Phylogenomics of neglected flagellated protists supports a revised eukaryotic tree of life.

Eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotic predecessors in the early Proterozoic and radiated from their already complex last common ancestor, diversifying into several supergroups with unresolved deep evolutionary connections. They evolved extremely diverse lifestyles, playing crucial roles in the carbon cycle. Heterotrophic flagellates are arguably the most diverse eukaryotes and often occupy basal positions in phylogenetic trees.

Reconstructing the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes.

Understanding the origin of eukaryotic cells is one of the most difficult problems in all of biology. A key challenge relevant to the question of eukaryogenesis is reconstructing the gene repertoire of the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA). As data sets grow, sketching an accurate genomics-informed picture of early eukaryotic cellular complexity requires provision of analytical resources and a commitment to data sharing.

Refurbishing the marine parasitoid order Pirsoniales with newly (re)described marine and freshwater free-living predators.

Pirsoniales is a stramenopile order composed of marine parasitoids of diatoms with unique life cycle. Until recently, a single genus, Pirsonia, uniting six species, was known. The recent identification of new free-living eukaryotrophic Pirsoniales Pirsonia chemainus, Feodosia pseudopoda, and Koktebelia satura changed our understanding of this group as exclusively parasitic.

Extremely acidic proteomes and metabolic flexibility in bacteria and highly diversified archaea thriving in geothermal chaotropic brines.

Few described archaeal, and fewer bacterial, lineages thrive under salt-saturating conditions, such as solar saltern crystallizers (salinity above 30% w/v). They accumulate molar K cytoplasmic concentrations to maintain osmotic balance ('salt-in' strategy) and have proteins adaptively enriched in negatively charged acidic amino acids. Here we analysed metagenomes and metagenome-assembled genomes from geothermally influenced hypersaline ecosystems with increasing chaotropicity in the Danakil Depression.

Detecting mir-155-3p through a Molecular Beacon Bead-Based Assay.

Lung cancer (LC) is recognized as one of the most prevalent and lethal cancers worldwide, underscoring an urgent need for innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as promising biomarkers for several diseases and their progression, such as LC. However, traditional methods for detecting and quantifying miRNAs, such as PCR, are time-consuming and expensive.

Association between sex of the individual with untreated cleft lip and social judgement made by lay persons: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: To assess whether there is an association between an individual's sex and social judgements made by lay persons regarding untreated cleft lip.

Materials And Methods: Lay individuals over 18 years old were recruited through an application to respond online to two questionnaires: a sociodemographic survey and the Brazilian Version of Lay Persons' Social Judgements about Cleft-lip Scale (B-LSojCleft-S). B-LSojCleft-S comprises 14 items evaluating social judgements made by laypersons concerning different types of untreated cleft lips in teenagers.

G protein-specific mechanisms in the serotonin 5-HT receptor regulate psychosis-related effects and memory deficits.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are sophisticated signaling machines able to simultaneously elicit multiple intracellular signaling pathways upon activation. Complete (in)activation of all pathways can be counterproductive for specific therapeutic applications. This is the case for the serotonin 2 A receptor (5-HTR), a prominent target for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Expanded phylogeny of extremely halophilic archaea shows multiple independent adaptations to hypersaline environments.

Extremely halophilic archaea (Haloarchaea, Nanohaloarchaeota, Methanonatronarchaeia and Halarchaeoplasmatales) thrive in saturating salt concentrations where they must maintain osmotic equilibrium with their environment. The evolutionary history of adaptations enabling salt tolerance remains poorly understood, in particular because the phylogeny of several lineages is conflicting. Here we present a resolved phylogeny of extremely halophilic archaea obtained using improved taxon sampling and state-of-the-art phylogenetic approaches designed to cope with the strong compositional biases of their proteomes.

Colon and rectal cancer: An emergent public health problem.

Colorectal cancer ranks third globally, with a high mortality rate. In the United States, and different countries in Europe, organized population screenings exist and include people between 50 and 74 years of age. These screenings have allowed an early diagnosis and consequently an improvement in health indicators.

Exploring the prokaryote-eukaryote interplay in microbial mats from an Andean athalassohaline wetland.

Microbial community assembly results from the interaction between biotic and abiotic factors. However, environmental selection is thought to predominantly shape communities in extreme ecosystems. Salar de Huasco, situated in the high-altitude Andean Altiplano, represents a poly-extreme ecosystem displaying spatial gradients of physicochemical conditions.

Targeting of G-quadruplex DNA with Tc(I)/Re(I) Tricarbonyl Complexes Carrying Pyridostatin Derivatives.

The main goal of this work was to elucidate the potential relevance of (radio)metal chelates of Tc and Re targeting G-quadruplex structures for the design of new tools for cancer theranostics. Tc provides the complexes with the ability to perform single-photon-emission computed tomography imaging studies, while the Re complexes should act as anticancer agents upon interaction with specific G4 DNA or RNA structures present in tumor tissues. Towards this goal, we have developed isostructural Tc(I) and Re(I) tricarbonyl complexes anchored by a pyrazolyl-diamine (Pz) chelator carrying a pendant pyridostatin (PDS) fragment as the G4-binding motif.

One high quality genome and two transcriptome datasets for new species of Mantamonas, a deep-branching eukaryote clade.

Mantamonads were long considered to represent an "orphan" lineage in the tree of eukaryotes, likely branching near the most frequently assumed position for the root of eukaryotes. Recent phylogenomic analyses have placed them as part of the "CRuMs" supergroup, along with collodictyonids and rigifilids. This supergroup appears to branch at the base of Amorphea, making it of special importance for understanding the deep evolutionary history of eukaryotes.

Molecular and morphological characterization of four new ancyromonad genera and proposal for an updated taxonomy of the Ancyromonadida.

Ancyromonads are small biflagellated protists with a bean-shaped morphology. They are cosmopolitan in marine, freshwater, and soil environments, where they attach to surfaces while feeding on bacteria. These poorly known grazers stand out by their uncertain phylogenetic position in the tree of eukaryotes, forming a deep-branching "orphan" lineage that is considered key to a better understanding of the early evolution of eukaryotes.

Morphological and molecular characterization of a new member of the phylum Rhodelphidia.

Rhodelphidia is a recently discovered phylum within the supergroup Archaeplastida, comprising only two known representatives (Rhodelphis marinus and Rhodelphis limneticus). Despite its close phylogenetic relatedness to red algae, Rhodelphidia differ markedly by being nonphotosynthetic eukaryotrophic flagellates with gene- and intron-rich genomes. Here, we describe a new freshwater Rhodelphidia species, Rhodelphis mylnikovi sp.

The symbiotic origin of the eukaryotic cell.

Eukaryogenesis represented a major evolutionary transition that led to the emergence of complex cells from simpler ancestors. For several decades, the most accepted scenario involved the evolution of an independent lineage of proto-eukaryotes endowed with an endomembrane system, including a nuclear compartment, a developed cytoskeleton and phagocytosis, which engulfed the alphaproteobacterial ancestor of mitochondria. However, the recent discovery by metagenomic and cultural approaches of Asgard archaea, which harbour many genes in common with eukaryotes and are their closest relatives in phylogenomic trees, rather supports scenarios based on the symbiosis of one Asgard-like archaeon and one or more bacteria at the origin of the eukaryotic cell.

Assessment of Aptamer as a Potential Drug Targeted Delivery for Retinal Angiogenesis Inhibition.

AT11-L0 is an aptamer derivative of AS1411 composed of G-rich sequences that can adopt a G-quadruplex (G4) structure and target nucleolin (NCL), a protein that acts as a co-receptor for several growth factors. Hence, this study aimed to characterize the AT11-L0 G4 structure and its interaction with several ligands for NCL targeting and to evaluate their capacity to inhibit angiogenesis using an in vitro model. The AT11-L0 aptamer was then used to functionalize drug-associated liposomes to increase the bioavailability of the aptamer-based drug in the formulation.

Planktonic microbial communities from microbialite-bearing lakes sampled along a salinity-alkalinity gradient.

Continental freshwater systems are particularly vulnerable to environmental variation. Climate change-induced desertification and the anthropogenic exploitation of hydric resources result in the progressive evaporation and salinization of inland water bodies in many areas of the globe. However, how this process impacts microbial communities and their activities in biogeochemical cycles is poorly known.

Maturases and Group II Introns in the Mitochondrial Genomes of the Deepest Jakobid Branch.

Ophirinina is a recently described suborder of jakobid protists (Excavata) with only one described species to date, Ophirina amphinema. Despite the acquisition and analysis of massive transcriptomic and mitogenomic sequence data from O. amphinema, its phylogenetic position among excavates remained inconclusive, branching as sister group either to all Jakobida or to all Discoba.

Widespread formation of intracellular calcium carbonates by the bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis.

The formation of intracellular amorphous calcium carbonates (iACC) has been recently observed in a few cultured strains of Microcystis, a potentially toxic bloom-forming cyanobacterium found worldwide in freshwater ecosystems. If iACC-forming Microcystis are abundant within blooms, they may represent a significant amount of particulate Ca. Here, we investigate the significance of iACC biomineralization by Microcystis.

Expanding the molecular and morphological diversity of Apusomonadida, a deep-branching group of gliding bacterivorous protists.

Apusomonads are cosmopolitan bacterivorous biflagellate protists usually gliding on freshwater and marine sediment or wet soils. These nanoflagellates form a sister lineage to opisthokonts and may have retained ancestral features helpful to understanding the early evolution of this large supergroup. Although molecular environmental analyses indicate that apusomonads are genetically diverse, few species have been described.

G-Quadruplex Aptamer-Ligand Characterization.

In this work we explore the structure of a G-rich DNA aptamer termed AT11-L2 (TGGTGGTGGTTGTTGTTGGTGGTGGTGGT; derivative of AT11) by evaluating the formation and stability of G-quadruplex (G4) conformation under different experimental conditions such as KCl concentration, temperature, and upon binding with a variety of G4 ligands (360A, BRACO-19, PDS, PhenDC3, TMPyP4). We also determined whether nucleolin (NCL) can be a target of AT11-L2 G4. Firstly, we assessed by circular dichroism, UV and NMR spectroscopies the formation of G4 by AT11-L2.