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Iain Duggin

@iduggin.bsky.social
410 followers 301 following 1 posts

Molecular microbiologist. Deputy director, AIMI@UTS Studying shapeshifting shenanigans of microbes - archaea and E. coli (UPEC)

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Reposted by Iain Duggin
Debnath Ghosal @debnathghosal.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
One of biggest mysteries in biology: how did complex eukaryotic cells evolve from simple microbes? ~1.8 billion years ago, an archaeal cell likely merged with a bacterium to form the first eukaryotic cell, but can we ever find direct evidence of this transformative event? 🦠 🚶‍♂️
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Reposted by Iain Duggin
Alex Crits-Christoph @acritschristoph.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
An Asgard archaeon from a modern analog of ancient microbial mats (Current Biology) Beautiful microscopy of an Asgard archaeon, in the same family as Lokiarchaea, in syntrophy with a sulfate-reducing bacteria Very very nice paper we saw in preprint form: www.cell.com/current-biol...
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Reposted by Iain Duggin
Kate Michie @kmichie.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Our paper is out today! See this news article on it. Asgard archea have some cool proteins. If you are interested in protein evolution it’s a really exciting space. I’m lucky to be a structural biologist in the age of DL🧬🧶 @brendanburns999.bsky.social @iduggin.bsky.social @debnathghosal.bsky.social
phys.org
From Asgard to Earth: Tiny tubes may reveal the moment complex life began
Stromatolites—and their close relatives, microbial mats—could be mistaken for what seems like a bunch of old dark rocks. But instead, they are dense, layered communities of microbes. Long before compl...
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Kate Michie @kmichie.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Check out this weird protein we found in a Loki Asgard archaea.🧬🧶Only found relatives in other Lokis. 🤔 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Unusual protein found in a Loki Asgard Archaea.
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Harry Low’s Lab @lowlab.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
More incredible glimpses of Asgard archaea architecture and lifestyle.. 👏
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Xabier Vázquez-Campos @xabivc.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Our new preprint with a new #Asgard from stromatolites (and its Desulfobacterota companion). Complete circularised genomes of both, cool #cryoem images, protein modelling, etc Big group effort with a lot of people involved #archaeasky #archaea www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
An Asgard archaeon from a modern analog of ancient microbial mats
It has been proposed that eukaryotic cells evolved via symbiosis between sulfate-reducing bacteria and hydrogen-producing archaea. Here we describe a highly enriched culture of a novel Asgard archaeon...
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Reposted by Iain Duggin
Nature Communications @natcomms.nature.com · 09/06/2025
What a missed opportunity... 🤔 We should have declared an official "Archaeal Week" at Nature Communications! 😆 www.nature.com/articles/s41... www.nature.com/articles/s41... www.nature.com/articles/s41... www.nature.com/articles/s41... #Archaea #ArchaeaSky 🦠
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Daniela Barillà @danielabarilla.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
📢 Interested in chromosomes and microbes thriving at the edge of life?PhD project in York-UK on chromosome segregation in #Archaea. Supervised by me, @Steve Quinn & @georgerheath.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Open to Applicants Worldwide! 📅 January 6, 2025 #microsky #archaeasky
Diagram showing archaeal cells containing two chromosomes bound by proteins prior to cell division.
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Bill Söderström @bill-lab.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
If you are in Sydney don’t miss the AMR day this Thursday: www.theasm.org.au/conferences-...
theasm.org.au
Antimicrobial Resistance Symposium 2024 — Australian Society for Microbiology
A collaboration between the Australian Institute for Microbiology and Infection (AIMI) at UTS and the Australian Society for Microbiology NSW-ACT Branch. Join us for a one-day symposium dedicated to ...
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Reposted by Iain Duggin
Sonja-Verena Albers @archaellum.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
Role of tubulins in Haloarchaea by the @iduggin.bsky.social 🧪 🧫 #archaeasky
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Reposted by Iain Duggin
bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 03/05/2024
CetZ1-dependent assembly and positioning of the motility machinery in haloarchaea www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
biorxiv.org
CetZ1-dependent assembly and positioning of the motility machinery in haloarchaea https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.02.592137v1
The tubulin-like CetZ proteins are archaeal cytoskeletal proteins that contribute to cell shape and
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