#Evolution can innovate without inventing. Cell type families can retain ancient regulatory “vocabularies”, while individual cell types evolve by reshuffling how those motifs are combined. @natecoevo.nature.com New cell types from old regulatory words. We like this! doi.org/10.1038/s415...

A new sea urchin joins the evo-devo toolkit! Great to see Mespilia globulus established as a new model. @ferdix.bsky.social @elife.bsky.social One model can reveal a specific mechanism. Multiple models can reveal how evolution works. elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

Nice work @thibautbrunet.bsky.social et al. It fits a view we find compelling: the ancestor of animals may have switched between different cell states, and perhaps different multicellular entities. Maybe we should reconstruct an ancestral life cycle, not an ancestral cell type. #protistsOnSky

Thibaut Brunet@thibautbrunet.bsky.social · last mo.

🚨 New preprint alert! 🚨 Choanoflagellates reorganize their global cytoskeletal architecture within seconds to explore confined microspaces. This is the main PhD work of the amazing @maitefreired.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... A tread 🧵⬇️

Our paper describing two new photosynthetic Paulinella species is out today in JPhycol! This is the kind of work I love to do and even it though took many years to finish, we had a lot of fun stomping around together in the marsh! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #protistsonsky

Interesting piece by @quantamagazine.org on how transposable elements went from "junk DNA" to drivers of genome innovation. Could this negotiation between selfish elements and host genomes have contributed to the origin of animal gene regulation? Holozoans may help us find out. 🧬 #Protistsonsky

Quanta Magazine@quantamagazine.org · last wk.

We are in no small part made of virus. Over millions of years, our DNA has accumulated so many viral snippets that they now make up 8% of our total genome. https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-virus-like-jumping-genes-became-our-partners-in-evolution-20260921/

We have a new branch in the family tree of animals: Atreyea- a previously unrecognized lineage among the closest unicell relatives of animals. Led by @konsmitsi.bsky.social & @freejakoba.bsky.social together with a fantastic team of collaborators. 🔗 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... #protistsOnSky

Very grateful to have been part of such a special and emotional day celebrating Sara Bray & Nick Brown at their Retirement Symposium. Two outstanding scientists and, even more importantly, truly wonderful people. Thank you, Sara and Nick, for such a memorable day! #protistsOnSky

Lovely to see several pieces of our ctenophore work featured in this beautiful new story from @quantamagazine.org 🪼 Great piece by @mstarling.bsky.social, also featuring work by @stevehaddock.bsky.social, @arnausebe.bsky.social & @hejnol.bsky.social. www.quantamagazine.org/ctenophores-...

Ctenophores Aren’t Just Beautiful. They’re Biological Wonders. | Quanta Magazine

Comb jellies are helping answer fundamental questions in biology, from how the earliest nervous systems evolved to how bioluminescence works.

quantamagazine.org

Great to see this, Omaya! The search for the missing diversity of unicellular relatives of animals is gaining momentum, and it’s fantastic to see more labs joining the hunt. New #ichthyosporeans would be exciting!! new holozoan lineages too! #protistsOnSky #missingrelatives

Omaya Dudin 𓂆 ¦🍉¦🦠¦🔬¦@dudinlab.bsky.social · 2w ago

For two weeks, our entire lab is dropping everything to focus on one mission: deploying @embl.org's Advanced Mobile Laboratory to cultivate microbial eukaryotes from Alpine ecosystems. Our dream? Isolating new #Ichthyosporeans never cultured before. Let's see what we find. 🔬🏔️

Ruibao's first paper from the lab is out in @nature.com . www.nature.com/articles/s41.... Collab with @multicellgenome.bsky.social & @jennahed.bsky.social. How did cells stick together and form the first animals? The protist Ministeria suggests cellular aggregation had a role. @iuqcb.bsky.social

A unicellular relative links aggregative multicellularity to animal origins - Nature

Aggregative multicellularity was key to the evolution of the multicellular animal genetic toolkit.

nature.com

Did cell types exist before animals? What if the first cell types evolved before the first animals? We'll use #ichthyosporeans, tiny microbes with the potential to reshape how we think about animal origins. #ProtistsOnSKy @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social @prbb.org @csic.es 🧵

Most people have never heard of #apusomonads. Yet these tiny protists occupy an important position in the eukaryotic tree of life. And we know so little about them! We're looking for a Master's student to help uncover their hidden diversity. #ProtistsOnSky 🧵 @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social @prbb.org

1/7 Really interesting new preprint by Mannsåker et al. on the evolution of TRP channels in #choanoflagellates. But what caught my attention wasn't simply the diversity of these sensory receptors. It was something more general about how biological innovation may arise. 🧵 #protistsOnSky

Pawel Burkhardt@pawelburkhardt.bsky.social · 4mo ago

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...

Thank you for the invitation @embldbunit.bsky.social and the stimulating discussions. I left with many new ideas, more questions to explore, and the feeling that we share an appreciation for exploring the unknown!

EMBL DB unit@embldbunit.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Huge thanks to Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo for opening our Developmental Biology series 26/27 @embl.org. Iñaki showed us how studying our closest unicellular relatives is reshaping what we know about animal origins and why exploring the unknown is key to any field. We couldn't have asked for a better start! 🦠

1/2 Embryonic organizers, a group of cells that can coordinate the behaviour of many others. have been viewed as one of the true innovations of animals. Fascinating new paper @kremnyovs.bsky.social @hejnol.bsky.social @genikhovich.bsky.social et al. now reports organizer activity in #ctenophores.

Nature@nature.com · 4mo ago

Embryonic ‘organizer cells’ can tell embryos of various phyla what kind of body to build go.nature.com/4eolVvS

Do you have interesting protist research that you want to publish? Now is a great time to consider The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. But don't just take our word for it, check out some of our latest metrics! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1550... #protistsonsky

Can a single cell behave like a Bayesian agent? In this new paper by @maorknak.bsky.social, E Casacuberta & @multicellgenome.bsky.social show that eukaryotic cells trained with reliable cues survived stress better by using Bayesian guesses @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social journals.aps.org/prxlife/pdf/...

1/3 Cell adhesion is considered one of the foundations of animal #multicellularity. Yet whether #ctenophores possess a functional cadherin–catenin complex has remained surprisingly controversial. A new study revisits that question. 🧵 @ctenophoresrock.bsky.social

Molecular Biology and Evolution@molbioevol.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Guttieres et al. suggest that core molecular interactions of the cadherin–catenin complex are conserved in ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, suggesting this was an ancestral trait foundational to the evolution of multicellular animals. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag123 #evobio #molbio

1/9 For years, debates about microbial biogeography have sometimes been framed as a choice. Either microorganisms are everywhere. Or geography matters. But what if that is a false choice? @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social @icreacommunity.bsky.social @prbb.org @csic.es #protistsOnSKy

1/7 We often picture eukaryogenesis as a symbiosis between two lineages: an archaeal host & the ancestor of mitochondria. But what if the origin of eukaryotes emerged within a much more complex microbial ecosystem? A fascinating study from @tonigabaldon.bsky.social et al. explores exactly this. 🧵

Toni Gabaldón@tonigabaldon.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Our paper "Gene ancestries reveal diverse microbial associations during eukaryogenesis.” is finally out in Nature. Eukaryogenesis was likely a gradual process shaped by multiple microbial partners and virus-mediated gene transfer, rather than a single binary symbiosis. doi.org/10.1038/s415...

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

Congratulations to both @gautamdey.bsky.social & @dudinlab.bsky.social on receiving the EMBO Gold Medal 2026. A wonderful recognition for their work at the interface of cell an evolutionary biology. Wishing them continued success.

EMBO@embo.org · 4mo ago

Congratulations to Gautam Dey (EMBL) and Omaya Dudin (University of Geneva) for being awarded the EMBO Gold Medal 2026 in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the #LifeSciences in Europe! 🧪 https://www.embo.org/press-releases/embo-gold-medal-2026-awarded-to-gautam-dey-and-omaya-dudin/

Cool special issue on plant evolution just dropped at @currentbiology.bsky.social our 2 cents: Fruits of tons of fun discussions with the one and only Susana Coelho: www.cell.com/current-biol... Reflections on evolution of auxin response with @jorgehg.bsky.social : www.cell.com/current-biol...

#ProtistsOnSky

Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo@multicellgenome.bsky.social · 4mo ago

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

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

1/11 New review by Dey, Ganter & Jacobovitz on multinucleation across eukaryotes. A synthesis of a cellular organization that is far more widespread & evolutionarily relevant than we often acknowledge. #protistsOnSky More importantly, it signals something we have been hoping to see for years. 🧵

Gautam Dey@gautamdey.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Multinucleate cells challenge deeply-held assumptions about complexity, ecological success and evolution. Postdoc extraordinaire and gifted writer @mrosjac.bsky.social tackles this subject with aplomb - tell us what you think! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @currentbiology.bsky.social

New #ISEPpapers by @deemteam.bsky.social! Reversal to osmotrophy in eukaryotes www.nature.com/articles/s41... "Distant eukaryotic lineages convergently reverted from predation to osmotrophy through co-option of bacterial genes and their mobilization via eukaryote-to-eukaryote HGT" #Protists

/9 Interesting new paper by Kasalo, Domazet-Lošo et al. on amino acid biosynthesis & animal origins. Some of the most energetically expensive amino acids became "outsourced" during early animal evolution rather than synthesized internally. #protistsOnSky 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Outsourcing of energetically costly amino acids at the origin of animals - Nature Communications

Animals must obtain half of their amino acids from the diet, influencing their evolution and metabolism. This study suggests that energy pressures favored this outsourcing, enabling proteins to evolve...

nature.com

1/8 Inside your body lies something ancient. Our @pnas.org paper uncovers the deep unicellular prehistory of blood cell types. See paper and video. @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social @icreacommunity.bsky.social @prbb.org @csic.es @csicdivulga.bsky.social pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

1/5 A fascinating new #ctenophore preprint 🧵 Ferraioli et al. uncover a “ladder-like” neural architecture in the living comb jelly Mnemiopsis and connect it to preserved neuroanatomical traces in Cambrian fossils. But the real importance isn’t the anatomy. It’s what the anatomy implies.

Pawel Burkhardt@pawelburkhardt.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A fossil nervous system meets modern neurobiology. We found that a living comb jelly preserves neural architecture remarkably similar to those inferred from Cambrian fossils over 500 million years old 🤩. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...