🚨Preprint 🚨 I'm really happy to finally share our exploits in red algae and introduce the wider community to Bostrychia, the new model system we have been developing to tackle the molecular biology of red algae. Isn't she a beauty? Thread below 🧵 1/8

RT @NaturePlants: New Letter: "Sporophyte-directed gametogenesis in Arabidopsis" In flowering plants the gametophy….

RT @ChandraS_Misra: Happy to share my PhD paper .Great collaboration with Mike @dr_borg Nicholas and his team @BAR_….

RT @chuanku_: Our new work @MolBioEvol. How old are viruses? Here we developed a host-calibrated dating method and inferred the evolutiona….

RT @multicellgenome: So needed: red algae is one of the first eukaryotic lineages to evolve #multicellularity, but genomic data is still sc….

I would like to thank all the co-authors involved in this work @MPI_Bio Tuebingen, @rorycraig333 and other at the @UniMelb and @UCPH_Research. And a special mention to @PetrollRomy, the PhD student who has been the driving force behind this proud body of work. 8/8.

The red algal transition to multicellularity is among the oldest across eukaryotes. Given the common evolutionary origin of red seaweeds and plants, we provide new insight into the evolution of complex multicellularity and highlight this fascinating but overlooked lineage. 7/8.

Finally, our sex-specific assemblies have resolved large gene-rich UV sex chromosomes in Bostrychia. Most striking is a pair of sex-linked TALE-HD TFs orthologous to BEL/KNOX, prompting questions about their role in regulating the life cycle in this group of red seaweeds. 6/8.

A big genome often means more genes, and we indeed see this in Bostrychia. This was shaped both by new gene birth and gene family expansions shared among the Ceramiales, providing insight into the genetic adaptations underpinning the evolutionary success of this order. 5/8.

Polyploidy & whole genome duplication are not the cause for genomic expansion but is largely driven by a single lineage of giant Plavaka DNA transposons, which carry cargo genes that potentially bind their own sequence and/or modulate chromatin or transcription. 4/8.

This genome is over ten-times longer than that of other reds, challenging the notion that red algal genomes are small. We posit that genomic expansion may be a general feature of red algal evolution and explore how this is linked with evolutionary radiation of the Ceramiales. 3/8.

Bostrychia is part of the Ceramiales, the most diverse order of red algae that stand out for their complex morphology & sophisticated reproduction. We present a chromosome-level genome for Bostrychia and unveil genome evolution in this dominant group of stunning red seaweeds. 2/8.

RT @marques_et_al: 🥳Happy 🥳to share the final version now officially published in @NatureComms .Repeat-based holocentromeres of the woodrus….

RT @DJ_Gibbs: Our new Update in @PlantPhys discusses advances in our understanding of epigenetic, transcriptional, translational & posttran….

RT @HajkDrost: Does the aggregation of complex multicellularity follow a universal developmental pattern across the eukaryotic tree of life….

RT @omalley_ronan: New preprint! An atlas of conserved TF binding sites across flowering plants generated with multiplexed DAP-seq. When i….

RT @PRAndersen: 1/ Our lab’s first preprint found a wonderful journal home! 🎉 . Our paper explores the role of testis-specific transcripti….

RT @Santyy31: Happy to see the 2nd manuscript of my thesis on bioRxiv! . We explore the subdivision of the withanolide BGC in Physalis into….

💜💙🙌.

RT @HassanSalem: Beetles are masters at coopting microbial genes, enzymes & metabolites. In this @TrendsMicrobiol article, @MarlenyGarciaL….