John Burns
@burnsajohn.bsky.social
I like to think about how cells work, especially among #protists. Driven by curiosity and a love to share detailed research and odd observations. Senior Research Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. He/him. https://www.protistsystems.org/
Reposted by John Burns
How did primitive membranes form at the #OriginOfLife and how did they evolve into the complex cellular envelopes of modern cells?
Exciting talk by Claudia Bonfio about the non-enzymatic formation of phospholipids under conditions that are plausible for early Earth.(1/2)
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Exciting talk by Claudia Bonfio about the non-enzymatic formation of phospholipids under conditions that are plausible for early Earth.(1/2)
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
November 25, 2025 at 10:09 AM
How did primitive membranes form at the #OriginOfLife and how did they evolve into the complex cellular envelopes of modern cells?
Exciting talk by Claudia Bonfio about the non-enzymatic formation of phospholipids under conditions that are plausible for early Earth.(1/2)
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Exciting talk by Claudia Bonfio about the non-enzymatic formation of phospholipids under conditions that are plausible for early Earth.(1/2)
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Reposted by John Burns
Understanding the relationship between #foraminifera & their #symbionts can help corals phys.org/news/2025-09...
Specific host - #algae relationship, yet flexible bacterial #microbiome, in diatom-bearing foraminifera: Elsa Girard et al. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#Protists #Microbes #Diatoms
Specific host - #algae relationship, yet flexible bacterial #microbiome, in diatom-bearing foraminifera: Elsa Girard et al. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#Protists #Microbes #Diatoms
November 23, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Understanding the relationship between #foraminifera & their #symbionts can help corals phys.org/news/2025-09...
Specific host - #algae relationship, yet flexible bacterial #microbiome, in diatom-bearing foraminifera: Elsa Girard et al. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#Protists #Microbes #Diatoms
Specific host - #algae relationship, yet flexible bacterial #microbiome, in diatom-bearing foraminifera: Elsa Girard et al. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#Protists #Microbes #Diatoms
Reposted by John Burns
Weird word of the day: "kleptosquamy." The testate amoeba Awerintzewia cyclostoma steals scales from other amoeboid organisms to build its own shell. This one has robbed Quadrulella, Netzelia, various euglyphids, and even an Acanthocystis. Kleptosquamy! #amoebae #ProtistsOnSky #biology #nature
November 21, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Weird word of the day: "kleptosquamy." The testate amoeba Awerintzewia cyclostoma steals scales from other amoeboid organisms to build its own shell. This one has robbed Quadrulella, Netzelia, various euglyphids, and even an Acanthocystis. Kleptosquamy! #amoebae #ProtistsOnSky #biology #nature
Reposted by John Burns
How does messenger RNA (mRNA) get out of the nucleus to become a protein? Eukaryotic mRNA is packaged, exported, and then translated in the cytoplasm. But how do these steps work? And what are open questions? Check out our new review for our take: www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... (1/3)
November 21, 2025 at 5:37 PM
How does messenger RNA (mRNA) get out of the nucleus to become a protein? Eukaryotic mRNA is packaged, exported, and then translated in the cytoplasm. But how do these steps work? And what are open questions? Check out our new review for our take: www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... (1/3)
Reposted by John Burns
We have a date for the free-to-attend #anvio workshop and ECR Symposium for 2026, and we look forward to meeting you at the @hifmb.de in Oldenburg, Germany!
Please find more information on the venue, program, and the application form here, and spread the word 😇
anvio.org/workshops/20...
Please find more information on the venue, program, and the application form here, and spread the word 😇
anvio.org/workshops/20...
November 20, 2025 at 6:42 PM
We have a date for the free-to-attend #anvio workshop and ECR Symposium for 2026, and we look forward to meeting you at the @hifmb.de in Oldenburg, Germany!
Please find more information on the venue, program, and the application form here, and spread the word 😇
anvio.org/workshops/20...
Please find more information on the venue, program, and the application form here, and spread the word 😇
anvio.org/workshops/20...
Reposted by John Burns
How do cells adapt morphology to function? In a 🔥 preprint by @zjmaggiexu.bsky.social , with @dudinlab.bsky.social and @amyweeks.bsky.social , we identify a self-organizing single-cell morphology circuit that optimizes the feeding trap structure of the suctorian P. collini. 🧵 tinyurl.com/4k8nv926
November 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM
How do cells adapt morphology to function? In a 🔥 preprint by @zjmaggiexu.bsky.social , with @dudinlab.bsky.social and @amyweeks.bsky.social , we identify a self-organizing single-cell morphology circuit that optimizes the feeding trap structure of the suctorian P. collini. 🧵 tinyurl.com/4k8nv926
now i've seen everything... 😱
don't care what anybody says but #protists are cognitive
don't care what anybody says but #protists are cognitive
Cellular structure self-organizes through an interplay between internal mechanisms and external cues. The single-celled suctorian P. collini builds a trap structure to capture large prey using microtubule feeding tentacles, creating feedback between cell morphology and prey availability.
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by John Burns
Out today, our take on 6-methyladenine #6mA evolution in Eukaryotes @natgenet.nature.com. We asked a simple question, is really DNA 6mA common across the eukaryotes? The answer is "yes" if you're a unicellular eukaryote 🦠, not so if you're multicellular 🐝🌱🍄. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/9
Adenine DNA methylation associated with transcriptionally permissive chromatin is widespread across eukaryotes - Nature Genetics
Long-read sequencing in 18 unicellular eukaryotes reveals that 6mA is widespread across eukaryotes and is enriched at transcriptionally permissive regions, which are also marked by H3K4me3.
www.nature.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Out today, our take on 6-methyladenine #6mA evolution in Eukaryotes @natgenet.nature.com. We asked a simple question, is really DNA 6mA common across the eukaryotes? The answer is "yes" if you're a unicellular eukaryote 🦠, not so if you're multicellular 🐝🌱🍄. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/9
Reposted by John Burns
Happy International Day of LGBTQIA+ People In STEM!
How are you celebrating it?
#LGBTQSTEMDay #PrideInSTEM
How are you celebrating it?
#LGBTQSTEMDay #PrideInSTEM
November 18, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Happy International Day of LGBTQIA+ People In STEM!
How are you celebrating it?
#LGBTQSTEMDay #PrideInSTEM
How are you celebrating it?
#LGBTQSTEMDay #PrideInSTEM
Reposted by John Burns
how to breathe oxygen at a distance? the cable bacteria apparently know the trick: wired...
#MicroSky
#MicroSky
Metal scaffolds turn bacteria into live wires
Mud-dwelling cable bacteria construct metal organic frameworks to grow
www.science.org
November 17, 2025 at 5:39 PM
how to breathe oxygen at a distance? the cable bacteria apparently know the trick: wired...
#MicroSky
#MicroSky
Reposted by John Burns
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 13, 2025 at 8:34 PM
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by John Burns
Marvelous new image of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, taken by photographer Satoru Murata before dawn this morning.
On the right you can also see galaxy NGC 4691. There should be a lot more pictures coming in soon. 🧪🔭
www.facebook.com/groups/22700...
On the right you can also see galaxy NGC 4691. There should be a lot more pictures coming in soon. 🧪🔭
www.facebook.com/groups/22700...
November 16, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Marvelous new image of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, taken by photographer Satoru Murata before dawn this morning.
On the right you can also see galaxy NGC 4691. There should be a lot more pictures coming in soon. 🧪🔭
www.facebook.com/groups/22700...
On the right you can also see galaxy NGC 4691. There should be a lot more pictures coming in soon. 🧪🔭
www.facebook.com/groups/22700...
Reposted by John Burns
Reposted by John Burns
My department at UT Austin is looking to hire an Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Biology, broadly defined. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have.
apply.interfolio.com/177547
apply.interfolio.com/177547
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:23 PM
My department at UT Austin is looking to hire an Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Biology, broadly defined. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have.
apply.interfolio.com/177547
apply.interfolio.com/177547
Reposted by John Burns
Can confirm. I am okay and more motivated than ever to speak up.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
NIH program officer @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social has been placed on admin leave, sources say.
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
November 14, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Can confirm. I am okay and more motivated than ever to speak up.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Reposted by John Burns
Reposted by John Burns
Come and Join Us.
Not only will it be fun, but you will be learning a lot of methods & travel some more ;)!
Not only will it be fun, but you will be learning a lot of methods & travel some more ;)!
It is a collaboration between my lab (Uppsala U) and the labs of @dudinlab.bsky.social (Geneva U) and @filiphusnik.bsky.social (OIST). More info and how to apply here:
uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/.... (The use of AI for writing the motivation letter is discouraged and will be regarded unfavourably) 2/2
uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/.... (The use of AI for writing the motivation letter is discouraged and will be regarded unfavourably) 2/2
PhD student in systematic biology
The Department of Organismal Biology teaches and explores the evolution, development and function on the organismal level. For more information see Department of Organismal Biology - Uppsala Universit
uu.varbi.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Come and Join Us.
Not only will it be fun, but you will be learning a lot of methods & travel some more ;)!
Not only will it be fun, but you will be learning a lot of methods & travel some more ;)!
Reposted by John Burns
We are looking for a PhD student to work on an exciting plastid endosymbiosis in microbial eukaryotes. This position involves sampling, exciting microscopy such as CARDFISH, ExM and FIBSEM, single-cell transcriptomics and more. #protistsonsky 1/2
November 12, 2025 at 9:50 AM
We are looking for a PhD student to work on an exciting plastid endosymbiosis in microbial eukaryotes. This position involves sampling, exciting microscopy such as CARDFISH, ExM and FIBSEM, single-cell transcriptomics and more. #protistsonsky 1/2
This is a beautiful thread on mechanisms of a property of [some? only giant?] unicellular #protistsonsky that I wouldn't even believe is possible if it wasn't demonstrated so clearly: the ability of a single cell to heal cuts! 🤯🤯🤯
Wound healing is a hallmark feature of all life, including single cells. In a new preprint, Ambika Nadkarni @biochembika.bsky.social investigates a new dimension in cellular wound healing: how cells recover AFTER the wound has been closed
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 11, 2025 at 9:25 AM
This is a beautiful thread on mechanisms of a property of [some? only giant?] unicellular #protistsonsky that I wouldn't even believe is possible if it wasn't demonstrated so clearly: the ability of a single cell to heal cuts! 🤯🤯🤯
Reposted by John Burns
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to share our new preprint on BioRxiv!
A collaborative effort spanning many years and several labs to uncover what the germline chromosomes of Paramecium really look like. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/5
A collaborative effort spanning many years and several labs to uncover what the germline chromosomes of Paramecium really look like. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/5
The tiny germline chromosomes of Paramecium aurelia have an exceptionally high recombination rate and are capped by a new class of Helitrons
Background. Paramecia belong to the ciliate phylum of unicellular eukaryotes characterized by nuclear dimorphism. A diploid germline micronucleus (MIC) transmits genetic information across sexual gene...
www.biorxiv.org
November 10, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by John Burns
The lost art of scientific illustration: The copepods of Wilhelm Giesbrecht (1854-1913)
November 9, 2025 at 1:11 PM
The lost art of scientific illustration: The copepods of Wilhelm Giesbrecht (1854-1913)
Reposted by John Burns
A Novel Protistan Trait Database Reveals Functional Redundancy and Complementarity in Terrestrial Protists(Amoebozoa and Rhizaria)
#protists #eukaryotes #amoeba
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#protists #eukaryotes #amoeba
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
November 9, 2025 at 9:57 AM
A Novel Protistan Trait Database Reveals Functional Redundancy and Complementarity in Terrestrial Protists(Amoebozoa and Rhizaria)
#protists #eukaryotes #amoeba
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#protists #eukaryotes #amoeba
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by John Burns
Half of microbial eukaryote literature focuses on only twelve human parasites
#microbiology #protists #eukaryotes
@isme-microbes.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
#microbiology #protists #eukaryotes
@isme-microbes.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
Half of microbial eukaryote literature focuses on only 12 human parasites
Abstract. Although microbial eukaryotes comprise the majority of eukaryotic phylogenetic diversity and inhabit nearly all ecosystems globally, most researc
academic.oup.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Half of microbial eukaryote literature focuses on only twelve human parasites
#microbiology #protists #eukaryotes
@isme-microbes.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
#microbiology #protists #eukaryotes
@isme-microbes.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...