Anja (she/her)

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...

Two more weeks to apply - come join us () in The Netherlands as a postdoctoral researcher on large-scale metagenomic exploration of new lineages!

I have a postdoc position in metagenomic exploration available in my group. Candidates with documented experience in phylo & metagenomics and preferably with petabase-scale data mining and GLM workflows are encouraged to apply. Come join us! 🧬🦠💻

Please repost

Apply here: www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p...

Our analyses converge on a narrow archaeal root region at/near the base of the Euryarchaeota, supporting hypotheses in which the Last Archaeal Common Ancestor was a complex, free-living (hyper-)thermophilic methanogen.

AleRax: a tool for gene and species tree co-estimation and reconciliation under a probabilistic model of gene duplication, transfer, and loss AbstractMotivation. Genomes are a rich source of information on the pattern and process of evolution across biological scales. How best to make use of that

In this project, we investigated the root of Archaea using a range of phylogenetic approaches, including the best available site- and branch-heterogeneous substitution models, and new gene tree-species tree reconciliation models.
doi.org/10.1093/bioi...

Phylogenetic reconciliation supports a methanogenic ancestor of the Archaea and a derived origin for host-associated lineages The phylogeny of the Archaea continues to be revisited and revised as new groups are discovered and phylogenetic methods improve, but key questions about their early evolution remain. It has been sugg...

#Archaea, #DPANN, #phylogenetic_reconciliation
New preprint online!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The genomic basis of symbiotic integration at University of Bath on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - The genomic basis of symbiotic integration at University of Bath, listed on FindAPhD.com

There's a PhD position now available with me in Bath, on the evolution of symbiosis. www.findaphd.com/phds/project.... The supervisory team also includes @anja1.bsky.social @phil-donoghue.bsky.social and others. NB, this is open both to UK-based students *and* to international students :)

Phylogenomic Analyses Reveal that Panguiarchaeum Is a Clade of Genome-Reduced Asgard Archaea Within the Njordarchaeia Abstract. The Asgard archaea are a diverse archaeal phylum important for our understanding of cellular evolution because they include the lineage that gave

Huang, @tweethinking.bsky.social, Sepang et al. use phylogenetic analyses to reveal that the Njordarchaeales and Panguiarchaeales constitute the new class Njordarchaeia within Asgard archaea.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf201

#evobio #molbio #archaea

I gave a symposium talk at the European Society for Evolutionary Biology 2025 (#eseb2025) meeting last week and this was my title slide showcasing how I was speaking as an independent scientist because @dalhousieu.bsky.social @dalhousie.bsky.social has locked us out.

Caliditerrarchaeota, a new sister to Nanohaloarchaeota, provides insights into the evolution of DPANN halophily The Nanohaloarchaeota are a clade of halophilic symbionts with small cells and genomes. Originally placed within the Euryarchaeota, they are now widely thought to belong to the DPANN archaea. However,...

New preprint up now!

Interested in the evolution of halophily within DPANN archaea we decided to investigate the sister phylum to the Nanohaloarchaeota, GTDB phylum EX4484-52, for which we propose the name Caliditerrarchaeota
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Learn about the EMBO Fellowship Programme and the EMBO Scientific Exchange Grants in the upcoming #webinar we are co-organizing with the #Japan Science and Technology Agency on 3 June from 16:00–17:00 JST. 🧪

Register by 29 May: buff.ly/pF9qM6m
#funding #opportunity

Phylogenomic analyses reveal that Panguiarchaeum is a clade of genome-reduced Asgard archaea within the Njordarchaeia The Asgard archaea are a diverse archaeal phylum important for our understanding of cellular evolution because they include the lineage that gave rise to eukaryotes. Recent phylogenomic work has focus...

#Asgard,#phylogeny
1/ 🧵 Does MAGs contamination affect the placement of Njord as suggested by Zhang et al, 2025? www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our updated analysis suggests instead... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New vacancy in my team!

PhD student position on microbial genome evolution, focusing on the evolutionary principles underlying bacterial genome architecture.

Please repost and share with talented MSc students in #evobio, bioinformatics or related :)

www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

#MEvoSky #MicroSky

Great Mentor, Exciting project, Fun city. What more could you wish for!?

The core #anammox redox reaction system of 12 anammox bacterial genera and their evolution and application implications #Brocadia #Kuenenia #Scalindua #Jettenia #hydrazine #nitrate www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Proposal of Patescibacterium danicum gen. nov., sp. nov. in the ubiquitous bacterial phylum Patescibacteriota phyl. nov. Abstract. Candidatus Patescibacteria is a diverse bacterial phylum that is notable for members with ultrasmall cell size, reduced genomes, limited metaboli

Originally defined by Rinke et al. (2013) as Candidatus Patescibacteria, the phylum #Patescibacteriota now has a validly published name and an official type!

Explore the lifestyle, biogeography, and metabolic capabilities of its type genus, #Patescibacterium, here: doi.org/10.1093/isme...

#SeqCode

Chimeric origins and dynamic evolution of central carbon metabolism in eukaryotes Nature Ecology & Evolution - Analysis of the eukaryotic gene repertoires mediating central carbon metabolism identifies ancestral contributions from Alphaproteobacteria, Asgardarchaeota and...

Asgardarchaea & Alphaproteobacteria: key players for the assembly eukaryotic central carbon metabolism! Our new study reveals their gene contributions to glycolysis & TCA cycle, supporting synthrophic scenarios of eukaryogenesis.
rdcu.be/eb0aK

Phylogenomic analyses reveal that Panguiarchaeum is a clade of genome-reduced Asgard archaea The Asgard archaea are a diverse archaeal phylum that includes the host lineage from which eukaryotes evolved. Due to the importance of the Asgard archaea for our understanding of cellular evolution a...

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A new collaborative paper with Anja Spang, Wen-Cong Huang, @chrisrinke.bsky.social @ettema.bsky.social @ssolo.bsky.social Zheng-Shuang Hua Maraike Probst and Lenard Szantho. We investigated the phylogenetic position and metabolic evolution of Panguiarchaeum.

NIOZ - Postdoc position: “to elucidate the role of archaeal symbionts in cellular evolution and ecology” The EvoSym Team within the Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry (MMB) located at the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), is looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a bac

Are you interested in studying archaea with their diverse symbionts? We look forward hearing from you: workingat.nioz.nl/o/postdoc-po...

Fully Funded PhD Opportunity in Evolutionary Biology at the U of Rhode Island. Join us to explore the origin and early evolution of eukaryotes using cutting-edge comparative (meta)genomics and molecular evolution approaches. Applications are due December 15th. Contact me ASAP at laura.eme@uri.edu