New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵
Flagellar gliding in choanoflagellates
Freire-Delgado and Brunet discover a new mode of cell motility in choanoflagellates,
the closest relatives of animals. Under mild confinement, choanoflagellate move over
surfaces without cell deformat...
www.cell.com
September 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM
New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵
Yes. We ❤️ choanoflagellates. We ❤️ people that work with choanoflagellates. And we ❤️ people that love choanoflagellates! #protistsOnSky
Some love for choanoflagellates from @multicellgenome.bsky.social in #ChoanoCon2025 Spectacular talk!
May 22, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Yes. We ❤️ choanoflagellates. We ❤️ people that work with choanoflagellates. And we ❤️ people that love choanoflagellates! #protistsOnSky
Very happy to see our paper published online natcomms.nature.com. Thank you to @wellcometrust.bsky.social for funding this work during my time with @robklose.bsky.social and David Booth! Thanks also to collaborators @garcialabms.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social and the other authors!
Chromatin profiling identifies putative dual roles for H3K27me3 in regulating cell type-specific genes and transposable elements in choanoflagellates
Nature Communications - Here, the authors investigate chromatin-based gene regulation in the closest relative of animal, choanoflagellates. They uncover a putative dual role for the histone...
rdcu.be
October 29, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Very happy to see our paper published online natcomms.nature.com. Thank you to @wellcometrust.bsky.social for funding this work during my time with @robklose.bsky.social and David Booth! Thanks also to collaborators @garcialabms.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social and the other authors!
A very persistent, tireless cowboy! Very pretty choanoflagellates, imaged today on LLS together with Babette van Amen from @agathechaigne.bsky.social lab.
September 4, 2026 at 1:36 PM
A very persistent, tireless cowboy! Very pretty choanoflagellates, imaged today on LLS together with Babette van Amen from @agathechaigne.bsky.social lab.
Some love for choanoflagellates from @multicellgenome.bsky.social in #ChoanoCon2025 Spectacular talk!
May 21, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Some love for choanoflagellates from @multicellgenome.bsky.social in #ChoanoCon2025 Spectacular talk!
Thrilled to see #choanoflagellates on the cover of Science Advances🤩. Our latest work "Electrical signaling and coordinated behavior in the closest relative of animals" out now. Link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 👏 @jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
January 8, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Thrilled to see #choanoflagellates on the cover of Science Advances🤩. Our latest work "Electrical signaling and coordinated behavior in the closest relative of animals" out now. Link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 👏 @jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Beautiful sampling day around Bergen fjords today #choanoflagellates #ctenophores
November 11, 2024 at 10:01 AM
Beautiful sampling day around Bergen fjords today #choanoflagellates #ctenophores
How ancient are the building blocks of animal sensory systems?
Key components of animal sensory systems evolved before animals. We find that choanoflagellates possess diverse & spatially segregated TRP channels, pointing to ancient origins of sensory specialization.
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Key components of animal sensory systems evolved before animals. We find that choanoflagellates possess diverse & spatially segregated TRP channels, pointing to ancient origins of sensory specialization.
doi.org/10.64898/202...
June 16, 2026 at 8:28 AM
How ancient are the building blocks of animal sensory systems?
Key components of animal sensory systems evolved before animals. We find that choanoflagellates possess diverse & spatially segregated TRP channels, pointing to ancient origins of sensory specialization.
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Key components of animal sensory systems evolved before animals. We find that choanoflagellates possess diverse & spatially segregated TRP channels, pointing to ancient origins of sensory specialization.
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Excited to announce the 10th "Choanoflagellates & Friends Workshop" over May 20-22 in our own Institut Pasteur in Paris: 2025choanocon.wordpress.com Registrations open til March 15, abstract til March 5. Pre-conference event for students/postdocs on 19/05. Plenty of slots for selected talks/posters!
February 17, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Excited to announce the 10th "Choanoflagellates & Friends Workshop" over May 20-22 in our own Institut Pasteur in Paris: 2025choanocon.wordpress.com Registrations open til March 15, abstract til March 5. Pre-conference event for students/postdocs on 19/05. Plenty of slots for selected talks/posters!
Choanoflagellate transfection just got much cheaper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Congratulations @frutag33.bsky.social & team. #choanoflagellates #transfection
Congratulations @frutag33.bsky.social & team. #choanoflagellates #transfection
March 12, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Choanoflagellate transfection just got much cheaper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Congratulations @frutag33.bsky.social & team. #choanoflagellates #transfection
Congratulations @frutag33.bsky.social & team. #choanoflagellates #transfection
Discovery of an adhesion GPCR regulating mating in choanoflagellates, by Alain Garcia de las Bayonas & Nicole King. Absolutely stunning work - choano cell biology is going next level www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
July 7, 2026 at 7:44 AM
Discovery of an adhesion GPCR regulating mating in choanoflagellates, by Alain Garcia de las Bayonas & Nicole King. Absolutely stunning work - choano cell biology is going next level www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
How did animal senses evolve? Max Coyle et al. used choanoflagellates to uncover TRPW, ancient ion channels predating animal somatosensory receptors. TRPW links microbial prey ecology to evolution of receptor structure, sensory organelles, & multicellular processing.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
June 16, 2026 at 4:59 PM
How did animal senses evolve? Max Coyle et al. used choanoflagellates to uncover TRPW, ancient ion channels predating animal somatosensory receptors. TRPW links microbial prey ecology to evolution of receptor structure, sensory organelles, & multicellular processing.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
In our lab we study the evolutionary origin of neurons and nervous systems. For this we use #choanoflagellates & #ctenophores as model organisms. Enjoy this beautiful ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi filmed in our facility in Bergen: www.uib.no/en/michaelsa... #evolution #origin #neuron
November 15, 2024 at 3:01 PM
In our lab we study the evolutionary origin of neurons and nervous systems. For this we use #choanoflagellates & #ctenophores as model organisms. Enjoy this beautiful ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi filmed in our facility in Bergen: www.uib.no/en/michaelsa... #evolution #origin #neuron
Choanoflagellates, both individually, and in a colony
10/03/26
10/03/26
March 10, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Choanoflagellates, both individually, and in a colony
10/03/26
10/03/26
Nicole King will give a seminar in College de France on the 10th of february at 11.30, telling us about the secret lives of choanoflagellates. Don’t hesitate to join!
January 20, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Nicole King will give a seminar in College de France on the 10th of february at 11.30, telling us about the secret lives of choanoflagellates. Don’t hesitate to join!
Amazing work!!😍 #choanoflagellates🏵️
Thrilled to see #choanoflagellates on the cover of Science Advances🤩. Our latest work "Electrical signaling and coordinated behavior in the closest relative of animals" out now. Link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 👏 @jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
January 9, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Amazing work!!😍 #choanoflagellates🏵️
Had two wonderful days at Yale University @yale.edu presenting our latest findings on the "Origins of neurons and nervous systems." Thank you @jacobmusser.bsky.social & lab for the invitation and discussions. #choanoflagellates #sponges #ctenophores
March 14, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Had two wonderful days at Yale University @yale.edu presenting our latest findings on the "Origins of neurons and nervous systems." Thank you @jacobmusser.bsky.social & lab for the invitation and discussions. #choanoflagellates #sponges #ctenophores
The DB Unit Summer School, "Transitions in Developing Systems," kicked off with an incredible talk by Thibaut Brunet @thibautbrunet.bsky.social from the Pasteur Institute @pasteur.fr on the fascinating transition from unicellularity to multicellularity in choanoflagellates #EMBLDevBio
July 2, 2025 at 2:28 PM
The DB Unit Summer School, "Transitions in Developing Systems," kicked off with an incredible talk by Thibaut Brunet @thibautbrunet.bsky.social from the Pasteur Institute @pasteur.fr on the fascinating transition from unicellularity to multicellularity in choanoflagellates #EMBLDevBio
Fantastic #Sinergia retreat on #animalorigins! A day packed with #multicellularity #ichthyosporeans & #choanoflagellates —capped with a Swiss-style finale 🧬🇨🇭
January 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Fantastic #Sinergia retreat on #animalorigins! A day packed with #multicellularity #ichthyosporeans & #choanoflagellates —capped with a Swiss-style finale 🧬🇨🇭
Issue 8 is now complete!
On the cover: Embryos of diverse animals & choanoflagellates expressing different fluorescent reporters, from a project to identify membrane-localising tags across diverse organisms. See the Techniques and Resources Article by Karapidaki et al.
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
On the cover: Embryos of diverse animals & choanoflagellates expressing different fluorescent reporters, from a project to identify membrane-localising tags across diverse organisms. See the Techniques and Resources Article by Karapidaki et al.
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
May 15, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Issue 8 is now complete!
On the cover: Embryos of diverse animals & choanoflagellates expressing different fluorescent reporters, from a project to identify membrane-localising tags across diverse organisms. See the Techniques and Resources Article by Karapidaki et al.
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
On the cover: Embryos of diverse animals & choanoflagellates expressing different fluorescent reporters, from a project to identify membrane-localising tags across diverse organisms. See the Techniques and Resources Article by Karapidaki et al.
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
The Choanoflagellates & Friends preconference starts today! 🧫🌊 🇫🇷🗼
#ChoanoCon
#ChoanoCon
May 19, 2025 at 9:29 AM
The Choanoflagellates & Friends preconference starts today! 🧫🌊 🇫🇷🗼
#ChoanoCon
#ChoanoCon
I know the world is burning this morning, but you can also turn to beauty and read this groundbreaking story in the quest to understanding the secret lifes of #Choanoflagellates ! Amazing work by @thibautbrunet.bsky.social , Nuria and Josean ! CONGRATS
Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating).
A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)
A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)
A study in Nature shows that the single-celled form of a tiny, aquatic organism can turn into a multicellular version by three different routes. The discovery adds insight to the possible origins of multicellular life, suggesting a previously unrecognized degree of flexibility. 🧪
February 28, 2026 at 8:47 AM
I know the world is burning this morning, but you can also turn to beauty and read this groundbreaking story in the quest to understanding the secret lifes of #Choanoflagellates ! Amazing work by @thibautbrunet.bsky.social , Nuria and Josean ! CONGRATS
What are they whispering about?
February 9, 2024 at 4:56 AM
What are they whispering about?
Beautiful work on the evolution of GPCRs in choanoflagellates www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
May 13, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Beautiful work on the evolution of GPCRs in choanoflagellates www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...