#Opisthokonta
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robertarkowitz.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Evolution: Divergent trajectories predate the origins of animals and fungi
Animals, fungi, and their closest protist relatives comprise the clade Opisthokonta. Although they are comparatively closely related, animals and fungi have diverged greatly from one another. A new st...
www.cell.com
August 29, 2026 at 8:48 AM
sinamajidian.bsky.social
A unicellular relative links aggregative multicellularity to animal origins
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Fig. 4 | Dynamics of gene expression during M. vibrans aggregation time series. a, The average aggregate area in four biological replicate M. vibrans monoxenic cultures was used to assess gene expression, taken at 12, 18, 24, 33, 48 and 72 h after inoculation into fresh medium. The coloured circle represents the final timepoint at which RNA was extracted for that set of replicates. b, The mean gene expression trends for the eight DEG clusters that arose from expression profile clustering analysis. c, Schematic of the main groups of genes that increased and decreased in expression across the time series from each DEG cluster based on gene enrichment analyses. See also Extended Data Figs. 5–8, Supplementary Figs. 1 and 2 and Supplementary Data 7 and 8. The constantly increasing and constantly decreasing DEG clusters are also referred to without ‘constantly’. Fig. 5 | Key animal multicellularity genes are expressed during M. vibrans aggregation. a, The percentage of DEGs linked to cell adhesion, cell signalling and transcriptional regulation assigned to the DEG clusters outlined in Fig. 4b and coloured according to the legend in c. The white numbers indicate the absolute number of DEGs in each category. b, Overview of Opisthokonta species relationships and ancestors indicated by coloured circles. c, Schematic of two M. vibrans cells and heat maps showing the expression patterns of different categories of genes encoding homologues of multicellularity-related proteins that are significantly differentially expressed across the aggregation time series. The bottom row indicates the timepoint; column A denotes the predicted gene/domain age inferred from previous studies, coloured as in b, and column C outlines DEG cluster assignment. Mean gene expression values were calculated across timepoint replicates using normalized and variance- stabilizing transformed gene counts that were then centred and row-scaled. Abbreviations of genes, gene families and domain containing proteins: SPT, spectrin; FSCN, fascin; DRF, diaphanous-related formin; DIA, diaphanous DRF; MYOX, myosin X; ACTN, alpha actinin; COL4, alpha type IV collagen; LAMG, laminin G domain; FNII and FNIII, fibronectin type II and type III domains; FGC, fibrinogen C-terminal domain; ITGA, integrin alpha; ITGB, integrin beta; ILK, integrin-linked kinase; VIN, alpha-catenin/vinculin family; TLN, talin; CDH, cadherin domain; CLEC, C-type lectin domain; ERM-merlin,
August 26, 2026 at 9:41 AM
phypapers.bsky.social
A parasitic flagellate among the Nucleariae: a new perspective on the phylogeny of Holomycota (Opisthokonta) https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.21.739728v1
July 25, 2026 at 2:30 AM
biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social
A parasitic flagellate among the Nucleariae: a new perspective on the phylogeny of Holomycota (Opisthokonta) https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.21.739728v1
July 24, 2026 at 11:36 PM
biorxivpreprint.bsky.social
A parasitic flagellate among the Nucleariae: a new perspective on the phylogeny of Holomycota (Opisthokonta) https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.21.739728v1
July 24, 2026 at 11:36 PM
docvivileandra.bsky.social
You see, the evolutionary history of eukaryotes is a lot more complex - and a lot less centered on us big, multicellular creatures, lol

There's a bunch of divisions of eukaryotes that are approximately distant!

(Note the tree below doesn't even distinguish animals from fungi - both "opisthokonta")
A tree showing a modern-ish version of an evolutionary tree of all eukaryotes. "Opisthokonta" contains both animals and fungi, as well as some "protists", while Chloroplastida contains plants and some green algae
June 25, 2026 at 2:32 PM
biologyopen.bsky.social
Kevin Aguirre-Carvajal & co show that our conclusions about gene transfer can change as more genomic data become available, highlighting the importance of continuously re-evaluating evolutionary hypotheses.
doi.org/10.1242/bio....

#GenomeEvolution #Phylogeny #NewHomologs
Relationship between the fold change in taxon sampling and the fold change in the number of candidate genes across taxonomic groups. Each point represents a taxonomic group, with colors indicating major eukaryotic lineages: Opisthokonta (red), Unclassified Eukaryota (blue), SAR (yellow), Archaeplastida (brown), Amoebozoa (black), and Excavata (green). Fold changes are shown on a log2 scale. Data used to generate this figure are provided in Table S4.
April 22, 2026 at 9:33 AM
jcellsci.bsky.social
In their Review, Silvia Tassan-Lugrezin, Silje Debets, Laura van Niftrik, Taco Kooij & Irina Bregy compare crista across Euglenozoa, Alveolata & Opisthokonta to delineate evolutionarily conserved mechanisms underpinning a general model for crista formation.

journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Schematic overview of crista shaping components in traditional and unconventional model organisms. (A) The MICOS in yeast (left) and T. brucei (right). Conserved proteins directly involved in membrane bending are shown in green, conserved proteins with an indirect or unclear involvement in membrane bending are shown in red, T. brucei-specific proteins are shown in yellow if directly involved in membrane bending, or in purple if they have an indirect effect. Numbers refer to the respective MICOS components: MIC60, MIC19, MIC10, MIC12, MIC26 and MIC27 in yeast, and MIC24, MIC34, MIC40, MIC10-1, MIC10-2, MIC20, MIC17, MIC32 and MIC16 in T. brucei. (B) Schematic figure of ATP synthase characteristics in yeast, T. brucei, T. gondii and P. falciparum. Dimeric ATP synthase structures have been solved for yeast, T. brucei and T. gondii, revealing dimer angles of 86°, 60° and 19°, respectively. For P. falciparum, the dimer angle is unknown. The different oligomerization states observed in these organisms are associated with different cristae shapes. In yeast, dimer rows produce lamellar cristae; in T. brucei, helical arrays of dimers produce discoidal cristae; in T. gondii, hexameric oligomerization generates bulbous cristae. The oligomerization state of P. falciparum ATP synthase is unknown (indicated by the question mark) but P. falciparum has been shown to have bulbous morphology of cristae.
March 16, 2026 at 11:55 AM
mu-peter.bsky.social
A smartphone analogy to explore the origin of animals 🧪
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Shows origin of both animals and smartphones was due to integration and repurposing.

This model offers testable predictions and a new theoretical framework for understanding complex biological innovation.
A schematic tree of Opisthokonta, illustrating its different ancestors and key to understanding the transition.
February 26, 2026 at 5:30 PM
gsjphd.bsky.social
a group which apparently excludes not only crustaceans but also fungi?

which is wild because the #1 reason Opisthokonta is relevant IMO is that it's the group uniting animals and fungi.
February 21, 2026 at 3:51 AM
gsjphd.bsky.social
Misspells "Opisthokonta" too. Just not proofread at all huh.
February 21, 2026 at 3:49 AM
bejalab.bsky.social
Apusomonad rhodopsins: A new family of ultraviolet to blue light–absorbing rhodopsin channels www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
Apusomonad rhodopsins: A new family of ultraviolet to blue light–absorbing rhodopsin channels | PNAS
Apusomonads are sediment-dwelling bacterivorous protists that are sister to all Opisthokonta. They have been found to show a negative phototactic r...
www.pnas.org
February 11, 2026 at 9:33 AM
farketmemiz.bsky.social
van Leeuwenhoek saw them first. at least a relative of this cutie. the crazy thing is that those tiny creatures make that tube themselves, anticipating any scallop theorem
www.plingfactory.de/Science/Atla...
Rotifer Fauna of Germany and Adjoining Countries: Limnias melicerta Weisse 1848, Flosculariidae, Monogononta, Rotifera, Syndermata, Gnathifera, Spiralia, Protostomia, Bilateria, Metazoa, Opisthokonta,...
www.plingfactory.de
January 25, 2026 at 2:05 PM
justmetrustme.bsky.social
Laut Wikipedia Opisthokonta. Gerne.
Könnt aber auch was Hinterfotziges aus dem tiefsten Süden sein. Auch gerne.
January 1, 2026 at 3:33 AM
wreybies.bsky.social
...Eutheria
Theria
Mammalia
Synapsida
Amniota
Tetrapoda
Vertebrata
Craniata
Chordata
Deuterostomia
Bilateria
Eumetazoa
Metazoa
Opisthokonta
Eukaryota

And Bingo was his name-o! 😜
December 18, 2025 at 4:27 PM
lucresnooker.bsky.social
one thing I'm still confused by: the "A taxon-rich and genome-scale phylogeny of Opisthokonta" paper finds ctenophore-sister across a range of assumptions; this one doesn't. Is there a clear methodological reason for the difference?
December 11, 2025 at 6:44 PM
arambaut.bsky.social
Even better. Would like to see that one... I point to the Opisthokonta branch and say that is you and your close relatives, the fungus.
November 24, 2025 at 9:38 AM
arambaut.bsky.social
This is the one I usually give in lectures. Opisthokonta is right down in the bottom right: www.nature.com/articles/nmi...
A new view of the tree of life - Nature Microbiology
An update to the ‘tree of life’ has revealed a dominance of bacterial diversity in many ecosystems and extensive evolution in some branches of the tree. It also highlights how few organisms we have be...
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:53 AM
johnwares.bsky.social
Contributing a slide w ref from my last invert ecol class
Eukaryote tree of life from Burki et al 2020 and the metazoan phylogeny being pointed towards from the Opisthokonta clade
November 24, 2025 at 1:38 AM
bonkobutkis.bsky.social
single-celled protist within the Opisthokonta group
October 23, 2025 at 5:10 PM
luisjagago.bsky.social
Our study on the first rhodopsin channels known to respond to UV light is now published in PNAS! And they come from our favourite protists, apusomonads! #protistonsky

www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
October 14, 2025 at 3:44 PM
bejalab.bsky.social
Online now!!! Apusomonad rhodopsins: A new family of ultraviolet to blue light–absorbing rhodopsin channels www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Apusomonad rhodopsins: A new family of ultraviolet to blue light–absorbing rhodopsin channels | PNAS
Apusomonads are sediment-dwelling bacterivorous protists that are sister to all Opisthokonta. They have been found to show a negative phototactic r...
www.pnas.org
October 13, 2025 at 7:09 PM
utopi1.bsky.social
... avec ça
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opistho...
Opisthokonta — Wikipédia
fr.wikipedia.org
September 26, 2025 at 3:34 PM
stcmicrobeblog.bsky.social
ah! these phylogenetic trees, always a pleasure 🤩 and entertaining 😉

left: with forelimbs, an excellent idea 👏
right: the zoo assembled by basile @babebe.bsky.social 👏 with carl woese representing the Opisthokonta 😜

bsky.app/profile/plos...
from: https://bsky.app/profile/plosbiology.org/post/3lsh3hxwzhk2z from: @babebe.bsky.social
June 27, 2025 at 11:08 AM
anadae-the-4th.bsky.social
... #opisthokonta #tartary #iridium #dwarves #magic #underground #hobbit #caves #tunnels #mushroom #dna #apocalypse #corn ... To all of my fellow Synchronauts across the Fediverse, it look as if Andreas Xirtus has done it again! ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSxW...
... Climb ye all 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 family tree, why don’tcha?! ... (𝒮𝓌𝑜𝑜𝓈𝒽) ...
June 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM