Reposted by Iain DugginDebnath Ghosal @debnathghosal.bsky.social · 12/04/2026One 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? 🦠 🚶♂️ 310840
Reposted by Iain DugginAlex Crits-Christoph @acritschristoph.bsky.social · 10/04/2026An 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... 47221
Reposted by Iain DugginKate Michie @kmichie.bsky.social · 09/04/2026Our 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.socialphys.orgFrom Asgard to Earth: Tiny tubes may reveal the moment complex life beganStromatolites—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... 15118
Reposted by Iain DugginKate Michie @kmichie.bsky.social · 23/07/2025Check out this weird protein we found in a Loki Asgard archaea.🧬🧶Only found relatives in other Lokis. 🤔 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 46010
Reposted by Iain DugginHarry Low’s Lab @lowlab.bsky.social · 23/07/2025More incredible glimpses of Asgard archaea architecture and lifestyle.. 👏 081
Reposted by Iain DugginXabier Vázquez-Campos @xabivc.bsky.social · 23/07/2025Our 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.orgAn Asgard archaeon from a modern analog of ancient microbial matsIt 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... 65220
Reposted by Iain DugginNature Communications @natcomms.nature.com · 09/06/2025What 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 🦠 34816
Reposted by Iain DugginDaniela 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 03232
Reposted by Iain DugginBill Söderström @bill-lab.bsky.social · 17/11/2024If you are in Sydney don’t miss the AMR day this Thursday: www.theasm.org.au/conferences-...theasm.org.auAntimicrobial Resistance Symposium 2024 — Australian Society for MicrobiologyA 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 ... 043
Reposted by Iain DugginSonja-Verena Albers @archaellum.bsky.social · 01/11/2024Role of tubulins in Haloarchaea by the @iduggin.bsky.social 🧪 🧫 #archaeasky 0106
Reposted by Iain DugginbioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 03/05/2024CetZ1-dependent assembly and positioning of the motility machinery in haloarchaea www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202… biorxiv.orgCetZ1-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 011