📢 Meet our invited speaker: Mahwash Jamy, Uppsala University, @mjamy.bsky.social “New deep-branching environmental plastid genomes on the algal tree of life” How environmental plastid genomes reveal hidden algal diversity & evolution. #Protists #Protistology #Genomics #ProtistsOnSky #Microbiology

Really enjoyed the opportunity to share how useful #protists are when predicting orthologies of eukaryotic protein #complex components in my Planetary Biology Transversal Themes seminar at EMBL Heidelberg. Thanks so much to Nikki Cannon and the @jordivangestel.bsky.social lab for hosting me.

In London for this. Outside of my usual turf, daunting and exciting

Invited speaker spotlight: Yuji Inagaki, University of Tsukuba “Phylogenomic illusions in the eukaryotic phylogeny” 📅 October 7 🕒 09:00–09:30 Full program: comparativegenomics2026.com #Phylogenomics #Protistology #Protists #ProtistsOnSky #Eukaryotes #Genomics #Microbiology

🔬 Invited speaker spotlight: Fabien Burki, Uppsala University: Single cell genomics and fluorescence microscopy suggest a permanent plastid in a marine centrohelid. @fburki.bsky.social 👉 comparativegenomics2026.com #Genomics #SingleCellGenomics #Protistology #Protists #Microscopy #Eukaryotes

Nice :-)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences@pnas.org · last wk.

One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Environmental phylogenetics supports a steady diversification of crown eukaryotes starting from the mid-Proterozoic.” Explore the article here: https://ow.ly/5Lpf50Ztxar For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/AMo550Ztxas.

📢 The final #CGUE2026 program is now available! 🔗 comparativegenomics2026.com 5 days of cutting-edge science, 15 invited speakers, contributed talks and poster sessions. #Eukaryotes #Protists #Genomics #ComparativeGenomics #EvolutionaryBiology #Microbiology #CellBiology #Protistology

Very happy something like this is now available. In protist diversity research we use the rDNA extensively, but I for one doesn't know enough about it's structure, variation, and implications www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Organization of Ribosomal RNA Genes in Eukaryotes

In eukaryotes, ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA) encode the major ribosomal RNA molecules and are typically organized into a distinctive genomic structure involving tandem repetition of a polycistronic codin...

annualreviews.org

#protistsonsky

Nature Portfolio@natureportfolio.nature.com · 2w ago

A study in Nature Ecology & Evolution identifies Karenia cristata as a brevetoxin-producing species that is the dominant component of the prolonged microalgal bloom causing mass marine mortality in South Australia. go.nature.com/3RjXCaZ 🌎🌊🧪

So happy to share our new paper out now in @natmicrobiol.nature.com! We establish Pirsonia-Coscinodiscus as a model pathosystem and uncover how this tiny parasite infects and kills bloom-forming marine diatoms 🌊🦠 rdcu.be/fuQyF

Super excited that our paper led by @sandinmm.eurosky.social in PNAS is out! We show that crown-group eukaryotes were already taxonomically and ecologically diverse throughout the Mesoproterozoic, revealing complex communities well before the Neoproterozoic radiation. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Environmental phylogenetics supports a steady diversification of crown eukaryotes starting from the mid-Proterozoic | PNAS

Molecular clock and preservation of early microfossil assemblages suggest that eukaryotes were present and already diverse more than ~1600 million ...

pnas.org

Very interesting. It certainly supports what we see in the fossil record. Who knows what fossils are still waiting to be found from this interval...

Miguel Méndez Sandín@sandinmm.eurosky.social · 3w ago

Apparently the "boring billion" was actually exciting! We provide molecular evidence of complex Mesoproterozoic eukaryotic communities. So happy to see this out 🥳 Thanks to @phoebefossil.bsky.social , Hélène Morlon & @fburki.bsky.social for a lovely collab! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

This was a long and complex project led by a tenacious @sandinmm.eurosky.social but it was all very worth it. This was also my first collaboration with @phoebefossil.bsky.social and Hélène Morlon so I’m grateful for that.

Miguel Méndez Sandín@sandinmm.eurosky.social · 3w ago

Apparently the "boring billion" was actually exciting! We provide molecular evidence of complex Mesoproterozoic eukaryotic communities. So happy to see this out 🥳 Thanks to @phoebefossil.bsky.social , Hélène Morlon & @fburki.bsky.social for a lovely collab! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Plastid endosymbiosis without gene transfer - dinoflagellates can do it #ProtistsOnSky #Kareniaceae #plastids

Recent plastid replacement in Karlodinium ballantinum (Kareniaceae, Dinoflagellata) challenges the paradigms of endosymbiotic gene transfer

Abstract. Plastids, the photosynthetic organelles of eukaryotes, arose via endosymbiosis of cyanobacteria by a eukaryotic host and were subsequently spread

academic.oup.com

nice video: the story of the nitroplast 👏 also covered in this STC post 👇 #MicroSky

The Nitro­plast, a Ni­tro­­gen-Fix­ing Or­ganelle

by Mechas — The ability to fix nitrogen is usually regarded as a property of only a few diazotrophic bacteria and archaea. A new study now shows that some eukaryotes may be capable of fixing nitro…

smallthingsconsidered.blog

Cyanotrans@cyanotrans.bsky.social · 4w ago

The amazing work of Jon Zehr and many coworkers along the years: youtu.be/g9B3gBhcwqM?...

New preprint: We studied the population dynamics of Arctic #phytoplankton and #mycoplankton and found evidence for chytrid-mediated diatom bloom termination. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Congrats @paulinethome.bsky.social #protists #protistsonsky #algae #diatoms #chytrids

🧫 One cell. Endless insights. What can a single cell reveal about the evolution of eukaryotic life? Single-cell genomics is opening new perspectives on the diversity and biology of non-model eukaryotes. 📍CGUE2026 • comparativegenomics2026.com #SingleCell #Genomics #ProtistsOnSky #Transcriptomics

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...

The image speaks by itself - hands down the best job in the world! @exoceanlab.bsky.social

New #ISEPpapers #PrePrint! Single cell #genomics and fluorescence microscopy suggest a permanent plastid in a marine centrohelid www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #Protists #Algae #Microbes #Symbiosis #Evolution #Plastids

This was an exciting result to get in this year's IF scores, made possible because of all of you fantastic people who submit your great papers to JEM!! Please send more:)

Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology@jeukmicro.bsky.social · last mo.

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

Grateful for continuous support from @erc.europa.eu and excited to get started working on this PoC project about targeted single-capsule genomics applied to harmful algal blooms

European Research Council (ERC)@erc.europa.eu · last mo.

The round 1 results of the 2026 ERC Proof of Concept Grant call are out! 🎉 182 researchers receive a total of €27.3 million to explore the commercial and societal potential of their ERC-funded findings. Read more 👉 buff.ly/K8GXgbs #ERCPoC #FrontierResearch @scienceinnovation.ec.europa.eu

Spatial Proteomics Workshop for Protists! Join us 3–4 Sept 2026 at the Natural History Museum, London - exploring 'LOPIT' methods for mapping proteins to organelles, complexes & symbionts. Register by 10 Aug | Abstracts and Early Bird due 31 July 🔗 protistology.org.uk/autumn-meeting-2026 #protist

This tread 👇

Vasily Zlatogursky@zlatogursky.bsky.social · last mo.

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:

Global view of the role of apicomplexans and other parasitic protists in soils #parasites #protists #diversity www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

This was a large multi years effort. Well done @annewalraven.bsky.social

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

In Montreal to launch my new collection of poems. It has an amoeba on the cover! vehiculepress.com/shop/we-drov... Great to reconnect with old poetry friends, and meet some new ones.

@zjmaggiexu.bsky.social's story on suctorian trap structure adaptation is now online in @currentbiology.bsky.social , with new evolutionary analyses and modeling! This fall, Maggie will keep exploring predatory protists as a PD in @nbellono.bsky.social group; keep an eye out for her she's amazing!

Scott Coyle@cellraiser.bsky.social · 9mo ago

How do cells adapt morphology to function? In a 🔥 preprint by @zjmaggiexu.bsky.social , with @dudinlab.bsky.social and @amyweeks.bsky.social , we identify a self-organizing single-cell morphology circuit that optimizes the feeding trap structure of the suctorian P. collini. 🧵 tinyurl.com/4k8nv926

One thing I have quickly learned, including from a conversation with a neighbor and email from a podcast listener, is that the general public is unsettled/intrigued by the idea that cells can have "legs" and "mouths," and really any complicated parts. #protistsonsky The people need to know!

We'll do a proper launch announcement Monday, but as of now, the latest OpenCTD, the Sixth Edition of the Construction and Operation Manual, and all the firmware, shapefiles, and gerbers are live! OpenCTD Rev8 is here! github.com/Oceanography...

GitHub - OceanographyforEveryone/OpenCTD: The OpenCTD is a low-cost, open-source CTD for researchers and citizen scientists.

The OpenCTD is a low-cost, open-source CTD for researchers and citizen scientists. - OceanographyforEveryone/OpenCTD

github.com