I'm giving a public talk next Wednesday, August 5, on approaches to studying mid-water animals in situ. It will be light on technical details, and more conceptual and a journey to the deep than a regular science talk. Please join if you are interested! #marinelife www.bigelow.org/news/cafe-sc...

Beautiful work from Brazil describing testate amoeba shells found on a moss sample from a tree on a tall mountain in the Amazon Rainforest: "High-altitude Amazonian eukaryotic shells (Arcellinida, Amoebozoa)" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #protistsonsky

New preprint! 🧵 Best #Cercozoa genome alert! For a decade, I’ve studied protist ecology through questions like who eats whom. But beyond “they eat this, they eat that,” what do #protists do to their environment, biochemically speaking? #protistsonsky @huesnaoeztoprak.bsky.social

I don't know about sheep, but I bet tintinnids dream of electric tardigrades (water-sheep?). Everyone should read the actual sci-fi book and the awesome paper from Kirsty's group! youtube.com/shorts/_OnGl...

Water Bear Snacking on Volvox Algae 🦠 #microscope #science #animals

YouTube video by tardibabe

youtube.com

Kirsty Wan@micromotility.bsky.social · 2w ago

Do #tintinnids dream of electric sheep? 🤯 Here is a single cell capable of building a lorica and living inside it for protection... it also swims, feeds, hunts Can even detect and habituate to mechanical cues! #celllearning #protistsonsky #cilia Read more in our preprint doi.org/10.64898/202...

Do #tintinnids dream of electric sheep? 🤯 Here is a single cell capable of building a lorica and living inside it for protection... it also swims, feeds, hunts Can even detect and habituate to mechanical cues! #celllearning #protistsonsky #cilia Read more in our preprint doi.org/10.64898/202...

Really enjoyed The Dark Frontier by @jjmarlow.bsky.social. As someone who’s never been on a research cruise, it was fun reading about how open ocean research is conducted and how this research directly impacts the policy decisions that will determine the future of deep sea ecosystems 🌊

I recently did this interview with NEB covering a lot of the work I've been involved with lately (e.g. @dudinlab.bsky.social) Hopefully there's something interesting in there and nothing too egregious! Some of the work fits #protistsonsky. Enjoy? www.neb.com/en-us/podcas...

A single-cell blueprint for cellular diversity in the Green Lineage www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #algae #protists #singlecell

On the artist of the iconic sketch of Globigerina: J.J.W. Article in free access for 50 days at authors.elsevier.com/a/1nPdH56A9x... #protistsonsky

New article on J.J. Wild - the artist of the Challenger Expedition and his portraits of protists-> lost art of scientific illustration - #protistsonsky hal.science/hal-05682869

I had a ton of fun the other day talking with @nonresidentdesi.bsky.social and @scifri.bsky.social 's Flora Lichtman and Rasha Aridi about murderous microbes and the things that we are trying to learn from them. Happy for the opportunity to bring some new awareness to the world of protists!

Science Friday@scifri.bsky.social · last mo.

Researchers like Ben Larson and Glen D’Souza are piecing together the world of killer microbes, including why they turn on each other and if their tiny weapons could be harnessed to fight disease. Listen to the podcast now: www.sciencefriday.com/segments/kil...

#ProtistsOnSky

ISEP@isepprotists.bsky.social · last mo.

New #ISEPpapers! Evolutionary assembly of a unique purple-green photosymbiosis revealed by expanded ciliate diversity academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc... #Protists #Bacteria #Ciliates #Symbiosis #Evolution #Microbes

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:

Anne Walraven@annewalraven.bsky.social · last mo.

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

Another Mariana Trench crossing! If you're up for something to keep an eye on in the background, Nautilus is headed toward the Mariana Trench and the multibeam is running. Seafloor at 7566m currently. How deep will they measure this time? nautiluslive.org @nautiluslive.org

Nautilus Live | Ocean Exploration Trust

Explore the ocean with us! We seek out new discoveries while conducting scientific exploration of the seafloor and stream live to the world aboard Exploration Vessel Nautilus.

nautiluslive.org

Our paper on the evolution of cellular miniaturization is now out in PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... A short recap 🧵

Marco Fumasoni@marcofumasoni.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🗞️ New preprint from the lab, led by our postdoc Ana Garoña (not on here) in collab with @andreagiometto.bsky.social: “Experimental evolution of cellular miniaturization reveals a mechanism for cell size evolution”, aka: “honey, we shrank the yeasts!” 🎥 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

How ancient are the building blocks of animal sensory systems? Key components of animal sensory systems evolved before animals. We find that choanoflagellates possess diverse & spatially segregated TRP channels, pointing to ancient origins of sensory specialization. doi.org/10.64898/202...

A great place for a meeting, great people !!! Info on prelim, program, etc. protistology.org.uk/autumn-meeti... #protistsonsky

My last pic of the organizers closing out the inaugural session of the #MicroSEA course, dedicated to hands on single cell methods with micro-eukaryotes. It was an honor and a pleasure to share. Bravo @johandecelle.bsky.social @mjamy.bsky.social @protistwtmostest.bsky.social and other organizers!

1/10 For decades, cellular aggregation was considered an evolutionary dead end. Cells could come together temporarily. But complex multicellular organisms like animals? Our study, led by JP Gerdt, with Ruibao & @jennahed.bsky.social suggests it may be time to rethink that🧵 #ProtistsOnSKy

Me and my friend Cymbomonas, the mixotrophic green alga with 4 flagella. #MicroSEA course clay modeling activity 2026. #protistsonsky

Fantastic week of seaside "protisting" at the Microsea summer school in Roscoff. Very keen and inspiring participants. Thanks to the organizers for an amazing first edition. Only downside is that I lost (hopefully only temporarily) my computer to a coffee spill. #protistsonsky

1/11 When we think about learning, we think about brains. Neurons.
Animals. But what if learning began much earlier? Our paper in PRXLife, led by @maorknak.bsky.social explores whether a unicell relative of animals can use environmental cues to anticipate future stress. 🧵 Link: go.aps.org/4vAU56R

those who enjoyed our story of 𝘐. 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴, which was found in Hot Springs Creek in Lassen Volcanic National Park, can prepeare for an exciting continuation! no spoiler here, but 𝘍𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘦𝘣𝘢 cousins were now found at an, well... unexpected locaction. read below👇 #ProtistsOnSky

Some like it hot...

by Christoph — ...and feel right at home in a tributary of Hot Springs Creek in LVNP (California, USA), where temperatures range between 49 °C and 65 °C. You are now going to learn a little bit ab…

smallthingsconsidered.blog

CNY ASM@cnyasm.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Did you know that thermophilic amoeba have been isolated by researchers at Syracuse University from a steam vent at SUNY ESF? artsandsciences.syracuse.edu/biology/news... You can visit this geyser of the built environment when you come to our first fall meeting, held at SUNY ESF this year!

It is always a pleasure to visit this stony village #MicroSEA #Roscoff

I found you in this vast ocean, my love, and I am not letting go. #protistsonsky With @prakashlab.bsky.social

Similar challenges are faced for many many protist groups. Those who tackle them are science heroes, because protists are key to understanding so much of eukaryote evolution, much more than plants and animals for which we already have tons of genomes #protistsonsky

Earth BioGenome Project 🌍@ebpgenome.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🧬 Diatoms are an extraordinarily diverse group of photosynthetic organisms, with tens of thousands of described species. Yet technical challenges still limit large-scale diatom genome production. EBP projects and biodiversity genomics R&D teams are working to solve them. 🌊🔬 #Diatoms #Biodiversity

Did you know that Hexamita nelsoni occurs in blue mussels? Now you know 😂 see our paper here www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #protistsonsky

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!).

Miguel Méndez Sandín@sandinmm.eurosky.social · 2mo ago

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

The moving tentacles of an Acineta sp. suctorian ciliate in timelapse. #marineplankton 🦑 #protistsonsky

Check out these two interesting ECR talks about the crazy and diverse world marine algae #ProtistsOnSky 🪸🌊🔬🧪

Manon Demulder@manondemulder.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Our next DinoSphere seminar will be June 18th at 9 AM PDT / 6 PM CEST hosting Jana Pilátová and @gracezhong.bsky.social 🪱 Grace Zhong: Symbiont mobility in a dinoflagellate–acoel worm symbiosis 🪩 Jana Pilátová: Eyespots as photonic mirrors in Symbiodiniaceae More details on tinyurl.com/43uckr2w!