Thrilled that our paper "Eco-evolutionary dynamics of massive, parallel bacteriophage outbreaks in compost communities" is out! 🎉🦠🧬 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... w/ @paulbrainey.bsky.social, Petros Skiadas, Paulien Hogeweg, @bedutilh.bsky.social

Eco-evolutionary dynamics of massive, parallel bacteriophage outbreaks in compost communities

A single bacteriophage can dominate microbial communities yet only evolves when migration changes its ecological context.

science.org

Our study comparing promoter existence and emergence in random vs genomic DNA is finally published!!! TLDR: the E. coli genome has more promoters than random DNA (even in intergenic regions), and promoters emerge ~3x more readily from random DNA than genomic DNA. (1/2)

De novo promoters emerge more readily from random DNA than from genomic DNA

Promoters emerge three times more readily from random DNA than from genomic DNA.

science.org

I'm looking for an enthusiastic student to join my team as a PhD candidate on archaeal genome evolution 🦠💻 Work in beautiful Utrecht, at @binfutrecht.bsky.social, an international group full of caring, amazing scientists, and with frequent cake breaks! www.uu.nl/en/organisat... Please share! 🙏

Our preprint on the 'Origins of Eukaryotic Metabolism' is out! Take a look at some of the new findings on the origin of eukaryotic membranes, metabolic integrations between archaeal and bacterial ancestors, and other fascinating prokaryotic interactions during eukaryogenesis. doi.org/10.64898/202...

@shrylishreekar.bsky.social and me wrote a commentary on Chunhui Hao's and @stuwest.bsky.social et al.'s recent paper "Cooperation and the evolution of bacterial niche breadth" in PNAS. Please find our commentary here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Very excited with the online publication of our modeling work on the evolution of sexual reproduction during obligate endosymbiosis: doi.org/10.1098/rstb.... The first publication of Alkmini Zania 🎉; together with Paulien Hogeweg.

In case you missed it: our review titled "Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities" is out! 🚨 Let me hit you with some highlights on why spatial structure matters. (and why you should care!) Sharing is appreciated 🙏 🧵👇 doi.org/10.1093/fems...

Space is the place (for microbes 🦠)! Delighted to have contributed to this review on spatial structure in microbial communities by @marcelbaecker.bsky.social @simonvanvliet.bsky.social @bedutilh.bsky.social @bramvandijk.bsky.social and others.

Marcel Bäcker@marcelbaecker.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Most microbes don't live in shaking flasks; spatial structure shapes how microbes interact and evolve at every scale, as we discuss in our recent review @jeroenmeijer.bsky.social @simonvanvliet.bsky.social @bedutilh.bsky.social @bramvandijk.bsky.social and others academic.oup.com/femsre/artic... 🧵👇

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller? Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase. 1/n

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand

The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

science.org

Recently, 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

The LECA had a conventional kinetochore and the kinetoplastid kinetochore is a derived feature – a critical evaluation of Akiyoshi, 2025

Summary:Akiyoshi, 2025 presented a hypothesis with implications for the early evolution of eukaryotes and eukaryotic cell division machinery. In this Correspondence, the authors conclude that this hyp...

tinyurl.com

Two more weeks to apply - come join us () in The Netherlands as a postdoctoral researcher on large-scale metagenomic exploration of new lineages!

Thijs J. G. Ettema 🦠🔬🇳🇱🇸🇪🇪🇺@ettema.bsky.social · 7mo ago

I have a postdoc position in metagenomic exploration available in my group. Candidates with documented experience in phylo & metagenomics and preferably with petabase-scale data mining and GLM workflows are encouraged to apply. Come join us! 🧬🦠💻 Please repost Apply here: www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p...

Meeting alert! EMBO workshop about molecular and physical principles in evolution in Portugal, 2-5 June 2026. Deadline for registration is March 1st. Check out the website it should be a fun and informative workshop bridging evolutionary biology and physics of life meetings.embo.org/event/26-cel...

How did eukaryotic cells with complex architecture evolve from simpler prokaryotic cells? DNA analyses offer possible answers go.nature.com/4sEMwLH

Genomic clues to the origin of eukaryotic cells

How did eukaryotic cells with complex architecture evolve from simpler prokaryotic cells? DNA analyses offer possible answers.

go.nature.com

Less than two 2 weeks to apply for this PhD position in my group. Please do not miss the opportunity to apply if the topic is of interest to you 👇

Christian Kost@kostchristian.bsky.social · 8mo ago

I am very excited to announce that a fully funded PhD position is available in my group. Topic: Synergistic coevolution in mono-specific and multi-species microbial consortia Please RT or forward this information to interested candidates. Deadline: 11.01.26 More info: shorturl.at/f1TuF

@guyleonard.bsky.social et al. report a near-complete genome and transcriptome sequence dataset for green algae host Paramecium bursaria, an endosymbiotic model system. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf183 #genome #evolution

De Novo Genome Sequence Assembly of the RNAi-Tractable Paramecium bursaria 186b: An Endosymbiotic Model System

Abstract. How two species engage in stable endosymbiosis is a biological quandary. The study of facultative endosymbiotic interactions has emerged as a use

doi.org

Very nice documentary about the origins of complex life with my PhD advisor Berend Snel @binfutrecht.bsky.social!

Tegenlicht@vprotegenlicht.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Hoe is al het complexe leven op aarde eigenlijk ontstaan?

LMB PhD studentship available in the Baum lab to use informatics to infer cell structure from genomic data in collaboration with the brilliant Tom Williams. If you write to me and I don’t reply - try again - the spam filter is hungry…

Oxford Biology is growing 📢 We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in: 🌱 Plant Sciences 🦉 Animal Behaviour 🔬 Molecular Cell Biology 3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology. Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7 Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3

Excited with two new preprints on evolution of molecular structure, in RNA (doi.org/10.1101/2025..., @n-martin.bsky.social) and proteins (doi.org/10.1101/2025...). Both RNA and protein structures are often conserved across evolution, but the underlying reasons are very different.

And thanks to all poster presenters, including Moisès Bernabeu whose poster was in the top 5 of best posters at #ESEB2025. Congrats!

Sam von der Dunk@derdunk.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Great to see so many people at our symposium om the origin of eukaryotes. Thanks to all the speakers! #ESEB25 @julianvosseberg.bsky.social

Sam von der Dunk: we know that RNA structure is robust to mutation yet evolvable. What about protein structure? Take advantage of ESMfold https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade2574 Natural proteins are robust to mutations, whereas random amino-acid sequences are not. Even disordered natural […]

Great to see so many people at our symposium om the origin of eukaryotes. Thanks to all the speakers! #ESEB25 @julianvosseberg.bsky.social

Interactive symbiosis in silico (back) and in vivo (front). #ESEB25

The exciting project of Alkmini Zania on the impact of sex on endosymbiosis reveals complex evolutionary dynamics. What could this mean for early eukaryotes? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The risk of sexual reproduction promotes the evolution of regulation between host and symbionts

Sexual reproduction is a widely spread feature of eukaryotes and was already present in the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA). Most extant eukaryotes inherit mitochondria from a single parent, bu...

biorxiv.org

🚨 Join us at TBB Utrecht by applying for this evo-devo PhD position! 🚨 www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

PhD Position in Multiscale Mechanistic Modelling of Animal Development

How do protein interactions at the subcellular scale regulate the morphology of an entire organ? Join us to explore this question with computer models!

uu.nl

One week left to submit your abstract! @eseb2025.bsky.social

Sam von der Dunk@derdunk.bsky.social · last yr.

#ESEB2025 Exciting symposium alert: (S50) Unravelling the origin of eukaryotes. 🦑🌴 With speakers Purificación López-García and Mark Field. We are looking forward to your abstract submissions! eseb2025.com/list-of-symp... @julianvosseberg.bsky.social

Share your work on host-associated microbiomes in our symposium @eseb2025.bsky.social - with speakers Hassan Salem @hassansalem.bsky.social and Carola Petersen. Abstract deadline April 25th. Florent, Klara, and I would love to see you there!

Join us in at #ESEB2025 Barcelona for our symposium on microbial adaptation to changing conditions. Organised by @mtoll8.bsky.social @javierdelafuente.bsky.social and me. Amazing invited speakers @saramitri.bsky.social and Itzik Mizrahi!! @eseb2025.bsky.social

#ESEB2025 Exciting symposium alert: (S50) Unravelling the origin of eukaryotes. 🦑🌴 With speakers Purificación López-García and Mark Field. We are looking forward to your abstract submissions! eseb2025.com/list-of-symp... @julianvosseberg.bsky.social

Here's a cool article doi.org/10.1038/s415..., which supports my evolutionary model of a prokaryotic cell cycle (doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...), in which we allow evolution to exploit the changes in gene dosage induced by replication to improve cell-cycle regulation.

Transcription–replication interactions reveal bacterial genome regulation - Nature

Single-cell expression data from bacteria are used to classify gene regulatory architectures in relation to gene expression dynamics and the cell cycle, revealing distinct categories of gene regulator...

doi.org