LPSN becomes an ELIXIR Core Data Resource! This database tracks bacterial names, aiding scientists worldwide. Easier microbe research ahead. Press release: tinyurl.com/fuud42xk #ScienceNews #Microbiology #Innovation #BioData
A quick microbio present before the holidays 🎁 >150 years after their first description, filamentous "Crenothrix bacteria" are now in stable laboratory culture! In our pre-print, we probe the unique physiology & ecology of the "lacustrine" group of these enigmatic methane-oxidizing microbes... 1/2
Isolation of Crenothrix bacteria reveals the distinct ecophysiologies of filamentous methanotrophs and adaptations to redox stress
At the dawn of modern microbiology, Cohn observed abundant filamentous bacteria in drinking water wells that he named Crenothrix polyspora. Subsequent research has revealed the methanotrophic metaboli...
doi.org
My article on aeonophiles (ultra-long lived organisms) came out in Aeon Magazine today!
Aeon Magazine@aeon.co · 8mo agoThe discovery of organisms that have been alive for many thousands of years requires a revolution in how we understand life. An Essay by @karenlloyd.bsky.social
An Asgard Archaeon (Lokiarchaeum ossiferum) growing and retracting its arms
Wow, our AEM paper on a new methane-oxidizing bacterium just got a Commentary! 🎉 Congrats Kambara-san—so happy to see the work getting recognized! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Expansion of aerobic methanotrophy to the phylum of Actinomycetota and its environmental implications | Applied and Environmental Microbiology
The climate crisis is one of the most imminent threats to humanity and all life on our planet. Methane is not only the second most potent greenhouse gas (GHG) and is responsible for approximately 31% of GHG-induced global warming since the start of the industrial revolution (1) but is also the most rapid increasing GHG in the atmosphere (2). The latter is likely caused by increased microbiological production of methane from, e.g., wetlands (2). This fact stresses the importance of methanotrophic microbes that can degrade methane with and without oxygen (3, 4) and thereby fulfill a crucial role in our global climate.
journals.asm.org
“Isolation of a new methanotroph belonging to Mycobacterium” is now out! Awesome work by my former postdoc Hiromi Kambara, who led this project all the way. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
First isolation of a methanotrophic Mycobacterium reveals ammonia- and pH-tolerant methane oxidation | Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Methane is a significant contributor to climate change (27 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide), and the largest biological sink is methane-oxidizing bacteria: methanotrophs. Alt...
journals.asm.org
Would you like to work with us? At JAMSTEC, we are recruiting postdoctoral researchers through the Young Research Fellow program. This program allows fellows to independently pursue their own research projects. www.jamstec.go.jp/recruit/e/jy...
JAMSTEC Young Research Fellow (JYRF) | JAMSTEC - JAPAN AGENCY FOR MARINE-EARTH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
JAMSTEC Young Research Fellow (JYRF)
jamstec.go.jp
New paper out! We discovered a tiny archaeon with the smallest known archaeal genome — only 238 kbp! Candidatus Sukunaarchaeum mirabile has almost no recognizable metabolic pathways and may rely heavily on a host to survive. It also represents a novel, deep-branching lineage in the archaeal tree.
bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology@biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · last yr.A cellular entity retaining only its replicative core: Hidden archaeal lineage with an ultra-reduced genome https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.02.651781v1
schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2... #MicroSky #Archaea #ArchaeaSky #SymbioSky
Cultivating the Ancestors (4|4)
by Christoph — Having one or two 'Asgard' archaea under the microscope – after having cultivated them with great effort and even more patience – and looking them in the face is exciting, but a bit uns...
schaechter.asmblog.org
STCmicrobeblog@stcmicrobeblog.bsky.social · last yr.schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2... #MicroSky #Archaea #ArchaeaSky #SymbioSky
schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2... #MicroSky #Archaea #ArchaeaSky #SymbioSky
Cultivating the Ancestors… (2|4)
by Christoph — Based on their knowledge of the morphology of P. syntrophicum MK-D1 from electron microscopy and their knowledge of its physiology from growth assays and genome analysis, Imachi, Nobu...
schaechter.asmblog.org
STCmicrobeblog@stcmicrobeblog.bsky.social · last yr.Cultivating the Ancestors… (1|4) meet today the archaeon 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘶𝘮 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘮 MK-D1, and its syntrophic companions. parts 2−4 in the coming weeks... Read more > schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2... #MicroSky #Archaea #ArchaeaSky #SymbioSky
The genomic information for our strains, which belong to the ‘Hodarchaeales', has been released. Due to a large-scale server replacement at DDBJ (DNA Database of Japan), the release has been delayed.
New isolates from eukaryote's closest archaeal relative: ‘Hodarchaeales’!! Syntrophic microaerotolerant peptide-degrading anaerobic archaea w/ simple cell structure & protrusions. Features conserved across the phylum provide new insight into our ancestor’s biology! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Eukaryotes' closest relatives are internally simple syntrophic archaea
Eukaryotes are theorized to have originated from an archaeal phylum Promethearchaeota (formerly 'Asgard' archaea)1,2. The first cultured representatives revealed valuable insight3,4 but are distantly ...
biorxiv.org
Isolated in just 3 years! (previously, 12 years). We obtained two strains from 'Hodarchaeales', proposed to be closest to our archaeal ancestor. Our analysis suggests the ancestor was an anaerobic, syntrophic, peptidotrophic, archaeon with a simple intracellular structure and possible aerotolerance.
Eukaryotes' closest relatives are internally simple syntrophic archaea
Eukaryotes are theorized to have originated from an archaeal phylum Promethearchaeota (formerly 'Asgard' archaea)1,2. The first cultured representatives revealed valuable insight3,4 but are distantly ...
biorxiv.org
New bacterial phylum Minisyncoccota (formerly Ca. Patescibacteria or CPR) in the kingdom Bacillati. Congratulations, Kuroda-san, Narihiro-san, and Nobu (@masarunobu.bsky.social)! www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Minisyncoccus archaeiphilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a mesophilic, obligate parasitic bacterium and proposal of Minisyncoccaceae fam. nov., Minisyncoccales ord. nov., Minisyncoccia class. nov. and Minisyn...
In the domain Bacteria, one of the largest, most diverse and environmentally ubiquitous phylogenetic groups, Candidatus Patescibacteria (also known as candidate phyla radiation/CPR), remains poorly ch...
microbiologyresearch.org
Methanol syntrophy! A new form of syntrophic relationship between bacteria and archaea in the underground. Congratulations, Huang-san and Nobu!
Masaru Nobu@masarunobu.bsky.social · 2y agoUnderground happy hour? Excited to share our discovery of a new symbiosis between subsurface bacteria and archaea bridged by syntrophic transfer of the smallest alcohol—methanol! @nature.com Work led by a former student Huang Yan, congratulations! rdcu.be/d7W2s
Why did an engineer become a researcher in biological evolution? My esteemed research partner, colleague, and friend, Masaru K. Nobu, is sharing some side stories about strain MK-D1 research. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineering history with Asgard archaea of the kingdom Promethearchaeati - Nature Microbiology
Multiple histories converge in Masaru Nobu’s story of culturing an archaeon closely related to us eukaryotes.
nature.com