Peatland metagenomes analyzed in this study contained almost 10k biosynthetic gene clusters, but only 9-27% were expressed in situ. These results show that genome mining alone would overstate active secondary metabolism. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-7…

From 3,400 metagenomes of 362 lakes on seven continents, the authors reconstructed ~20,000 mitochondrial genomes of microbial eukaryotes, filling sparse branches of the eukaryotic tree such as SAR, Cryptophyceae and Haptista. A calibrated 98.1% identity threshold was used to delimit species, allowing comparison of protist richness and phylogenetic breadth across lakes, depths and seasons. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-7…

New study with contributions from our lab, out in Nature Communications: across 87 European lakes, giant virus relative abundance nearly tripled from northern to southern Europe. Differences in light and resources helped explain their distribution, while lakes with more abundant and diverse giant virus communities tended to have lower primary production. nature.com/articles/s41467-0…

New study supported by our lab published in Cell: Incendiamoeba cascadensis, a newly described geothermal amoeba, divides at 63°C, setting a new upper temperature record for eukaryotic life. Comparative genomics and cell-biological analyses reveal adaptations linked to protein homeostasis, genome stability, and environmental sensing. sciencedirect.com/science/ar…

In ten years of laboratory passage the tsetse symbiont Sodalis glossinidius lost 31 genes and encountered a 16,493 bp deletion, showing that genome decay continues without host selection. The genome consists of 49% pseudogenes, which is well above the roughly 1% found in free-living bacteria. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd…