ZATELLITE: a toolkit to visualize and manipulate human centromeres in live cells using synthetic zinc fingers https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.04.742839v1
Bungo Akiyoshi
@bungoakiyoshi.bsky.social
Studying kinetochores in African trypanosome (kinetoplastid) and marine plankton (diplonemid) in Edinburgh https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/groups/akiyoshi
These two reviews on centromeres and kinetochores in @natrevmcb.nature.com cap off @andrea-musacchio.bsky.social sabbatical at @stanfordbiochem.bsky.social from @valleefoundation.bsky.social. Long time in the making! Non-paywall versions rdcu.be/fxD9V, rdcu.be/fxEar
Structure and function of the centromere and inner kinetochore
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology - The kinetochore is a macromolecular complex that assembles on centromeric chromatin and connects spindle microtubules to the chromosome. This Review...
rdcu.be
Finally back to Edinburgh (is summer gone?). In this trip, I had a chance to talk to various people (scientists and non-scientists). A highlight was to visit a rice farmer. Reminded me of the importance of meeting new people and communications in general
@currentbiology.bsky.social has done it again! What a great interview with one of my favorite scientists www.cell.com/current-biol.... Linda Wordeman @mtwonderland.bsky.social. She taught me everything I know about guinea pigs and a lot about mitosis too!
Linda Wordeman
Interview with Linda Wordeman, who studies microtubule dynamics and cell division at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
cell.com
Congratulations to Tom Deegan who receives the Colworth Medal in 2027! Pioneering work from the Deegan Lab has redefined our understanding of eukaryotic DNA replication and provided conceptual and technical frameworks that continue to drive new discoveries across molecular biology.
I was interviewed by @katiepickup.bsky.social recently for @dmmjournal.bsky.social. This has a little bit of my background, a little bit on science and mentoring, and a little bit (ok, more than a little bit) on funding in science. Check it out at: journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...
🆕T. brucei Kozak sequences are unusual, hard to detect, but important for translation regulation - Check out the work conceived💡, carried out🔬and written up ✍️ by Philip Stettler, with only a minor contributions from me and the Polacek group - CONGRATULATIONS🎉👏 academic.oup.com/nar/article-...
Kozak sequences regulate gene expression in Trypanosoma brucei
Abstract. The Kozak consensus sequence around the AUG start codon of mRNAs allows efficient cytosolic translation initiation in eukaryotes. It has not yet
academic.oup.com
Thank you so much to everyone who made it to #BSP2026 in beautiful, sunny Glasgow!!! (We asked the weather to behave while everyone was around)! The @bspparasitology.bsky.social 2027 meeting will be in Cardiff! I hope everyone enjoyed themselves! Like Glasgow, People Make #Parasitology! 🥳🧬🧫🔬
I have officially started my new position as a Senior Research Scientist at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) 🇯🇵. My new research group will focus on the cell/molecular biology of parasitic Excavata & amoebae (incl. Trypanosoma, Naegleria, Acanthamoeba, & more) (1/3)
Our Spring meeting starts today in Glasgow! All the best to all those presenting @bspparasitology.bsky.social
New preprint! We identified many components that localize to the structure involved in "eating" in a marine organism. #ProtistOnSky #diplonemid www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Identification of feeding apparatus components in a heterotrophic marine flagellate https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.30.714256v1
Do we grow wiser as we age? I spent 15+ years chasing glam journals, wasting time and energy (and frustrating my team and co-authors). I don’t want to wake up at 70 and realize my life went into convincing a few editors my work was trendy enough. Enough. I’ll try to be smarter.
We are excited to be recruiting into 3 Associate Professorship's in @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social. Come join us as a colleague and benefit from our vibrant and multidisciplinary environment. Reach out to me if you have any questions. Please repost! (tinyurl.com/48deybuu) (tinyurl.com/4pdvjaft).
Before he passed away in 2021, Tom Cavalier-Smith had drafted parts of his autobiography. It's now 'published' because Gáspár Jékely put a lot of effort in! Please enjoy and share: doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
doi.org
I am learning a lot from this debate about the last eukaryotic common ancestor. It's thought-provoking to have competing hypotheses and perspectives argued out there in the open. Here, the two arguments are internally consistent, yet different conclusions... so where's the wrong assumption?
Bungo Akiyoshi@bungoakiyoshi.bsky.social · 6mo agoI appreciate the comments by Max Raas, Eelco Tromer and others on my paper published last year "Hypothesis that ancestral eukaryotes sexually proliferated without kinetochores or mitosis". However, I do not think their critiques can reject my hypothesis. For details, please read the paper. 1/n
What I have been arguing is that without knowing the root position, one cannot conclude that Euglenozoa (or any group) are monophyletic. You make an assumption that the root is not within Euglenozoa when you say Euglenozoa are monophyletic.
Kops Lab@kopslab.bsky.social · 5mo agoWhile the root is not fully resolved, the validity of phylogenomics to uncover deep evolutionary relationships is unquestionable. This approach unequivocally shows a monophyly of Euglenozoa invalidating the hypothesis that kinetoplastids/glycomonads split first from all other living eukaryotes.(2/3)
Trypanosome histone variants H3.V and H4.V promote nucleosome plasticity in repressed chromatin pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41709455/
If I claimed this liquid-to-solid phase transition assay on a pure protein in vitro predicts the same transition to happen in cells, what counterarguments would you raise? Would the same counterarguments apply to a liquid-to-liquid phase transition assay on the same pure protein in vitro?
Hey Bungo. I don't know if you figure it out but look at this one. From this paper: shorturl.at/Og2tn They identify this blue light receptor only in one the posterior flagelum!
Closing date is 19th Feb so why not go for it to enjoy the rain in London!
Michael Way@drmichaelway.bsky.social · 6mo agoPostdoc job alert in the Crick Institute in London. Are you interested in the actin cytoskeleton? I am looking for a postdoc to examine the cellular, developmental or physiological role of Arp2/3 iso-complex driven actin polymerisation. Multiple aspects available. crick.ac.uk/WayPostdoc2026
I understand that using bacterial-origin genes clearly is clearly less prone to LBA. However, I am doubting the approach itself as I detailed in the paper.
Andrew Roger@andrewjroger.bsky.social · 6mo agoContrast this with the dataset of Williamson et al. 2025. We used mitochondrial markers with an alphaproteobacterial outgroup. The length of the branch connecting the euk. subtree to the outgroup in this case is much shorter than in the archaeal outgroup analyses; there is less potential for LBA
I am fully aware of that. Yet, I do not consider it problematic because (with respect) I do not feel that the current protein-sequence-based phylogenetic approaches can solve the root position. In my paper, I wrote my reasonings including my criticism on your Williamson 2025 Nature paper.
Andrew Roger@andrewjroger.bsky.social · 6mo agoI would point out that no rooted phylogenomic analysis supports a root within the Euglenozoa. So regardless of the alternative results published, this is a point of agreement in all of them.
Our views are totally different. I think my approach is more valid, and you think your approach is better. A critical issue I have with those phylogenetic papers is that they all say their root is fully supported by their statistical analysis, yet reaching different conclusions. What can I trust?
Max Raas@maxraas.bsky.social · 6mo agoThat is what I meant to convey in my skeet. This is why robust and statistical sequence-based analyses are in our view much more informative. And these consistently group Euglenozoa together as a single, monophyletic group.
#InMemoriam: Dr. Robert Bruce Nicklas, who spent over 50 years unraveling the mysteries of how #chromosomes move during #CellDivision, died on February 19, 2025, at the age of 92. Leocadia Paliulis commemorates his life and work. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
I appreciate the comments by Max Raas, Eelco Tromer and others on my paper published last year "Hypothesis that ancestral eukaryotes sexually proliferated without kinetochores or mitosis". However, I do not think their critiques can reject my hypothesis. For details, please read the paper. 1/n
Max Raas@maxraas.bsky.social · 6mo agoRecently, a Hypothesis was posed in @jcellsci.bsky.social in which the root of eukaryotes was placed between kinetoplastids and all other eukaryotes. From this, it was implied that LECA did not have a kinetochore. We argue this is highly unlikely. A 🧵(1/12) Read our reply here: tinyurl.com/n87myhpr
Restoring Shugoshin 1 reduces chromosome errors in human eggs https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.08.698387v1