After several years of work, my lab is starting to put out our first papers on learning in a unicellular organism (Stentor coeruleus).
Here we show evidence for a form of associative learning in Stentor:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
After several years of work, my lab is starting to put out our first papers on learning in a unicellular organism (Stentor coeruleus).
Here we show evidence for a form of associative learning in Stentor:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A new era for #ONT amplicon sequencing?
We show that #ONT #amplicon sequencing now achieves accuracy sufficient for #ASV resolution using standard Illumina-based pipelines. We validated this by sequencing identical amplicons on #ONT and #PacBio. @nanoporetech.com www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
If you are protist enthusiast early in your career and you want hands-on training in collecting and handling protists for all your research goals, please apply to join us in Roscoff for a week-long course this summer!
opbc.sciencesconf.org
Can't wait to release a 10-year-old birthday version for SeqKit!
- 10 years
- 2 papers, 3500 citations
- 20 contributors
- 40 subcommands
- 880 commits
- 500 issues
- 685.5K Bioconda total downloads
Thank you all, dear contributors and users!
I'll keep maintaining it.
github.com/shenwei356/s...
Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating).
A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)
Huge news 🌍🧬
The Protist 10,000 Genomes Project is joining the Earth BioGenome Project.
Protists may represent the majority of eukaryotic diversity — yet only a tiny fraction have reference genomes.
Time to change that. 🚀✨
Learn more 👉 ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/p10k/
#EBP #Protists #Genomics #TreeOfLife
MicroSEA (Microbial Sea Eukaryotes) course is a one-week, field-based summer school to train early-career researchers in the diversity, ecology, and single-cell biology of marine protists. MicroSEA course integrates lectures, field sampling, and lab-based practicals in advanced techniques, such as flow cytometry, microscopy, culturing, and molecular analysis. The main objectives of MicroSEA course are: Fostering a deep understanding of marine protist diversity, ecology and biology; Providing hands-on training in advanced single-cell methods that are not commonly available in university programs; Building participants' confidence in designing and conducting research projects from field to data analysis; Promoting international collaborations and peer networking among students and speakers/trainers. The course will take place at the Station Biologique de Roscoff - SBR (France) - 7th to 12th of June, 2026 (arrival on the 6th, departure on the 13th). 20 participants will be selected, including 10 from EuroMarine member institutes. https://opbc.sciencesconf.org/
Protist lovers: Please apply for a week of rhapsody! Learn by doing:
MicroSEA (Microbial Sea Eukaryotes) course is a one-week, field-based summer school to train early-career researchers in the diversity, ecology, and single-cell biology of marine protists. opbc.sciencesconf.org
#protistsonsky
Reading this, I can't help but think about a male former colleague who defended Larry Summers to me in... 2024. All while telling me that my work on open science, public engagement, and equity was "cute."
19thnews.org/2026/02/epst...
Phage–host interactions are a key driver of microbial ecology, but observing them in nature is hard!
With metaHi-C, we detect freshwater phage–host pairs and link their infection dynamics to evolution.
Together with @nadal-molero.bsky.social & Ana Martin-Cuadrado
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
So I did something a bit different :). Thrilled to see this fun project out! 🐟 #genomics
"Female-biased sex ratios despite stable genetic sex determination across a climatic gradient in a marine fish"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Dear followers,
please follow @ap.brid.gy so that people on Mastodon (and the Fediverse in general) can see your posts, and you can see theirs. Spread the word and help keep the web open 🌱🕊️
Thank you!
Follow up from the matplotlib maintainer who got hitbotted theshamblog.com/an-ai-agent-...
12.02.2026 18:01 — 👍 38 🔁 20 💬 3 📌 16Christ
12.02.2026 16:31 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Want to learn the ins and outs of diversification, trait and biogeographic evolution models? I will be giving another edition of "Dive Deep into Probabilistic Phylogenetic Comparative Methods" in Oct! @tscourses.bsky.social www.transmittingscience.com/courses/evol...
11.02.2026 08:32 — 👍 14 🔁 9 💬 0 📌 0
🚨 Hot off the press: Our look into of the palaeontological database landscape and its sustainability into the future.
Palaeo databases are invaluable and continue to transform our research field - but they are vulnerable... (1/6) 🧪 ⛏️
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Plants animals and fungi are just the weird really big protists.
11.02.2026 01:14 — 👍 9 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
Just the Browser helps you remove AI features, telemetry data reporting, sponsored content, product integrations, and other annoyances from desktop web browsers.
justthebrowser.com
OOOHH!!!
20.01.2026 20:47 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
We just released #anvio v9, "eunice" 🎉
This version represents over 2,000 changes in the codebase since v8, increasing the total number of programs in the anvi'o ecosystem to 176.
Read the release notes:
github.com/merenlab/anv...
Visit our up-to-date web page:
anvio.org
🗜️⚡ If you use gzip/gunzip a lot in your pipelines, switch to the faster"libdeflate" versions instead! They use modern CPU capabilities to achieve a 2-3x speedup.
libdeflate is in conda, and "libdeflate-gzip" and "libdeflate-gunzip" are drop-in replacements. #unix
github.com/ebiggers/lib...
If you’re interested in extinction risk, please check out our new paper in @science.org led by my former PhD student Cooper: www.science.org/doi/full/10....
16.01.2026 09:39 — 👍 51 🔁 23 💬 0 📌 0
New postdoc funding opportunity in Sweden! If you're interested in applying for this 'Data-Driven Life Sciences' fellowship, please get in touch, we'd be happy to host and help with the application (and talk options beyond the 2-year position). www.scilifelab.se/data-driven/...
13.01.2026 13:32 — 👍 6 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0
If you're interested in biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems, there's just a few days to apply for our PhD project: Ecological Surveillance using High-Throughput Quantitative Imaging at @uniofbath.bsky.social .
Deadline: January 16th!
Apply: is.gd/svXBcr
Image: www.planktoscope.org/how-it-works
Black field with a macro image of a bright orange lichen Xanthoria in one of the corner. Little diagrams showing a structure of a lichen thallus with different layers in grey and green, a phylogenetic tree, and an alphafold generated structure of a protein. White text says "PhD position in Stockholm University / SciLifeLab. Lichen Biology, Symbiosis, Microbial Ecology & Evolution,Meta-omics Fully funded for 4 years. Start Apr-Sep 2026. Deadline for application: Feb 1st."
⚡️Fully funded #PhD position in my lab at Stockholm University / SciLifeLab! If you’re interested in #lichens, #symbiosis, fungal biology, or meta-omics, please apply. Deadline Feb 1. Read more here: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
12.01.2026 14:15 — 👍 63 🔁 60 💬 1 📌 1Nucleotide diversity is a poor predictor of short-term adaptive potential https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.05.697705v1
05.01.2026 21:32 — 👍 13 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0
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...
It was speculated that there's some degree of DNA exchange between algae & sea slug to create the "support system" for the chloroplasts, but in at least one species, that appears not to be the case.
Changes in the expression of the sea slug genes were sufficient to support the kleptoplasty.
Everything is everywhere but Escherichia coli adapts to different niches academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc... #jcampubs
18.12.2025 15:06 — 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Just on time for the holidays! Happy to share the published version of the discovery of leptophytes, a new deep-branching and widespread group of microalgae based on plastid MAGs (ptMAGs). Now with additional support from a mitochondrial MAG (mtMAG) of leptophytes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Just a few days left to apply to the PhD position in our group. It focuses on selfish genes in #fungi and how they might affect the spread of giant #TEs called Starships.
17.12.2025 06:55 — 👍 11 🔁 10 💬 0 📌 0