Brett J. Baker | Lightnews

Brett Baker

@archaeal.bsky.social

2.4K followers 1.1K following 170 posts

Professor of microbial ecology and evolution at Univ of Texas Austin.

Videos

Environmental science 43%

Biology 30%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Trumpanzee 😵‍💫 @csci.bsky.social · 10h

Whoa!!! That’s awesome. #Liam

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · 2d

Um archaeal too

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Pierre Simon Garcia @pierresimongarcia.bsky.social · 6d

Finally, we reconstructed the labyrinthic evolutionary history of HORBEC, from two ancient modules to the wide diversity that we observe in contemporary organisms.

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Pierre Simon Garcia @pierresimongarcia.bsky.social · 6d

HORBEC are found in most prokaryotes, and are particularly diverse in Archaea. Phylogenetic analyses indicate a complex evolutionary history. However, we show that respiratory complex I (Nuo/Fpo) was likely present in the LUCA, challenging current hypotheses on the ancestral energetic metabolism.

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Pierre Simon Garcia @pierresimongarcia.bsky.social · 6d

We then show that HORBEC exhibit an impressive modularity, achieved by tinkering protein domains, swapping components or even whole parts of complexes. This modularity led to a variety of coupled reactions and cellular localizations.

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Pierre Simon Garcia @pierresimongarcia.bsky.social · 6d

We analyzed the distribution of 31 HORBEC in over 4,000 bacterial and archaeal genomes. We propose a homogeneous nomenclature of HORBEC and their components and developed a tool, HORBEC-Finder, for automatic annotation from genomes(try it here! doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...).

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Pierre Simon Garcia @pierresimongarcia.bsky.social · 6d

HORBEC are involved in most energy-converting pathways, from respiration to methanogenesis. Despite their central role in bioenergetic metabolism, a comprehensive evolutionary analysis of these systems has been lacking.

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Pierre Simon Garcia @pierresimongarcia.bsky.social · 6d

A myriad of oxidoreductase complexes, including hydrogenases and respiratory complex I form a wide evolutionary network by sharing homologue components. We call them HORBEC for Homologous Oxidoreductases involved in Redox balance and Energy conservation.

Reposted by Mart Krupovìč, Brett J. Baker

Pierre Simon Garcia @pierresimongarcia.bsky.social · 6d

Passioned by #bioenergetics? Do not miss our new article on the evolutionary history of oxidoreductases with G. Borrel and @sgribaldo.bsky.social @archaeal.bsky.social @valdeanda.bsky.social @pasteur.fr @cnrs.fr @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social @natecoevo.nature.com (www.nature.com/articles/s41...).

Evolution and diversity of oxidoreductases involved in redox balance and energy conservation - Nature Ecology & Evolution

HORBEC are protein complexes involved in the regulation of redox balance and energy conservation. The authors develop a bioinformatic tool for HORBEC annotation in bacterial and archaeal genomes and r...

www.nature.com

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · 12d

and stay metal!

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · 12d

C'est gentil de ta part de dire ça, merci

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Leah Greenberg ❌👑 @leahgreenberg.bsky.social · 15d

It was a straight up execution.

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Dean Obeidallah @deanobeidallah.bsky.social · 15d

NEW: ICE officers in Minn executed a man they were holding on ground. I'm not exaggerating. This is real footage published in Minnesotta Star Tribune. Officers surround man. They are beating them. Then you hear shot as one ICE officer executes the man. Every officer involved MUST be charged!

Reposted by Brett J. Baker, Nazita Lajevardi, Dan Immergluck

marissa walmart dog @meo.bsky.social · 15d

these are the 7 house democrats who voted to give ICE another $10 billion on thursday btw

Henry Cuellar (Texas), Tom Suozzi (New York), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Laura Gillen (New York), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington), Jared Golden (Maine), and Don Davis (North Carolina)

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Elizabeth Saunders, Nandita Sharma , and 40 more Anne Applebaum, Elizabeth Saunders, Nandita Sharma, Richard S.J. Tol, Stephan Lewandowsky, Joe R. Feagin, Jonathan A. Foley, Brett J. Baker, Steve Peers, John McLaren, Andreas Ortmann, Steven S. Smith, Diane Ravitch, Melissa Johnson, Sarah E. Gollust, Colin Harvey, Melissa R. Michelson, Juan Cole, Alison Phipps, Jaakko Husa, Michael Kevane, Laurent Pech, W. Andy Knight, Ben Tonra, Gerald Friedman, Tom Griffin, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Margot C. Finn, Juan Moreno‐Cruz, Julia M. Wright, Dana R. Fisher, José Antonio Noguera, Christian Fisch, Henry Jones, Sharon Erickson Nepstad, Seth Masket, Matthew P. McAllister, Manisha Sinha, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Martin S. Flaherty, Timothy D. McBride, David Darmofal, Anne Hilborn

Governor Tim Walz @governorwalz.mn.gov · 15d

I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had it. This is sickening.

The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · Jan 8

Yay for the archaeal community!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Voices of our past editors - Nature Microbiology

For the celebration of our tenth anniversary, Nature Microbiology asks the former editors to reflect on their time at the journal.

www.nature.com

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · Dec 19

MAGs with taxa ID, and magically we got accession this morning!

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · Dec 18

We tried, we still need accession numbers from NCBI!

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · Dec 18

We have been trying to get genomic data release on NCBI since August, 3 papers are now on hold until we get a response. Literally haven't gotten a response since August. There's needs to be an alternative. This system seems broken.

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · Dec 17

@markowenmartin.bsky.social congrats on your retirement!

Reposted by Mart Krupovìč, Brett J. Baker

Buzz Baum @buzzbaum.bsky.social · Dec 16

Are you a long-time fan of Archaea, an extremophile-phile, or are you simply curious?

Either way, we have good news.
We’re delighted to announce the 2026 EMBO Workshop on Archaea, 6–10 July.

Sign up: meetings.embo.org/event/26-arc...

We look forward to seeing you in Cambridge, UK.

Please repost!

Molecular Biology of Archaea: Life Through the Prism of Archaea

In 1977, Woese and colleagues revealed Archaea as a distinct domain of life. Building on this insight, the discovery of Asgard archaea has strengthened the view that many hallmarks of eukaryotic cell…

meetings.embo.org

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Maggie Langwig @maggielangwig.bsky.social · Dec 10

So happy this is finally out! We reconstructed the 1st large-scale spatiotemporal dataset of 600+ MAGs from San Francisco Bay and show they have functional redundancy in key N and S pathways. These functions may better recover from disturbance in this highly urban estuary 💧

Metabolic capacity is maintained despite shifts in microbial diversity in estuary sediments

Abstract. Estuaries are highly productive ecosystems where microbial communities drive nutrient and carbon cycling, supporting complex food webs. With inte

academic.oup.com

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · Dec 5

youtu.be/uM0wKYb1kus?...

Searching for the Asgards | 4K ROV Highlights

YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean

youtu.be

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Schmidt Ocean Institute @schmidtocean.bsky.social · Dec 5

The #AsgardArchaea team observed breathtaking wildlife in Uruguayan waters via the cameras on the Schmidt Ocean Institute's deep-sea robot — ROV SuBastian.
https://youtu.be/uM0wKYb1kus

www.youtube.com

youtu.be

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · Dec 4

Packing and shipping out.

#AsgardArchaea
@schmidtocean.bsky.social
@moorefound.bsky.social
@texasscience.bsky.social
@utmsi.bsky.social

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Henry Gee @endofthepier.bsky.social · Dec 3

Eukaryogenesis was a billion year spree, but the acquisition of mitochondria happened when the party was winding down www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dated gene duplications elucidate the evolutionary assembly of eukaryotes - Nature

Analysis of eukaryotic gene sequences using a relaxed molecular clock methodology indicate that eukaryotes emerged 3.0–2.25 billion years ago as a result of mitochondrial endosymbiosis with complex ar...

www.nature.com

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Buzz Baum @buzzbaum.bsky.social · Dec 3

And ‘Searching for the Asgards’ the movie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgmE...

Collaboration for Understanding | Searching for the Asgards

YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean

www.youtube.com

Brett Baker @archaeal.bsky.social · Dec 3

Wrap up video from the Symbiotic Partners of Asgards Research Cruise (SPARC).

youtu.be/mgmEh_qag5E?...

#AsgardArchaea
@schmidtocean.bsky.social
@moorefound.bsky.social
@texasscience.bsky.social
@utmsi.bsky.social

Collaboration for Understanding | Searching for the Asgards

YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean

youtu.be

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Schmidt Ocean Institute @schmidtocean.bsky.social · Dec 2

That’s a wrap for #AsgardArchaea expedition, w/ @archaeal.bsky.social fr @texasscience.bsky.social! In the coming months and years, this research will likely open the door to new medical breakthroughs and unlock answers to questions about the origins of complex life.

youtu.be/mgmEh_qag5E?...

Collaboration for Understanding | Searching for the Asgards

YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean

youtu.be

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

Buzz Baum @buzzbaum.bsky.social · Dec 2

Pilar raises her Asgard bridge from the sea!

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