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).

From fossils and rare genetic ‘gene-swap’ clues, researchers reconstruct fungi’s deep timeline and reveal how they helped shape early Earth ecosystems.

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).

79% of endemic species show signs of decline, highlighting the vulnerability of island biodiversity to ecosystem changes.

Structural insights into ultrafast Ca2+ transport by plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPases are provided, highlighting an essential role for PtdIns(4,5)P2 dynamics.

Insect populations have declined worldwide, but the extent and drivers of these declines are debated. Most studies rely on field surveys performed in the past century, leaving gaps in our understandin...

Comparison of symbiotic bacteria to free-living relatives shows the genomic effects of host adaptation.

We investigate the evolution of microbial metabolisms from the last universal common ancestor to the extant biota through comparative phylogenomics, reconciling the evolution of the genes that underpi...

Research Assistant (Fixed Term) in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge.

FIMM-EMBL Group Leaders in Molecular Medicine

Paola Laurino from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, National Champion for Japan, reveals groundbreaking insights into SAR11 bacteria, the most abundant microbes on Earth. Her study unc...

ATP, the ‘fuel’ of our cells, has been found to make the cytosol in axons more liquid, stopping proteins from clustering and causing harm.