Katrin Hammerschmidt

Very proud that @gauravathreya.bsky.social's brilliant work based on his Master's thesis is out as his first paper in @asn-amnat.bsky.social. Interested in host-symbiont interdependence, eukaryogenesis, evolutionary transitions in individuality, and some great theory to back it?...check out the🧵👇

Evolutionary repurposing of a DNA segregation machinery into a cytoskeletal system controlling cyanobacterial cell shape Bacteria, despite their diversity, use conserved cytoskeletal systems for their intracellular organization. In unicellular bacteria, the ParMRC DNA partitioning apparatus is well known for forming act...

One of the most exciting discoveries from our lab so far is now online as a preprint!

Read a story on how the ParMR and Min systems started to collaborate to create the CorMR cytoskeleton, which now controls cell shape in multicellular cyanobacteria:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

How does agency change as life evolves from single cells to complex bodies? This review by Stuart Newman and colleagues examines the surprising roles of development, microbes, and even cancer in reshaping what organisms can do. @multicellgenome.bsky.social www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1...

1/27 We have a new paper out! Turns out that snowflake yeast have been hiding a secret from us - they've evolved a (very!) crude circulatory system. Not with blood vessels or a heart, but through spontaneous fluid flows powered by their metabolism. 🧪🔬

www.science.org/doi/full/10....

We loved hearing @khammerschmidt.bsky.social talk about evolution at the #MultiBac2025 conference this January - check out the @asm.org report on the origins of early microbial life!

Happy to have been part of EVOLUTION & MECHANISMS GOVERNING MULTICELLULARITY—one of 3 workshops behind @asm.org’s new report. Big questions, great conversations—looking back on origins of microbial life and what lies ahead. Highly recommended read: asm.org/reports/earl...
#MicroSky #MEvoSky #EvoSky

iron toxicity model

New preprint: eukaryotic origins! 🥁

We propose that iron -not oxygen- may have delayed the rise of complex life. Our model reframes the “oxygen delay” puzzle: the gap between atmospheric O2 and early eukaryotic fossils may reflect iron-mediated stress, not for O2:

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

Abstract submission extended to 1 July – Submit your work now!

Genetic Predisposition Toward Multicellularity in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Abstract. The evolution from unicellular to multicellular organisms facilitates further phenotypic innovations, notably cellular differentiation. Multiple

Kimberly Chen, a former postdoc in my lab, has published a new article in Genome Biology and Evolution. Selection on mixed populations of Chlamydomonas resulted in the evolution of multicellular structures, all from 2 of 10 founder strains. www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-...
doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...

This is still open for another week or so! Please apply :)

#multicellularity lovers: the website for the EMBO workshop in multicellularity is live. Barcelona is waiting for you! #protistsonsky

Check out our latest work on the evolution of animal genome regulation out today in @nature.com. Nicely summarized below by @ianakim.bsky.social.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is a major output from our ERC-StG project Evocellmap @erc.europa.eu at @crg.eu

Check out this amazing segment on Pittsburgh's WTAE about our EvolvingSTEM program. 🙏🏻 to anchor Shannon Perrine for telling our story and showcasing how we engage students grades 6-12 to learn w/ authentic experiments. Teachers and students see themselves as scientists! #SaveNSF #SupportNIH

Mutualism breakdown underpins evolutionary rescue in an obligate cross-feeding bacterial consortium - Nature Communications Rapid genetic adaptation to environmental change, or evolutionary rescue, can be constrained by a less adaptable mutualistic partner. Here, the authors explore evolutionary rescue in an obligate mutua...

1/ In our new paper, we explored whether obligate mutualisms can survive abrupt stress via evolutionary rescue.

We found that evolutionary rescue is possible—but it comes at the cost of mutualism. @jfriedman.bsky.social

#microsky #evosky #mevosky

Tissue-like multicellular development triggered by mechanical compression in archaea The advent of clonal multicellularity is a critical evolutionary milestone, seen often in eukaryotes, rarely in bacteria, and only once in archaea. We show that uniaxial compression induces clonal mul...

Striking new study from @archaeon-alex.bsky.social's lab just out in @science.org on multicellular development induced by compression in Archaea: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness Many bacteria carry phage genome(s) in their chromosome (i.e., prophage), and this intertwines the fitness of the bacterium and the phage. Most Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains carry filamentous phages ...

Our new preprint by @nanamikubota.bsky.social shows that P. aeruginosa, and likely many other bacteria carrying filamentous prophages (like V. parahaemolyticus), risk being exploited by these phages in a runaway process that reduces fitness of both host and virus. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵

Eating ‘Family Style’ May Have Set the Stage for Life as We Know It (Gift Article) Under microscopes, scientists found that giant single-cell organisms were able to vacuum up more food when they are stuck together.

Super cool new paper by @sshekhr.bsky.social and @wallaceucsf.bsky.social showing that there are collective benefits to simple multicellularity in the *very* charismatic Stentor.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Great write up in the NYT by @jack-tamisiea.bsky.social! www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/s...

1/35 New paper out! @jamesTstroud and I dive into why long-term studies are crucial for understanding evolution. They reveal processes impossible to detect in short timescales and capture rare events that transform our understanding of evolutionary dynamics.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Postdoctor, 2 years, in predicting the evolution of antibiotic resistance The Department of Molecular Biology seeks a postdoctoral researcher who will work with forecasting and steering experimental evolution of antibiotic resistance. The employment is full-time for two yea

We have a 2-year postdoc position available in the Lind Lab at Umeå University, Sweden! Predicting and steering experimental evolution of antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Reposts appreciated.
umu.varbi.com/en/?jobtoken...

PhD Candidate in Theoretical Biology The Institute of Environmental Sciences CML and Faculty of Science is looking for:[PhD Candidate in Theoretical Biology]Vacancy number: 15501 We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated Ph...

A theoretical biology PhD position at the University of Leiden on the coevolution of aging and sociality with awesome @lottedevries.bsky.social please spread the word! www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/vacancies...

Genome duplication in a long-term multicellularity evolution experiment - Nature In the Multicellularity Long Term Evolution Experiment, diploid yeast evolve to be tetraploid under selection for larger multicellular size, revealing how whole-genome duplication can arise due to its...

1/46 Hey folks, we have a new paper out on the MuLTEE. Strap in and I’ll tell you the story of how this “little paper on polyploidy” turned into the most data rich paper our lab has produced, largely thanks to the leadership and work ethic of @kaitong25.bsky.social.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Workshop-Recap "Concepts in Evolutionary Biology"

From Feb 10–13, 2025, researchers gathered in Plön to discuss key concepts, present new findings & engage in lively debates. Big thanks to all participants—looking forward to the next edition!

#Evolution #EvoBio #Science交流 #ResearchCommunity

Comparison of cable bacteria genera reveals details of their conduction machinery | EMBO reports imageimageThis study uncovers key morphological and ultrastructural similarities between cable bacteria genera. The periplasmic conductive fibers display variable electrical conductivity, but conserve...

Published online! Everything you wanted to know about different cable bacteria and their electrical conductivity. @cemau.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1038/s443...

Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics - 2025 meeting

I'm delighted to announce that the 2025 @microbiologysociety.org meeting on "Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics" will be held in Liverpool 26-27 November 2025! Abstract submission will open soon... #microsky 🧪🧫🦠 microbiologysociety.org/event/societ...

It's interesting, I recorded two interviews this week, and both asked me to comment on group selection vs inclusive fitness.

I was diplomatic, but honestly, I think the anti-group selection dogma stemming from the 60s is pretty embarrassing, highlighting a surprising lack of critical thinking.

☎️ Calling #MEvoSky ☎️

2x 5-year research associate / research assistant positions in experimental evolution

ERC-funded project: How do mobile genetic elements and defence systems shape bacterial genome evolution?

Join the friendly and exciting @mermanchester.bsky.social community in Manchester!

Home The Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program funds innovative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and Informal Science Education (ISE) educational projects for pre-kinde

Since 1991, the NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) is dedicated to K-12 students & funds innovative STEM educational projects.

It supports our EvolvingSTEM program that engages >1500 students/yr in authentic research.

🚨Its Program Announcement (PAR-23-137) is now GONE.😡
nihsepa.org

A snowflake yeast cluster, with the MitoLoc mitochondrial fluorescent probe. The outer ~4-5 cell layers are aerobic and respiring, the interior is anaerobic.

Hi folks, I'm excited to share a whale of a tale (sorry, bad pun), where we engineer snowflake yeast to express sperm whale myoglobin, and explore how oxygen-binding proteins may have helped overcome anatomical limitations to early multicellularity. 🧪 #MEvoSky

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Hey folks, microbial evolution (and I interpret this super broadly- bacteria, archaea, viruses, theory, Alife, field, lab, biophys, etc) now has a feed thanks to @atinygreencell.bsky.social. I hope this will be my ye olde Science Twitter v2. Come join us! 🧪

#MEvoSky

Link: bsky.app/profile/did:...

Obligate cross-feeding of metabolites is common in soil microbial communities Many microorganisms are refractory to laboratory cultivation. One possible explanation, known as the great plate count anomaly, is metabolic dependencies among community members. However, systematic s...

New paper from my group and the group of
@kiranrpatil.bsky.social:

Obligate cross-feeding of metabolites is common in soil microbial communities

By Ghada Yousif @metagenomez.bsky.social with @swagatika.bsky.social @isamirgiri.bsky.social Sharvari Harshe et al.

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

🧵👇