Chung Hyun Cho

Serial innovations by Asgard archaea shaped the DNA replication machinery of the early eukaryotic ancestor - Nature Ecology & Evolution Phylogenetic and biochemical analyses show a diversity of components of the DNA replication machinery in different Asgard archaea that contributed to the eukaryotic DNA replication machinery.

Glad to share our paper out today @NatureEcoEvo: “Serial innovations by Asgard archaea shaped the DNA replication machinery of the early eukaryotic ancestor”. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #microsky #archaeasky

Antiviral reverse transcriptases reveal the evolutionary origin of telomerase Defense-associated reverse transcriptases (DRTs) employ diverse and distinctive mechanisms of cDNA synthesis to protect bacteria against viral infection. However, much of DRT family diversity remains ...

1/10 Genome maintenance by telomerase is a fundamental process in nearly all eukaryotes. But where does it come from?

Today, we report the discovery of telomerase homologs in a family of antiviral RTs, revealing an unexpected evolutionary origin in bacteria.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

WE ARE BACK!!! Archaea Power Hour will return this coming WEDNESDAY, Oct. 22nd at 10AM EST/4PM CET. Check your email for the Zoom link (coming soon) or register here: forms.gle/6QvCjHH2H4pxro…. Take a look at the exciting talks we have planned to kick off our fall seminar series:

Our study on the first rhodopsin channels known to respond to UV light is now published in PNAS! And they come from our favourite protists, apusomonads! #protistonsky

www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Our work on ribosome hibernation in archaea is out!
We identified Hib, a new hibernation factor broadly distributed across archaea.
Check out the preprint 👉 biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.11.676729v1
(1/🧵)

Pretty excited to share our new preprint!
Non-photosynthetic Plastid Replacement by a Primary Plastid in the Making
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A timetree of Fungi dated with fossils and horizontal gene transfers - Nature Ecology & Evolution Combining fossil-based and molecular calibrations with data on horizontal gene transfer events, the authors develop a time-calibrated phylogeny of Fungi. This timescale, which integrates analytic uncertainties, suggests an older age of crown Fungi (1,401–896 million years ago), as well as a minimum age for ancient interactions involving fungi and the algal ancestors of embryophytes in terrestrial ecosystems (1,253–797 Ma).

Combining fossil-based and molecular calibrations with data on horizontal gene transfer events, the authors develop a time-calibrated phylogeny of Fungi. This timescale suggests an older age of crown Fungi than previously thought (1,401–896 million years ago) 🧪🍄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

OIST is seeking up to four tenure-track or tenured faculty in Ecology, Environmental Science, Earth Science, and Oceanography. Application deadline: Oct 15. Please share. Thx!
www.oist.jp/careers/facu...

Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵

Huntingtin binds and bundles F-actin!
Thrilled to team up with the Humbert (Sorbonne Université) and Song (KAIST) labs on this discovery.
We had a blast doing cryo-ET on this unexpected complex — and now so many new questions lie ahead!
#TeamTomo #CryoET #HTT #actin

doi.org/10.1126/scia...

I am excited to share our new preprint on the CAGE complex, a mysterious hollow protein complex that I first saw years ago while surveying Tetrahymena ciliary lysate www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #cilia #protistsonsky 🧬🧪

Out today: New nucleus-encoded component of the endosymbiont division machinery identified in the trypanosomatid Angomonas deanei.
Congrats @anaymaurya.bsky.social and @rudycadenabioevo.bsky.social!!!🎉🎉🎉 1/2
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Flagellar gliding in choanoflagellates Freire-Delgado and Brunet discover a new mode of cell motility in choanoflagellates, the closest relatives of animals. Under mild confinement, choanoflagellate move over surfaces without cell deformat...

New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵

How do microbes become permanent partners? 🌊🔬🦠 Check out our new study published in Current Biology showing how cyanobacterial genomes evolve step-by-step into endosymbionts of diatoms. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@currentbiology.bsky.social @mehrshmali.bsky.social

A new Chargé de recherche with CNRS

A thousand bravos for Núria Ros-Rocher, who just secured a permanent @cnrs.fr researcher position in our lab. These positions are (too) rare but give much-needed job security to young scientists and allow long-term projects. Núria will dive deep into the natural history of C. flexa 🧪🌊 #ProudPI

The Origin and Diversification of Mitochondria Moving beyond the simplistic view of mitochondria as the power house of the cell, Roger et al. present the immense diversity of mitochondria and mitochondrial functions across eukaryotes, and bring th...

Feeling mitochondrially challenged lately?

Here are two classic reviews on #mitochondria that should help.

www.cell.com/current-biol...

www.cell.com/current-biol...

How did life get multicellular? Five simple organisms could have the answer Single-celled species that often stick together in colonies have researchers rethinking the origin of animals.

For some three billion years, unicellular organisms ruled Earth. Then, around one billion years ago, a new chapter of life began

go.nature.com/3JyRV4S

Archaea produce peptidoglycan hydrolases that kill bacteria Archaea regularly interact with bacteria but reports of archaea killing bacteria are very rare. This study shows that many archaea encode peptidoglycan hydrolases, which specifically target bacterial ...

Archaea are often surrounded by bacteria. But is there ever active conflict between the two? Can archaea kill bacteria? If so, how do they do it?

Work by @romainstrock.bsky.social shows that some archaea can kill bacteria by secreting peptidoglycan hydrolases. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Check out 🧐 our new preprint 📜:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Congrats🎉 to @vasilgaisin.bsky.social and Corina Hadjicharalambous, who studied contractile injection systems directly in hot spring♨️ bacterial mats🦠
#microsky #teamtomo #Chloroflexota

We show that histones are more than just barriers to transcription--they can also directly interact with the transcription apparatus through their core domain, shaping its activity.

The histone core domain evolves at single-residue resolution to directly orchestrate transcription Nucleosomes are thought to be structural barriers to transcription, establishing a restrictive ground state that must be destabilized for gene express…

Happy to share our new paper out today in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social in collaboration with @tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social @akihisaosakabe.bsky.social about how evolution can do big things with small changes. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Check out our new preprint all about Pirsonia, a tiny killer of bloom-forming Coscinodiscus diatoms!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#protistsonsky #marinemicrobes 🌊🔬

Repressive cytosine methylation is a marker of viral gene transfer across divergent eukaryotes Abstract. Cytosine DNA methylation patterns vary widely across eukaryotes, with its ancestral roles being understood to have included both transposable ele

Happy to see our latest work out in @molbioevol.bsky.social. We revisit the evolution of 5-methylcytosine across neglected eukaryotic supergroups, establishing an ancestral repressive role silencing genome invaders, both transposons and viral elements👾: academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-... 🧵 1/7

Phylogenomics of Asgard archaea reveals a unique blend of prokaryotic-like horizontal transfer and eukaryotic-like gene duplication. Asgard archaea hold a pivotal position in the tree of life as the closest known relatives to eukaryotes and are therefore crucial for understanding eukaryogenesis. Earlier genomic analyses revealed th...

Today is Asgard Friday! So happy that the project that has taken a big chunk of my PhD journey is out as a preprint (for now!)

“Phylogenomics of Asgard archaea reveals a unique blend of prokaryotic-like horizontal transfer and eukaryotic-like gene duplication”

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in Corallochytrium limacisporum,a key species for understanding animal origins | Open Biology Microbial holozoans are the closest unicellular relatives of animals. They share a substantial gene repertoire with animals and exhibit complex life cycles. Studying these organisms is crucial for und...

Very happy to share our new paper where we develop CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in our favorite unicellular relative of animals, Corallochytrium limacisporum! With @sebasn1.bsky.social @multicellgenome.bsky.social Elena and Claudio.

Check it out:
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Victoria Shabardina from the @multicellgenome.bsky.social lab, catching us up on the latest findings on the emergence of animal multicellularity. Ets still amongst the last few 'metazoan exclusive' genes remaining. Gorgeous imagining 🔬👌🏽

#SMBE2025

Check out our paper to explore how the evolutionary history of SELMA supports or challenges various hypotheses on the origin of red complex plastids.

academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

First Ma lab #GMI paper is now online! It‘s a mini-review on insect-induced plant #galls —their coolness and research potential! Plant galls induced by insects: Coordinated developmental reprogramming and defence manipulation www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Conservation of chromatin states and their association with transcription factors in land plants https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.12.664529v1

Nucleosome Positioning Shapes Cryptic Antisense Transcription https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.14.664753v1