Studying archaea across diverse environments offers unique insights into life’s adaptability, and I am glad that our work on extremophiles contributes to this broader EMBL effort. Many thanks to Ivy Kupec for helping bring this topic to a wider community! www.embl.org/news/science...

Archaea, the ultimate survivor | EMBL

EMBL researchers are investigating archaea, hoping these understudied organisms can answer questions about evolution, adaptability, & more.

embl.org

EMBL@embl.org · 6mo ago

Archaea may not be well known, nor well studied, but these microorganisms can live in the most extreme environments, but also right on our skin. They’re everywhere. EMBL researchers are now exploring their unique ecosystem adaptability and link to evolution. www.embl.org/news/science...

Last week I attended the M-FED 2025, where I presented the discovery of uncharacterized microbial ecosystems in the Central Andes 🌎 I also joined the workshop “Grow your own microbial mat” and we visited the UNESCO Geopark Heeseberg! ⛏️ A great week of microbialite science!

Some years ago, we discovered a modern microbialite reef under conditions resembling primitive Earth 🌋 Now we show how seasonal extremes drive microbial shifts and mineralisation, offering a window into processes that shaped Earth’s first biostructures 🪨 www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02764-6

I recently participated in the GRC on Applied and Environmental Microbiology 🦠, where I had the opportunity to serve as a Discussion Leader and to present my work on modern microbialites as a Speaker. Many thanks to the chairs @deniseakob.bsky.social, Marianne Haines, and @jlrolando.bsky.social!

We’ve uncovered Asgard chromatin structures formed by a Hodarchaeal histone : closed hypernucleosome conserved in archaea and an open form resembling the H3-H4 eukaryotic octasome. Fantastic work by @harshranawat.bsky.social! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM

🚨 New preprint alert 🚨! 👉🏼 @fedevignale.bsky.social 🏔️ Our latest study explores seasonal biogeochemical variations in a modern microbialite reef at Laguna Pozo Bravo 🇦🇷 - a site with conditions reminiscent of early Earth 🌍🦠 📖 Read here : doi.org/10.1101/2025... @embl.org @cssbhamburg.bsky.social

Exciting work on the Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) genome providing new insights into convergent evolution of caffeine biosynthesis 🧬🧉 Amazing work from our postdoc Federico Vignale and our STO @lucasdefelipe.bsky.social @embl.org @cssbhamburg.bsky.social 🔗 elifesciences.org/articles/104759

Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) genome provides new insights into convergent evolution of caffeine biosynthesis

DNA sequencing of the yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) genome reveals convergent genomic changes, biochemical pathways, mutations, and substrate-binding orientations responsible for caffeine biosynthe...

elifesciences.org

EMBL@embl.org · 2y ago

Scientists at University of Buenos Aires, EMBL Hamburg, and others mapped yerba mate’s genome, providing surprising facts about its biochemistry and evolution of caffeine biosynthesis. 🧉🧬🧪 Find out more: www.embl.org/news/science... @spcembl.bsky.social

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened... but for yerba mate! 🧉 🧬 Combining genomics, biochemistry, structural biology, and ancestral sequence reconstruction, we characterized how yerba mate synthesizes caffeine differently from coffee and tea plants 🌱 #yerbamate #caffeine #science

eLife@elife.bsky.social · 2y ago

🧉 #YerbaMate makes the third most popular caffeinated drink in the world, but it’s unrelated to tea and coffee. The first reconstruction of its genome is helping us understand how multiple species have evolved to synthesise caffeine. https://buff.ly/4jnWk82

Scientists at University of Buenos Aires, EMBL Hamburg, and others mapped yerba mate’s genome, providing surprising facts about its biochemistry and evolution of caffeine biosynthesis. 🧉🧬🧪 Find out more: www.embl.org/news/science... @spcembl.bsky.social