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Reposted by Courtney Stairs

Filip Husnik @filiphusnik.bsky.social · 1d

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...

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Reposted by Courtney Stairs

Julie Boisard @protistsforthewin.bsky.social · 11d

Now completely published :)
Really proud of this paper led with Karla at @cstairs.bsky.social lab.
doi.org/10.1093/isme...

Anaerobic breviate protist survival in microcosms depends on microbiome metabolic function

Abstract. Anoxic and hypoxic environments serve as habitats for diverse microorganisms, including unicellular eukaryotes (protists) and prokaryotes. To thr

doi.org

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Aug 27

Such a cool story! Just in time for my upcoming lectures:) congrats Ben and team!

Ben Larson @blarson.bsky.social · Aug 26

What could be more exciting than watching Euplotes scurry around under the microscope? How about adding some raptorial predation by supergiant cannibal cells?

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

Video by Vittorio Boscaro.

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Aug 22

More protist studies!!!

angela oliverio @oliverio.bsky.social · Aug 22

New lab pre-print up! "Twelve species of human parasites make up half the literature on microbial eukaryotes"
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

We (led by UG Joanna Lepper and with @hbrappap.bsky.social) quantified all mentions of protist species in the scientific literature 🧵

#protistsonsky #microsky

Twelve species of human parasites make up half of the literature on microbial eukaryotes

Although microbial eukaryotes comprise the majority of eukaryotic phylogenetic diversity and inhabit nearly all ecosystems globally, most research focuses on only a few species of human parasites. Her...

doi.org

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jandevries.bsky.social @jandevries.bsky.social · Aug 14

We are looking for a new colleague! If you do exciting microbial work (from various fields and approaches), please consider applying. (Yes, I am talking to you, postdocs ;) ) :)
uni-goettingen.de/en/699057.html

W1-TT-W2 Microbial Genetics - Georg-August-University Göttingen

Website of the Georg-August-University Göttingen

uni-goettingen.de

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Aug 11

Check out our recent publication on breviate protists and their microbial communities. In this study, led by PhD student Karla and postdoc Julie, we found that breviate growth under anoxia might be dependent on the metabolic capabilities of the prokaryotes they live with.

doi.org/10.1093/isme...

pendingpublications

Pending Publication

doi.org

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Nikolay Oskolkov @oskolkov.bsky.social · Jul 18

I am starting a computational lab at LIOS, Riga, Latvia, and going to recruit a few people. Please DM if you are interested in a postdoc or PhD position in my Metabolic Research Group within the TARGETWISE project. I can highly recommend Riga, it is a beautiful city with very good living conditions.

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Reposted by Courtney Stairs

Laura Eme @lauraeme.bsky.social · Jun 22

Excited to share our new paper in @cellreports.bsky.social that reshapes our understanding of chromosome organization's deep evolutionary roots! Our work dives into the origins of the machinery that structures our very genomes.

🔗: doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

#Genomics #Evolution #CellBiology #LECA

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Jun 5

Thanks Anna!

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Jun 4

Congratulations!!! Well deserved!! Do you get to keep the attire?

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · May 23

Paging ciliate friends like @symbiosisrox.bsky.social @filiphusnik.bsky.social @micrott.bsky.social

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · May 23

Looking for some advice on statistical tests/tools to compare host:symbiont co-evolution - what are the minimum number of host and symbiont representatives you need? Can you detect co evolution in a clade where we really only have 2-5 closely related host species?

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Reposted by Courtney Stairs

Laura Eme @lauraeme.bsky.social · Mar 12

🚨 New paper alert! 🚨

A robustly rooted tree of eukaryotes sheds light on their deep evolutionary ancestry—suggesting that the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA) may have had an excavate-like cell architecture. 🧵🔬 (1/) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A robustly rooted tree of eukaryotes reveals their excavate ancestry - Nature

The root of the eukaryote Tree of Life is estimated from a new, larger dataset of mitochondrial proteins including all known eukaryotic supergroups, showing it lies between two multi-supergroup assemb...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Courtney Stairs

Aaron Vogan @fungage-lab.bsky.social · Mar 7

We did it! We caught Starship #transposons moving between #fungal species in the lab, including between species separated by ~100my. We think Starships are a mediator of HGT in fungi, akin to conjugative elements in bacteria. Check out the preprint. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Illustration depicting the ways in which fungi can exchange genetic material with each other. Starship mediated HGT is confirmed experimentally in this preprint.

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Feb 11

I guess I can't say RQ10, RQ9, RQ8? ;)

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Feb 10

So cool!! My favourite quinone is also a part of my mitochondria?? Wow!!
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Rhodoquinone carries electrons in the mammalian electron transport chain

Valeros et al. identify rhodoquinone (RQ), an electron carrier present in mammalian mitochondria, that can deliver electrons to fumarate instead of O2 as the terminal electron acceptor. The authors de...

www.cell.com

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Feb 8

First ever western blot in the lab was a success! Was it due to the ceremonial temporary tattoo of the marker lane? We’ll never know. #tango2

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Reposted by Courtney Stairs

Laura Eme @lauraeme.bsky.social · Nov 15

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 [email protected]

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Nov 20

It's looking like we'll have to - I wanted to avoid the import fees from the UK. I'll give it a bit more time to see if I can find someone in the EU. :) Thanks!!

Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Nov 20

Heard back from them: ” Fungi and bacteria from the environment grow on the wheat grains.” They also only ship within Switzerland. If I can’t find another option I might ask you for a favour ;)

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Nov 19

On it! :) thanks!

Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Nov 19

That's what i thought too, but i'm having a hard time finding live cultures in Sweden (only prepared slides) :(
Going to look elsewhere in the EU to avoid import fees etc.

Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Nov 19

Thanks! Not so axenic based on my google translate german :( but cool resource all the same!

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Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · Nov 19

First post!!
Does anyone in Europe have an axenic or monoxenic culture of Stentor, Blepharisma or Spirostomum they would be willing to share? Please DM me :) #protists #ciliates

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Jon Jerlström Hultqvist @jonhultqvist.bsky.social · Nov 11

Want to be amazed by how a symbiont can be located at the center of a cell while still being an epibiont! Please read and be amazed by the symbiosis between Anaerameoba and sulfate-reducing bacteria!

Now out in Nature Communications (open access)! rdcu.be/dZGNe
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A unique symbiosome in an anaerobic single-celled eukaryote

Nature Communications - Symbiont-housing structures are well-studied in multicellular eukaryotes but rarely in unicellular protists. This study shows that low-oxygen-adapted Anaeramoebae have...

rdcu.be

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