Very happy to that our large-scale collaborative weave project (w/ @annamichalik.bsky.social & @sympiotr.bsky.social ) "Plant pathogens in #insect #microbiome [...]" has been approved! @fwf-at.bsky.social @ncn.gov.pl @univie.ac.at @jagiellonskiuni.bsky.social @dome-vienna.bsky.social 1/6 👇🏽

Last week, I had the pleasure to host a speed visit of Mariia Shrestkha to talk about Branchiobdellida, little #leech -like animals..... Discussed project ideas and evolution of these particular little #worms! Excited for the science to come!

Intrahost mutational dynamics parallel long-term #genomeEvolution in #endosymbionts by @symboevo.bsky.social & Younghwan Kwak doi.org/10.1093/molb... #SymbioSky

Intrahost mutational dynamics parallel long-term genome evolution in endosymbionts

Abstract. Obligate endosymbionts of insects undergo extreme genome evolution, marked by accelerated molecular evolution, severe base-pair compositional bia

doi.org

A step forward in discovering Buchnera's key to the aphid's heart, published today! Thanks to Jerry Maeda and other authors--a great team -- and to the helpful reviewers #SymbioSky doi: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

A secreted endosymbiont protein essential for colonizing host cells - Nature

SyeA was present in the Buchnera ancestor, is secreted into the host cytoplasm, is homologous to secreted effectors of bacterial pathogens and is essential for Buchnera transmission.

doi.org

Proposed terminology for referring to the homes of #symbionts within their ( #insect ) hosts " #Symbiotic organs in #insects: diversity, functional implications, and terminology " w/ @kaltenpoth-lab.bsky.social and co., not in bsky doi.org/10.1098/rstb... #SymbioSky

Symbiotic organs in insects: diversity, functional implications, and terminology

Abstract. With over a million described species, insects represent the most successful group of animals on Earth. One of the drivers of insect diversity is

doi.org

SypC, a #symbiont #outerMembraneVesicle protein, impacts the development of the #squid – #vibrio partnership doi.org/10.1073/pnas... #SymbioSky

SypC, a symbiont outer membrane vesicle protein, impacts the development of the squid–vibrio partnership | PNAS

Bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) and the cargo they carry are increasingly recognized as a means of communication between microbial symbion...

doi.org

With Eugene Koonin, we wrote a rather comprehensive review on the origin, evolution and organization of the #virosphere. We describe all 10 viral realms and the logic behind them, and so much more. Check it out! comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/ar...

#Genome-resolved #metagenomics reveals conserved, flexible and emerging #symbioses across global #leafhoppers doi.org/10.64898/202... #SymbioSky

Just published! Check out our review of the Nucleocytoviricota infection cycle. Great teamwork! @mkrupovic.bsky.social @willemsenanouk.bsky.social @fischerlab.bsky.social @puffy-virus.bsky.social

Nature Reviews Microbiology@natrevmicro.nature.com · 2mo ago

New online! Infection cycles of viruses of the phylum Nucleocytoviricota

New Work out! A multilayered network reveals the centrality of newly discovered #Nucleocytoviricota in wastewater treatment plant communities w/ @dominikluecking.bsky.social & @amanzanom.bsky.social doi.org/10.64898/202... @erc.europa.eu @univie.ac.at @dome-vienna.bsky.social 1/4

New work out! #Coevolution and synchronized evolutionary rates in #aphid dual #endosymbiot sytems w/ Jess, Emmanuelle, Armelle, & co. doi.org/10.64898/202... @cbgpmontpellier.bsky.social @inrae-france.bsky.social @cemess.bsky.social @dome-vienna.bsky.social @univie.ac.at #SymbioSky #MicroSky

Want to find #prophage in your #bacteria genomes? We built PhiSpy a long time ago, and now we've created a new web page for it: linsalrob.github.io/PhiSpyWeb/ Best of all, the data never leaves your computer! #phage #phagesky

#gutMicrobiota of Brazilian #Melipona stingless #bees A distinct microbiota architecture retaining a compartment-specific specialization, suggesting an "alternative symbiotic strategy that may reflect unique dietary ecology and evolutionary history." doi.org/10.1371/jour... #SymbioSky

Gut microbiota of Brazilian Melipona stingless bees: Dominant members and their localization in different gut regions

The gut microbiome of eusocial corbiculate bees, which include honeybees, bumblebees, and stingless bees, consists of anciently associated, host-specific bacteria that play crucial role in nutrition, ...

doi.org

Pentapartite symbiotic system in #Legendrea loyezae by @filiphusnik.bsky.social & co. doi.org/10.21203/rs.... #SymbioSky #protistsOnSky

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

Missed this one when it came out. #Genome degradation results in nested #symbiosis and #endosymbiont replacement in #cicadas doi.org/10.1038/s414... #SymbioSky

Genome degradation results in nested symbiosis and endosymbiont replacement in cicadas - Nature Communications

The evolutionary mechanisms leading to symbiont replacement in insects are not well understood. Zhou et al. show that genome degradation results in nested symbiosis and endosymbiont replacement in cic...

doi.org

Cellular remodeling of ovarian follicular epithelial cells transmits an obligate nutritional #endosymbiont in a #scaleInsect #Insignibacter tubulum, novel nutritional endosymbiont of #Insignorthezia insignis doi.org/10.1073/pnas... #SymbioSky

Elsevier costs were ~£1.7B in 2025 newsletter.journalology.com/p/elsevier-2... Compare that to arXiv 👇

Richard Sever@richardsever.bsky.social · 4mo ago

$7M/year running costs

How common is multicellularity in bacteria? And archaea? And how does it evolve? We wrote a short review "On the architecture and evolution of prokaryotic multicellularity". Preprint link: bit.ly/4ta06Gq Sharing and comments are much appreciated. 1/4

Leeches are so cool! 🤩 We had a special speaker today at @i2sysbio.es , Alejandro Manzano Marin @amanzanom.bsky.social . I have known him since my PhD and I'm really amazed by his research line about symbionts of leeches #symbiosis #microsky

This is a really cool study on one of my favourite obligate symbiotic systems: Aphid + Buchnera by @jerrymaeda.bsky.social, @nancy-moran.bsky.social, & co. A secreted #endosymbiont protein (SyeA, formally Yba3) essential for colonizing host cells doi.org/10.1101/2025... #SymbioSky

Calling all OrthoFinder users! We’ve just released GLADE, a tool to infer gene gains, losses, duplications, and ancestral genomes across a phylogeny. GLADE runs directly on OrthoFinder results. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... github.com/lauriebelch/... (1/10)

Announcing our next #NSFfunded workshop on "Telling Stories Through Data", co-lead by myself + @vgwschutte.bsky.social! It’s half bioinformatics data viz & half #SciComm - this year’s focus is host-associated microbiome datasets. Apply here to join us (form closes 1/10) bit.ly/TSTD2026 #symbiosky

ChromoMapper: a new tool to quickly compare large genome assemblies. #GenomeAssembly #GenomeComparison #Bioinformatics #Genomics @bioinfoadv.bsky.social 🧪🧬 🖥️ academic.oup.com/bioinformati...

After a long(ish) while, the reference genome for the #leech #Hirudo verbana is officially out! doi.org/10.12688/ope... w/@ergabiodiv.bsky.social, @biogeneurope.bsky.social, @leibnizlib.bsky.social, & @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @dome-vienna.bsky.social, @cemess.bsky.social, @univie.ac.at 1/3..

Biodiversity Genomics Europe plus (BGE+)@biogeneurope.bsky.social · 7mo ago

A new @ergabiodiv.bsky.social - @biogeneurope.bsky.social reference genome is available! 🥳 Have you heard about this European medicinal leech? Hirudo verbana! Learn more about this medicinal leech here 👉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mily... @iboleurope.bsky.social @horizoneu.bsky.social

#TEsky #ViroSky #VirEvol

The EMBO Journal@embojournal.org · last yr.

REFEREE 1: “I conclude with a simple, direct statement - this is the best paper I have read all year!” #TransparentPeerReview Co-evolving infectivity and expression patterns drive the diversification of endogenous retroviruses @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social et al www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Olvera-Vazquez, @cornilleamand.bsky.social et al. analyzed olfactory and gustatory receptor genes in 12 aphid genomes with varying host plant ranges. Aphid lineages with broader host ranges exhibited higher evolutionary rates. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf238 #evobio #molbio

Comprehensive Annotation of Olfactory and Gustatory Receptor Genes and Transposable Elements Revealed Their Evolutionary Dynamics in Aphids

Abstract. Gene duplication and transposable elements (TEs) are major drivers of genomic innovation that can fuel adaptation. While the roles of duplication

doi.org

Last week we wrapped up the first edition of the Virus evolution and ecology course under the umbrella of the brand new Master in Microbiome Science offered @univie.ac.at. We learned about viruses, their evolution, and their ecological impact across different ecosystems. 1/2 #VirEvol

It’s exciting to see converging evidence across systems! 😀 Alongside the new work on gutless worms, our study shows that organosulfur cycling is also essential in lucinid holobionts. Lucinid host provides DMSP to its symbionts, sulphur-oxidising Thiodiazotropha and, a new member, Endozoicomonas.

Eileen Kröber@organosulfur.bsky.social · 8mo ago

New preprint! We explore how gutless marine worms and their bacterial symbionts use organosulfur compounds like DMSP and DMS - key molecules in marine sulfur cycling. Our results show that these compounds support carbon and energy metabolism in the Olavius algarvensis symbiosis.

Don’t say that! Every academic will start putting it on their CVs. 🤣

Anaïs Bailles@anaisbailles.bsky.social · 8mo ago

And, do we even care about IQ? It is like the Impact Factor of intelligence...