Fabai Wu
@fabaiwu.bsky.social
Ass Prof of Microbiology at EITech Ningbo. www.microwulab.com
Discovery of a Turing reaction-diffusion system in Archaea! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A self-organized geometry sensing oscillator spatially regulates cell division in archaea
Cell division must be tightly regulate in time and space. Many bacteria and eukaryotes employ geometry sensing systems to regulate cell division spatiotemporally. However, how archaea ensure they divi...
biorxiv.org
Systematic identification of cell division proteins in haloarchaea and the discovery of a membrane anchor for the Z ring. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Systematic identification of cell division proteins in haloarchaea and the discovery of a membrane anchor for the Z ring
Most archaea rely on the tubulin-like protein FtsZ for division. In the last decade, several novel cell division proteins have been discovered in the model haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii which contai...
biorxiv.org
Our paper is out today! See this news article on it. Asgard archea have some cool proteins. If you are interested in protein evolution it’s a really exciting space. I’m lucky to be a structural biologist in the age of DL🧬🧶 @brendanburns999.bsky.social @iduggin.bsky.social @debnathghosal.bsky.social
From Asgard to Earth: Tiny tubes may reveal the moment complex life began
Stromatolites—and their close relatives, microbial mats—could be mistaken for what seems like a bunch of old dark rocks. But instead, they are dense, layered communities of microbes. Long before compl...
phys.org
An Asgard archaeon from a modern analog of ancient microbial mats: Current Biology https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(26)00330-1?rss=yes
An Asgard archaeon from a modern analog of ancient microbial mats
A novel Asgard archaeon, Nerearchaeum marumarumayae, is present in microbial mats in Shark Bay, Australia. Combining genomic and structural analyses, together with high-resolution electron cryotomography, Nobs et al. reveal that these archaea possess unique cellular features that reflect their ancestry as progenitors of the earliest eukaryotic cells.
cell.com
Having a hard time keeping up with the fast-moving field of origin of eukaryotes/Asgards archaea? Our new perspective article can help, we review the status of research over the last decade and where it's going. The archaeal roots of eukaryotic life www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Asgard archaea: have we found our microbial ancestors? link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Asgard archaea: have we found our microbial ancestors? - The EMBO Journal
The discovery of Asgard archaea about a decade ago has greatly reshaped our understanding of archaeal evolution and the origin of eukaryotes. Asgards are currently thought to be the closest prokaryoti...
link.springer.com
10 years of massive Asgard undertaking, masterly summarized!
Thijs J. G. Ettema 🦠🔬🇳🇱🇸🇪🇪🇺@ettema.bsky.social · 5mo agoRead our review about the "Diversity, ecology, cell biology and evolution of the Asgard archaea" in @natrevmicro.nature.com here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... By @kassipan.bsky.social @stephkoe.bsky.social @micropat.bsky.social & @gerbenz.bsky.social
Just over ten years after the discovery of the first Asgard archaeal genomes, we revisit the rapid expansion of this remarkable archaeal lineage. From diverse genomes and metabolisms to eukaryotic signature proteins and the first cultured representatives. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Diversity, ecology, cell biology and evolution of the Asgard archaea - Nature Reviews Microbiology
The Asgard archaea have become a cornerstone of archaeal research, particularly for studies aiming to unravel the origin and early evolution of eukaryotes. This Review outlines the current state of th...
nature.com
Finally out in @natmicrobiol.nature.com: Prediction of eukaryotic cellular complexity in Asgard archaea using structural modelling. Great work by @stephkoe.bsky.social @kassipan.bsky.social @jvhooff.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Prediction of eukaryotic cellular complexity in Asgard archaea using structural modelling
Stephan Köstlbacher@stephkoe.bsky.social · 5mo ago🧵 1/10 New paper out in @natmicrobiol.nature.com from my postdoc at @mib-wur.bsky.social! 🎉 How eukaryote-like was the archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes? Sequence searches alone can't tell us — so we used protein structure prediction to look deeper. 🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Oxygen metabolism in descendants of the archaeal-eukaryotic ancestor
Brett Baker@archaeal.bsky.social · 6mo agoNew paper from my team detailing a greatly expanded genomic database of Asgard archaea revealing of high energy metabolism those related to eukaryotes! Led by @katyappler.bsky.social lots of help from @jameslingford.bsky.social @valdeanda.bsky.social @kassipan.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Our latest preprint: Together with the team of Jan Löwe, @danieltamarit.bsky.social and many others we discovered and characterized several Asgard tubulin genes and propose that microtubule architecture and dynamics evolved in Asgard archaea prior to eukaryogenesis www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Our latest. Led by the very talented @ahoiching.bsky.social Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation - Nature Microbiology
Without key cell cycle control genes, SAR11 cells experience aneuploidy and growth inhibition when exposed to changes in nutrients, carbon sources or temperature stress, a vulnerability that may repre...
nature.com
Dominant contribution of Asgard archaea to eukaryogenesis. tldr; Best guess, ~ 50% of conserved eukaryotic protein families are from from Asgard archaea! #science #biology #evolution #nature #bioinformatics www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Dominant contribution of Asgard archaea to eukaryogenesis - Nature
A survey of the reconstructed gene set of the last eukaryotic common ancestor shows a consistent link between Asgard archaea and the origin of numerous, functionally diverse eukaryotic genes, dem...
nature.com
New Issue Alert — mLife Vol. 4, Issue 6 is out! The issue features 10 open-access papers spanning host–pathogen interactions, bacterial cell division, RNA editing, phage therapy, CRISPR optogenetics, and more. Table of contents here 👉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... Highlights below ⬇️
Join the IC-DLI x mLife Webinar on Deep Life Studies! 🗓 Dec 30 | 🕐 13:00 UTC | 🧪 3 exciting talks on: • Deep-sea cold seep microbiomes • Novel methanogens beyond Euryarchaeota • Habitable rock–water systems 📍Zoom ID: 853 4219 3531 | PW: 904477
Come to follow the official BlueSky of the journal #mLife!
mLife Journal@mlifejournal.bsky.social · 8mo ago🚀 Journal #mLife is now on BlueSky! We're an open-access journal publishing cutting-edge microbiology—from molecular biology to microbial ecology, from pathogenesis to public health. 🔬 Follow us for the latest research & insights! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2770...
Insightful Review in #mLife! Emerging single-cell sequencing and imaging technologies now allow for the profiling of microbial heterogeneity with unprecedented resolution—capturing phenotypic and spatial diversity within microbial communities. 🔗 doi.org/10.1002/mlf2...
Discovery of rare #protist reveals previously unknown branch of eukaryotic tree of life phys.org/news/2025-11... Rare microbial relict sheds light on an ancient eukaryotic supergroup www.nature.com/articles/s41... #Protists #Microbes #Evolution #Eukaryotes #TreeOfLife
An archaeal genetic code with all TAG codons as pyrrolysine www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1... #jcampubs
An archaeal genetic code with all TAG codons as pyrrolysine
Multiple genetic codes developed during the evolution of eukaryotes and bacteria, yet no alternative genetic code is known for archaea. We used proteomics to confirm our prediction that certain archae...
science.org
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I'm happy to announce the latest release of the GlobDB, available at globdb.org. The GlobDB is a database of "species dereplicated" microbial genomes, and as of release 226 contains twice the number of species-representative genomes (306,260) than the latest GTDB release.
home | GlobDB
globdb.org
Bacteria rely on retrons for #phage defense, but most known systems come from clinical or lab strains. @seth-shipman.bsky.social &co identify diverse #retrons from environmental #bacteria, uncovering their defense mechanisms & using them as #GenomeEditing tools @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4oDqRAF
How are we replicating our #DNA? Find origin in the #Asgard #Archaea!
Nature Ecology & Evolution@natecoevo.nature.com · 10mo agoPhylogenetic and biochemical analyses show a diversity of components of the DNA replication machinery in different Asgard archaea that contributed to eukaryotic DNA replication machinery. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
chromosome replicationists – #Archaea branch, Asgard dept. – take note 👇 #ArchaeaSky thx @acritschristoph.bsky.social for boosting this 🙏
Fabai Wu@fabaiwu.bsky.social · 10mo agoGlad to share our paper out today @NatureEcoEvo: “Serial innovations by Asgard archaea shaped the DNA replication machinery of the early eukaryotic ancestor”. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #microsky #archaeasky
Glad to share our paper out today @NatureEcoEvo: “Serial innovations by Asgard archaea shaped the DNA replication machinery of the early eukaryotic ancestor”. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #microsky #archaeasky
Serial innovations by Asgard archaea shaped the DNA replication machinery of the early eukaryotic ancestor - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Phylogenetic and biochemical analyses show a diversity of components of the DNA replication machinery in different Asgard archaea that contributed to the eukaryotic DNA replication machinery.
nature.com
Latest #CDlab paper on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: Spatial control of karyopherin binding avidity in NPC mimics revealed by designer FG-Nucleoporins www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... With experiments & MD simulations we study de novo designed proteins for selective transport through nuclear pores
It is the year of the (more?) complex prok multicellularity :)
ᐯIᑕTOᖇ ᑎIᘔET, ᗰᗪ@nizet.bsky.social · last yr.Fascinating new PLoS Biology paper from George Schaible et al in the Hatzenpichler Lab at Montana State “𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘔𝘔𝘉 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩”