which suggests than actin-based motility might not be an invention by eukaryotes but has emerged earlier during evolution.

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Video 5 (HC1) We were very happy to collaborate with the team of Hiro Imachi, who provided their recently cultivated Hodarchaeum Ca. M. peptidophilum, another member of the Promethearchaeota. We found these cells to be incredibly dynamic and rearranging their cell morphology, like the Lokis.

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Video 4 (Actin Inhibition) We were able to stop these dynamics by inhibiting the internal Lokiactin (an ancient homologue of human actin) cytoskeleton. Rather than controlled protrusion growth and movement, the cells sway randomly, similar to the Inflatable tube man found next to car dealerships.

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Video 3 (Moving Cells) When we looked closer, we found some that, after adhering to the glass, used their protrusions to migrate along the glass! This type of crawling motility is untypical of prokaryotes, as it didn’t seem to be dependent on Pili proteins, but rather these dynamic protrusions.

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Video 2 (Shapechangers) Not only are the arms dynamic, but also the cell shape is extremely plastic. The cells can rearrange from a spherical shape to form a stick like morphology in a matter of minutes! Such plasticity is unprecedented in the world of prokaryotes.

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Video 1 (Dynamic protrusions) These cells (we call them lovingly Lokis) have a very characteristic shape: A central cell body with long protrusions. We find these protrusions to be unexpectedly dynamic; they grow and retract constantly.

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

In our recent preprint, we managed to establish anaerobic live imaging of Ca. Lokiarchaeum ossiferum, a member of Promethearchaeota (formerly Asgard archaea). Below are 4 examples (plus one of the newly cultivated HC1) of these fascinating microorganisms and what we are observing:

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

This phylum has gathered lots of attention in the last decade, as it constitutes the closest prokaryotic lineage of eukaryotes and contains a multitude of “eukaryotic” signature proteins!

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

There are currently only 5 cultivated Asgards and we know most about them from genomic data and some exquisite cryo-EM images. We were, however, interested in observing cell behavior with live cell microscopy!

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

1. As we recently joined BlueSky, we want to repost this story for all newcomers! We sat down with @radler92.bsky.social to get more insight into the unique videos from his recent preprint on Promethearchaeota (formerly Asgard archaea). doi.org/10.1101/2025... (Videos and info below)

doi.org

Dynamic protrusions mediate unique crawling motility in Asgard Archaea (Promethearchaeota)

Crawling motility is a hallmark of eukaryotic cells and requires a dynamic actin cytoskeleton, regulated adhesion, and spatially organized signalling pathways1–3. Asgard archaea (phylum Promethearchae...

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Video 4 (Actin Inhibition) We were able to stop these dynamics by inhibiting the internal Lokiactin (an ancient homologue of human actin) cytoskeleton. Rather than controlled protrusion growth and movement, the cells sway randomly similar to the inflatable tube man found next to car dealerships.

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

In our recent preprint, we managed to establish anaerobic live imaging of Ca. Lokiarchaeum ossiferum, a member of Promethearchaeota (formerly Asgard archaea). Below are 4 examples (plus an extra with newly cultivated HC1) of these fascinating microorganisms and what we are observing:

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

This phylum has gathered lots of attention in the last decade, as it constitutes the closest prokaryotic lineage of eukaryotes and contains a multitude of “eukaryotic” signature proteins!

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Archaea Biology Vienna @archaea-vienna.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

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