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Miguel Méndez Sandín

@sandinmm.eurosky.social
614 followers 364 following 30 posts

Understanding eukaryotic molecular diversity and evolution. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow @IBE_Barcelona @beaplab.bsky.social miguelmsandin.github.io thelifeofretaria.github.io Mastodon: @SandinMM@ecoevo.social

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Reposted by Miguel Méndez Sandín
Ursula Oggenfuss @oggenfussursula.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Are you interested in learning how genomes of weird fungi and protists evolve and are you looking for an exciting PhD opportunity? Jolien van Hooff and I are looking for an enthusiasic PhD candidate at Wageningen University: www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p... #TEworldwide #Fungi #Protists #Genome
wur.nl
PhD position in genome evolution and architecture in unicellular eukaryotes
Are you fascinated by how eukaryotic genomes evolve? Do you want to look beyond model organisms and point mutations to uncover the complexity of genome evolution?
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Anna Karnkowska @ankarn.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Postdoc opportunity! Join PERKFresh project and explore Perkinsea diversity, ecology & host–parasite interactions in freshwaters 📍 University of Warsaw ⏰ Deadline: 6 Nov 2026 🔗 euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/466845 #protistonsky #postdoc
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Nicole Coots @nicolecoots.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The International Society of Protistology is funding community initiatives like workshops and symposia! The deadline is soon (09/30) but the funding will also be available next year :-) Send to anyone that might benefit from this/plz retweet! #ProtistsonSky protistologists.org/call-for-app...
protistologists.org
Call for Applications: Community Initiative Support Fund - International Society of Protistologists
The International Society of Protistologists is an association of scientists devoted to research on single-celled eukaryotes, or protists. The ISOP promotes the presentation and discussion of new or i...
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Reposted by Miguel Méndez Sandín
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 28/07/2026
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Environmental phylogenetics supports a steady diversification of crown eukaryotes starting from the mid-Proterozoic.” Explore the article here: ow.ly/5Lpf50Ztxar For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/AMo550Ztxas.
A five-panel figure includes a circular phylogenetic tree and four lineage-through-time graphs labeled A, B, C, D, and E.
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 17/07/2026
Apparently the "boring billion" was actually exciting! We provide molecular evidence of complex Mesoproterozoic eukaryotic communities. So happy to see this out 🥳 Thanks to @phoebefossil.bsky.social , Hélène Morlon & @fburki.bsky.social for a lovely collab! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
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Vasily Zlatogursky @zlatogursky.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
1/11 🤩Sooooo happy to see this work on a new new group #algae. Looks like #centrohelids - predatory ancient eukaryotic lineage sometimes harbor vertically-inherited plastids from #dictyochophytes. Amazing work, @annewalraven.bsky.social, glad to be on board! More below:
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Anne Walraven @annewalraven.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Very excited that the preprint of the main paper of my PhD is now out! We show that Meringosphaera is the first centrohelid with permanent plastids: doi.org/10.64898/202... @zlatogursky.bsky.social, @pjkeelinglab.bsky.social, prof. Rachel A. Foster, and @fburki.bsky.social #protistsonsky
doi.org
Single cell genomics and fluorescence microscopy suggest a permanent plastid in a marine centrohelid
Photosynthetic organelles (plastids), which originated via primary endosymbiosis between an Archaeplastida ancestor and cyanobacteria, have shaped the Earth's oxygen-rich atmosphere and spread across ...
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Marie Walde 🌊🦠🔬 @mariescopy.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Hacking spirit in Roscoff during our "Smart DIY Microscopy for Marine Biology" inspired by #MIFOBIO last year. We jointly assembled new #EnderScope systems for marine research. 🌊🔬💻 Big thanks to 💙EnderTeam 💙@embrc-france.bsky.social 💙@gdrimabio.bsky.social 💙@sbroscoff.bsky.social
A group of people listening to a presentationAn EnderScope with a multiwell dish containing small bits of different algaeAn EnderScope next to a big screen showing python codeA group of scientists visiting the historic aquarium of the Station Biologique de Roscoff
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John Burns @burnsajohn.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
My friends, thank you. With energy, vision, and courage you are forging a path into the future for our favorite protists and the community that exists around them. Bravo 👏 👏 👏. I highly recommend the paper (and seminars!).
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Nicole Coots @nicolecoots.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
it has been a real pleasure to co-run the Life of Retaria with such a lovely group of organizers 💕Happy two years of the Life of Retaria Seminar Series!!!! 🎉 it feels right that our paper should come out around the anniversary!
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 29/05/2026
The first paper from #theLifeOfRetaria is out! doi.org/10.1002/bies... This was a very fun and enriching process, as it has been the last 2 years of our Seminar Series 🤩 #protistsonsky
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Megan Sorensen @messorensen.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Interested in working on the evolution of photosynthetic endosymbioses? Come join us! I have 2 open positions in my new group @cemess.bsky.social in Vienna 3yr postdoc info: tinyurl.com/4emkjpn4 4yr PhD info: tinyurl.com/mtxmsjpy Apply by 1st June! Please share/repost #Protists #Symbiosis #PhD
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Pierre Ramond @pierreramond.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
If there's data there's a story to tell 💾📜 In this paper we study the rate and origin of microbial community 🦠 turnover 🛞 at various spatial 🌍 and temporal 🗓️ scales in the ecosystems of the Wadden & North Seas 💙💚🤎🌊 From my time with people at @niozsearesearch.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/1462...
doi.org
Community Turnover and Connectivity at Two Study Sites in the North and Wadden Seas: Dynamics From Hours to Seasons
We sampled the microbiomes of the two sites in the ecosystems of the Wadden and the North Seas. Microbiome composition changed across ecosystems and seasons but still demonstrated similar functional ....
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 17/04/2026
Hot off the press! We are sharing oligoN-design, an open-source tool to find specific probes and primers from large molecular datasets, without relying on specific databases, alignments or phylogenetic trees. @mariescopy.bsky.social @rmassanam.bsky.social @beaplab.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/1755...
doi.org
OligoN‐Design: A Simple and Versatile Tool to Design Specific Probes and Primers From Large Heterogeneous Datasets
High-throughput environmental DNA sequencing has ushered ecological and evolutionary studies into the big data era. With thousands to millions of DNA sequences, designing taxon-specific oligonucleoti...
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Luciana Santoferrara @lusantof.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Our new article on #protist global distributions combining the #Mixoplankton and #metaPR2 databases with newly revised functional annotations. rdcu.be/fanlx
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Olaya Rendueles @olayarendueles.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
My team at @cbitoulouse.bsky.social is recruiting a postdoc #bioinformatics with solid experience in metagenomic analyses. Interest in evolution, ecology & MGEs is important. The offer stands until the perfect candidate is found, and it could be you 🫵 🔁 🙏 #microSky #phagesky #UTIsky @cnrs.fr
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Operador Nuclear @operadornuclear.com · 14/01/2026
Llevo muchos años en esto y creo que es la mejor entrevista que he visto sobre el impacto real del accidente de Chernóbil. Una fascinante conversación con @gorizaola.bsky.social, zoólogo, investigador y divulgador, que ha trabajado varios años en la zona de exclusión. youtu.be/1fiJacjjW2s?...
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 12/01/2026
No worries, it's impossible to keep up with all the literature at the moment ;)
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 12/01/2026
Exactly! :) We discuss the dinoflagellate mucosphere (from Larsson et al) in our study. The problem (or charm!) studying Radiolaria is that they don't reproduce in culture, so much of their biology and ecology is based almost only on field observations.
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 03/01/2026
In here they described it as "mucosphere" doi.org/10.1038/s414..., and in Radiolaria it's been traditionally used "gelatinous". I think it would be interesting to see what these "matrices" are all made of and their function!
doi.org
Mucospheres produced by a mixotrophic protist impact ocean carbon cycling - Nature Communications
Marine microbes govern ocean productivity and biogeochemistry, regulating global climate. Here the authors describe the sophisticated feeding strategy of a mixotrophic dinoflagellate and show how its ...
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 15/12/2025
Indeed! The Cambrian explosion reflects a change in the preservation of fossils or the sudden development of fossilizable structures (among other things). See our discussion on the "Sppil‐Rongis" effect and refs, for example. Or the development of skeleton in e.g. Radiolaria doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 15/12/2025
Looking forward! 🤓
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 15/12/2025
In brief, all major eukaryotic supergroups were already established in the Proterozoic, and early eukaryote evolution was far more dynamic than directly read by the fossil record. For further details: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 15/12/2025
This work started more than 5 years ago and combines molecular phylogenetics, diversification models, paleoecology and micropaleontology, requiring ~136 CPU-years 🧬💻! A lovely interdisciplinary collaboration with @phoebefossil.bsky.social, Hélèn Morlon and @fburki.bsky.social. #ProtistsOnSky
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 15/12/2025
We find steady diversification during the not-so-boring billion. Archaeplastida diversified early and remained the most diverse group, likely boosted by the first plastid endosymbiosis. Discoba, Amoebozoa and Rhizaria also diversified early, implying complex Proterozoic ecosystems and interactions.
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 15/12/2025
New preprint out! Using ~75k environmental OTUs + 77 fossil calibrations, we reconstructed a Proterozoic timeline of eukaryote evolution. Our results show crown eukaryotes were already diversifying >1.6 Ga, long before the first undisputed fossils (~1.05 Ga). 🔗 DOI: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 15/12/2025
We find steady diversification during the not-so-boring billion. Archaeplastida diversified early and remained the most diverse group, likely boosted by the first plastid endosymbiosis. Discoba, Amoebozoa and Rhizaria also diversified early, implying complex Proterozoic ecosystems and interactions.
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 07/11/2025
Built from and for ecologists, molecular biologists, and bioinformaticians working with high-throughput or environmental sequencing data, this tool will ease the tedious work of designing specific oligonucleotides at all different users expertise.
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 07/11/2025
With just two FASTA files (targets & non-targets), oligoN-design identifies taxon-specific oligonucleotides. No alignments, phylogenetic trees, or reference databases required. It integrates smoothly with tools like BLAST, VSEARCH, and MAFFT, and runs efficiently even on personal computers.
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 07/11/2025
Oligonucleotide design meets big data: We present oligoN-design, a simple, reproducible and versatile open-source tool to design specific primers and probes directly from large environmental DNA datasets. 🔗 DOI: doi.org/10.1101/2025... 👉 github.com/MiguelMSandi...
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Peer Community Journal @peercomjournal.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Now published in Peer Community Journal, #ecology section: On the quest for novelty in ecology
buff.ly
On the quest for novelty in ecology
Ottaviani, Gianluigi1, 2, 3, 4  ; Martínez, Alejandro5 ; Petit Bon, Matteo1, 6 ; Mammola, Stefano4, 5, 7 1 Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboñ, Czech Republic 2 Department of…
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Josef Uyeda @pseudacris.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Unsolicited listicle: My list of the most criminally underused/underappreciated phylogenetic comparative methods. Note, I am not involved in ANY of these methods; but I see them as things people are often asking of comparative data but have been surprised at how infrequently they have been cited.
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Julie Meilland @juliemeilland.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
With the « Life of Retaria » we do podcasts! Listen to the first one during which we interviewed @fabnot.bsky.social #protistsonsky
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Nicole Coots @nicolecoots.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
My friends in the Life of Retaria group decided to make a podcast! In the first episode, they interview @fabnot.bsky.social about his journey as a scientist. I loved the first episode, hope you do too! @juliemeilland.bsky.social @sandinmm.bsky.social et al. thelifeofretaria.github.io/podcast.html
thelifeofretaria.github.io
The Life of Retaria Experience
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 08/05/2025
#protistsonsky
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 08/05/2025
A lovely collaboration with @plannapus.bsky.social, Noritoshi & @fabnot.bsky.social, where we merged the extensive groundwork on the Polycystine fossil record with extant molecular diversity to trace the evolutionary history of Radiolaria from their appearance ~760 million years ago
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 08/05/2025
Despite 150+ years of Radiolaria diversity research, we have just scratched the surface. Nearly half of Radiolaria diversity might be naked hiding in plain sight! We unveiled the diversity and evolution of Radiolaria beyond "the stars of the ocean" doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
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Johan Renaudie @plannapus.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Now published online in Current Biology! www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
Extant diversity, biogeography, and evolutionary history of Radiolaria
Sandin et al. reveal a vast, overlooked molecular diversity of Radiolaria, likely skeleton-less, contrasting the traditional view of their star-shaped skeleton. Such comprehensive Radiolaria diversity...
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 05/05/2025
Ah! And if you arrived until here and were wondering about the little golden dots, yes, they are photosynthetic symbionts identified as Scrippsiella. A common dinoflagellate found in symbioses with other planktonic groups like Acantharia (also Radiolaria) or the jellyfish Vellela
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 05/05/2025
We hypothesize that such a trait could increase the effective volume to weight ratio favoring prey contact and capture, and provide an advantageous microenvironment for symbionts, enhancing ecological success in nutrient-depleted waters. Pictures credit of @n-llopis-m.bsky.social, by the way!
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 05/05/2025
Despite Phlebarachnium was rarely observed, metabarcoding analyses revealed a strong biogeographic affinity to oligotrophic water masses and co-occurrence with other gelatinous-bearing Radiolaria, reaching relative abundances of more than 13% to the total eukaryotic reads in specific samples
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 05/05/2025
We introduce the first molecular characterization of Phlebarachnium, one of the few Radiolaria known to live within a gelatinous matrix besides Collodaria. Yet these lineages of Nassellaria developed independently the ability to produce the gelatinous matrix ∼150 million years ago
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 05/05/2025
Why do some planktonic protists develop a gelatinous matrix? We suggest that this original adaptation is a strategy to cope with ocean oligotrophy: doi.org/10.1111/1462... Led by @n-llopis-m.bsky.social, and thanks to all co-authors, I'm very happy to finally see it out! #protistsonsky
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The PR2 database @pr2-database.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Announcing the new release of the PR2 database, version 5.1. pr2-database.org/post/news/20... Very big thanks to all the contributors: @fonamental.bsky.social @ambonacolta.bsky.social @krabberod.bsky.social and more... A few highlights:
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Daniel Brady Mills @danbmills.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Adding planktonic algae to anoxic marine sediments promotes the anaerobic growth of phagotrophic #eukaryotes. The #Neoproterozoic Rise of Algae may have similarly promoted benthic phagotrophs, directing carbon, energy, and nutrients to early animals. #ProtistsOnSky www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
The Rise of Algae promoted eukaryote predation in the Neoproterozoic benthos
The rise of marine algae stimulated microbial predation at the seafloor, rerouting carbon and energy to the earliest animals.
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Micah Dunthorn @micahdunthorn.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Registration is now open for the ForBio/UiO course “Bioinformatics for environmental DNA sequencing” @biovitenskap.bsky.social @drhyfe.bsky.social @krabberod.bsky.social @ramalok.bsky.social www.forbio.uio.no/events/cours...
forbio.uio.no
ForBio and UiO/IBV course: Bioinformatics for environmental DNA sequencing - ForBio
Read this story on the University of Oslo's website.
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Marie Walde 🌊🦠🔬 @mariescopy.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
I feel this might be a good week to re-post this. Data is power.
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Miguel Méndez Sandín @sandinmm.eurosky.social · 10/01/2025
Next Monday 13 we have the 6th session of The Life of Retaria Seminar Series! Join us at 08h00 (CET) and discover symbiosis in these wonderful protists with Caroline Juery and @filiphusnik.bsky.social Check it out: thelifeofretaria.github.io #radiolaria #foraminifera #theLifeOfRetaria #protistsonsky
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MBARI @mbarinews.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Plankton store carbon and play an important role in our climate. In a new opinion piece, @n-llopis-m.bsky.social—a @sbroscoff.bsky.social Marie Sklodowska Curie postdoctoral fellow at MBARI—shares what we can learn from diatoms. Learn more: www.nature.com/articles/s41... @naturegeosci.bsky.social
nature.com
Polar diatoms fade in the twilight zone - Nature Geoscience
The intense, efficient transfer of organic carbon from the surface to the deep Southern Ocean make it a key component of the global carbon cycle. Observations show that this process isn’t always drive...
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Daniel Vaulot @daniel-vaulot.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
New preprint led by Ruben Gonzalez-Miguens for a new coi database that should be useful to annotate metabarcoding datasets with protists. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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