Archaea Archives

CSLM and electron microscopy of DADOH protocells. (a-b) CSLM micrographs of protocells (a) in control conditions and (b) formed in the presence of 300 ppm Si, stained with Rhodamine 6g. Scale bar = 10 µm. (c-d) Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of DADOH protocells formed in solution with 300 ppm Si then evaporated, showing different types of structures, such as (c) filaments and (d) spheres present in a colony-like group. -- biorxiv.org

Protocells Reproduce Morphological And Chemical Signatures Of Early Microfossils

by Keith CowingOctober 7, 2026October 7, 2026

[biorxiv.org] Identification of early microfossils relies on morphological and chemical criteria assumed to be unique to life, but whether abiotic microstructures can satisfy these criteria has not been rigorously tested.

Geological map of the Dhala impact structure, India, showing the distribution of various rock types, settlements and water bodies present in the area (after Singh et al., 2021). -- biorxiv.org

Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments

Whole-Genome Metagenomics Insights Revealed a Uranium Bio-remediating Cross-Domain Microbiome in the Dhala Impact Structure, India

by Keith CowingSeptember 29, 2026September 29, 2026

[biorxiv.org] Meteorite impact structures on earth represent unique terrestrial analogues of extreme planetary environments where fractured lithologies, hydrothermal alteration, elevated concentrations of radionuclides, and prolonged water-rock interactions create ecological niches […]

Co-occurrence network of microbial communities based on genus-level Spearman correlations. Each block represents a module, each node represents a genus, and the colors of the nodes represent different phyla. Spearman’s correlation coefficient (ρ) > 0.8 and significance P

Cryobiology

Unveiling Microbial Communities And Biogeochemical Cycles In Antarctic Colored Snow

by Keith CowingSeptember 21, 2026September 21, 2026

[BMC Microbiology]. Snow cover, the extensive terrestrial habitat in Antarctica, sometimes exhibits vivid coloration, yet the structure and function of its microbial communities remain poorly characterized.

Overview of the MethArDB database and integrated analysis platform. MethArDB integrates publicly available methanogenic archaeal genomes together with associated plasmid and phage datasets and provides a web-based platform for data retrieval and analysis. Users can search and download database records, optimize draft genome assemblies, annotate genomes to generate protein sequence files, and perform downstream analyses using MethArCT. The toolkit supports prediction of methanogenic pathways, optimal growth temperature, salinity tolerance, and predicted culturability.-- Database

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics

An Integrated Culturomic And Genomic Database And Analysis Platform For Methanogenic Archaea

by Keith CowingSeptember 16, 2026September 16, 2026

[Database] Methanogenic archaea research is challenged by limited strain resources, fragmented genomic data, inconsistent genome quality, substantial uncultured lineages, and difficulties in laboratory culturing, hindering advances in biogas production, climate […]

The tree encompasses a representative genome from each class spanning various phyla. The tree was rooted using Fusobacteriota. From the innermost to the outermost rings, the following information is displayed: (1) the heat map ring shows the percentage of symbiont-exclusive clades per class found at the order, family and genus levels; (2) the bars represent the specific lifestyle of the symbiont fraction within the class; (3) the filled dots and the gray bars show the log10-scaled total number of genomes analyzed in each class; (4) clades from which genomes were used in building the classifier and regressor models are designated by black arrows. Additional details on genomes of predicted symbionts and symbiont-exclusive clades are provided in Supplementary Tables 2 and 3. Tree reconstruction is described in the Methods. -- Nature Biotechnology

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics

A Genomic Catalog Of Earth’s Bacterial And Archaeal Symbionts

by Keith CowingSeptember 14, 2026September 14, 2026

[Nature Biotechnology] Microbial symbiosis drives the functional and phylogenomic diversification of life on Earth yet remains underexplored because of culturing challenges.

The spatial layout of the Eboliang Hu saline lake system and the four sampling sites. (A) Position of the lakes within the Eboliang area of the Qaidam Basin (Qinghai Province, China). (B) Representative field photographs of the sampling sites. -- biorxiv.org

Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments

Microbial Evolution, Biogeochemical Functions, And Environmental Adaptations In A Desert Saline Lake On The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

by Keith CowingSeptember 3, 2026September 3, 2026

[biorxiv.org] The Eboliang Hu saline lakes in the hyper-arid Qaidam Basin is a high-altitude, weakly acidic hypersaline system with strong environmental gradients and limited nitrogen availability.

A Sulawesi Island with location of the Malili Lake System (insert

Origin & Evolution of Life

Metagenomics Deciphers Diagenetic Processes Of Ferruginous Mineralization In The Deep Biosphere

by Keith CowingAugust 20, 2026August 20, 2026

[Nature Communications Earth & Environment] Ferruginous conditions in the Precambrian oceans gave rise to ancient iron formations that contain the oldest recognized traces of life in the form of mineral […]

Network of reactions stratified as in Fig. 5. Inorganic substrates are shown at left. Network end products are shown at top (cofactors) and at bottom (nucleotides and amino acids indicated with one letter codes). Diamond-shaped nodes indicate chemical compounds; circular nodes indicate reactions. Reactions are shaded according to their classification in table S4: (i) (dark) The reaction has been experimentally shown to proceed catalyzed by transition metals or uncatalyzed, (ii) (light shading) the reaction is part of a pathway or reaction sequence from biological substrates to products catalyzed by transition metals, (iii) (intermediate shading) the reaction type (for example transamination) has been shown to proceed catalyzed by transition metals in water, or (iv) the nonenzymatic reaction is not yet experimentally demonstrated (white circles). -- Science

Origin & Evolution of Life

Two Origins Of Life

by Keith CowingAugust 6, 2026August 6, 2026

[Heinrich-Heine University Duesseldorf] How and where did the first forms of life arise? These are the main questions driving research at the Institute of Molecular Evolution at Heinrich Heine University […]

Effects of filtration method and sequencing platform on microbial abundance and community composition. Comparison of microbial abundance, sequencing performance, and taxonomic composition among Yellowstone hot spring samples processed using Sterivex, Supor, and polycarbonate (PC) filtration devices and analyzed by Illumina and Oxford Nanopore sequencing. Upper panels show absolute microbial abundance estimates (black bars) and sequence read lengths (red symbols). Lower panels depict species-level relative abundances of dominant bacterial and archaeal (red asterisk) taxa recovered from each sample. -- [biorxiv.org]

Sample Return

Differential Efficiency Of Sampling Devices In The Measurement Of Microbial Diversity Of Yellowstone National Park Hot Springs

by Keith CowingJuly 16, 2026July 16, 2026

[biorxiv.org] Metagenomic characterization of low-biomass Yellowstone National Park (YNP) hot spring waters remains challenging because microbial recovery is influenced by filtration methodology, sample preservation, DNA extraction, and sequencing strategy.

Relationships between amino acid composition, physicochemical properties, and proteome elemental composition across cellular and viral life. (A) Heatmap showing Spearman rank correlations (ρ) between amino acid frequencies and normalized elemental composition for carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), sulfur (S), and selenium (Se) across cellular domains and viral realms. Amino acids are shown on the yaxis using standard three and one-letter abbreviations. (B) Heatmap showing Spearman correlations between aggregated amino acid physicochemical property classes and elemental composition across the same groups. Properties include aliphatic, aromatic, non-polar, polar, charged, basic, and acidic residues. Colors indicate correlation strength and direction from negative (yellow) to positive (blue), with gray cells indicating absent values. -- q-bio.PE

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Deep-time Consistency In Proteome Elemental Composition Across Cellular And Viral Life

by Keith CowingMay 27, 2026May 27, 2026

Proteins are constructed from a limited alphabet of ~20 amino acids, yet the origins and selection of this specific alphabet are unresolved.

Archaea

Protocells Reproduce Morphological And Chemical Signatures Of Early Microfossils

Whole-Genome Metagenomics Insights Revealed a Uranium Bio-remediating Cross-Domain Microbiome in the Dhala Impact Structure, India

Unveiling Microbial Communities And Biogeochemical Cycles In Antarctic Colored Snow

An Integrated Culturomic And Genomic Database And Analysis Platform For Methanogenic Archaea

A Genomic Catalog Of Earth’s Bacterial And Archaeal Symbionts

Microbial Evolution, Biogeochemical Functions, And Environmental Adaptations In A Desert Saline Lake On The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Metagenomics Deciphers Diagenetic Processes Of Ferruginous Mineralization In The Deep Biosphere

Two Origins Of Life

Differential Efficiency Of Sampling Devices In The Measurement Of Microbial Diversity Of Yellowstone National Park Hot Springs

Deep-time Consistency In Proteome Elemental Composition Across Cellular And Viral Life

University of New Mexico Scientists help Uncover 4.1 billion-year-old Martian Meteorite Revealing Clues to Planet’s Ancient Past

Detection Of HNCOH+ In The Interstellar Medium

Advancing Methane Detection Technology For Future Mars Missions

Comets Probably Didn’t Seed Life On Earth After All, New Study Suggests

Voyager 1 Interstellar Probe Conserves Power, Resolves Brief Communications Pause