Mastodawn

How #Microbes Got Their Crawl
#Prokaryotes arose more than four billion years ago. #Eukaryotes emerged much later, somewhere between 2.5 and two billion years ago. How complex eukaryotes evolved from simpler prokaryotes has left scientists scratching their heads for decades.
In the oceans and on land, scientists are discovering rare, transitional organisms that bridge the gap between Earth’s simplest cells and today’s complex ones.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/science/evolution-cells-asgard.html
https://archive.ph/0iskp

How Microbes Got Their Crawl

In the oceans and on land, scientists are discovering rare, transitional organisms that bridge the gap between Earth’s simplest cells and today’s complex ones.

The New York Times

NIOO-KNAW Feb 12

New publication: Land use influences #prokaryotes more than #fungi in adjacent #hedgerow soils. #landuse #hedgerowsoils
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2026.110238

Mikko Tuomi Dec 9

Complex #life began to develop earlier, and over a longer span of time, than previously believed.

Nee findings indicate that complex organisms evolved long before there were substantial levels of #oxygen in the #atmosphere, something which had previously been considered a prerequisite to the #evolution of complex life.

The #earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old, with the first #microbial life forms appearing over 4 billion years ago.

These organisms consisted of two groups – #bacteria and the distinct but related #archaea, collectively known as #prokaryotes.

Prokaryotes were the only form of life on earth for hundreds of millions of years, until more complex eukaryotic cells including organisms such as #algae, #fungi, #plants and #animals evolved.

Previous ideas on how and when early prokaryotes transformed into complex #eukaryotes has largely been in the realm of speculation. Estimates have spanned a billion years, as no intermediate forms exist and definitive fossil evidence has been lacking.

By collecting evidence from multiple #gene families in multiple biological systems and focusing on the features which distinguish eukaryotes from prokaryotes, researchers were able to begin to piece together the developmental pathway for complex life.

They obtained evidence that the transition began almost 2.9 billion years ago – almost a billion years earlier than by some other estimates – suggesting that the nucleus and other internal structures appear to have evolved significantly before #mitochondria.

The process of cumulative complexification seems to have taken place over a much longer time period than previously thought.

#biology
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2025/december/complex-life-developed-earlier-than-previously-thought-new-study-reveals.html

Paper by Kay et al. (2025): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09808-z

December: Complex life developed earlier than previously thought, new study reveals | News and features | University of Bristol

Miguel Rodriguez-R Nov 24

We are hiring! If you're interested in exploring the #biogeography of #prokaryotes using #genomics and #metagenomics, are interested in biology and geographic information systems, and are passionate about #OpenScience, this is for you! We have just opened a PhD and a PostDoc position in my lab at Aalborg University!

PhD: https://www.vacancies.aau.dk/phd-positions/show-vacancy/vacancyId/879120

Postdoc: https://www.vacancies.aau.dk/scientific-positions/show-vacancy/vacancyId/879146

Feel free to reach out with questions or apply directly in the links

PhD Stipend in Microbial Genomics

Do you want to participate in establishing a global digital laboratory for microbial genomics? And do you see yourself as a team player who can strenghten ou...

Aalborg University

NIOO-KNAW Oct 29

New publication: Greater influence of #eukaryotes on #carbondegradation potentials than #prokaryotes along an elevation gradient. #climatechange #soil
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2025.151092

nf-core Aug 29, 2025

Pipeline release! nf-core/metatdenovo v1.3.0 - Release v. 1.3.0!

Please see the changelog: https://github.com/nf-core/metatdenovo/releases/tag/1.3.0

#eukaryotes #metagenomics #metatranscriptomics #prokaryotes #viruses #nfcore #openscience #nextflow #bioinformatics

nf-core Jun 18, 2025

Pipeline release! nf-core/metatdenovo v1.2.0 - nf-core/metatdenovo 1.2.0!

Please see the changelog: https://github.com/nf-core/metatdenovo/releases/tag/1.2.0

#eukaryotes #metagenomics #metatranscriptomics #prokaryotes #viruses #nfcore #openscience #nextflow #bioinformatics

Release nf-core/metatdenovo 1.2.0 · nf-core/metatdenovo

Write fasta files for hmmsearch hits Create Kofamscan output with unique hits Bug fixes nf-test tests for the pipeline

GitHub

nf-core Mar 13, 2025

Pipeline release! nf-core/metatdenovo v1.1.1 - nf-core/metatdenovo 1.1.1!

Please see the changelog: https://github.com/nf-core/metatdenovo/releases/tag/1.1.1

#eukaryotes #metagenomics #metatranscriptomics #prokaryotes #viruses #nfcore #openscience #nextflow #bioinformatics

Release nf-core/metatdenovo 1.1.1 · nf-core/metatdenovo

This release addresses a problem with the BBNorm process that sometimes got killed because it used too much memory. In addition, some tools were upgraded, among them all BBMap-based tools.

GitHub

nf-core Feb 26, 2025

Pipeline release! nf-core/metatdenovo v1.1.0 - Nf-core/metatdenovo 1.1.0!

Please see the changelog: https://github.com/nf-core/metatdenovo/releases/tag/1.1.0

#eukaryotes #metagenomics #metatranscriptomics #prokaryotes #viruses #nfcore #openscience #nextflow #bioinformatics

Release Nf-core/metatdenovo 1.1.0 · nf-core/metatdenovo

What's Changed bump version by @danilodileo in #263 Fix badges by @maxulysse in #264 Don't save unncessary megahit files by @erikrikarddaniel in #268 Transdecoder bug by @danilodileo in #270 Add s...

GitHub