Megan Sorensen
@messorensen.bsky.social
Interested in evolutionary microbiology, symbiosis, organelles and protists. Currently an College of Life Science Fellow at Wissenchaftskolleg zu Berlin.
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
Rereading these two papers:
Holes in the hologenome: why host-microbe symbioses are not holobionts.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
The Hologenome Concept: Helpful or Hollow?
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
And I still find myself in general agreement with most of the points in them
Holes in the hologenome: why host-microbe symbioses are not holobionts.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
The Hologenome Concept: Helpful or Hollow?
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
And I still find myself in general agreement with most of the points in them
Holes in the Hologenome: Why Host-Microbe Symbioses Are Not Holobionts | mBio
ABSTRACT The advent of relatively inexpensive tools for characterizing microbial communities
has led to an explosion of research exploring the diversity, ecology, and evolution
of microbe-host systems...
journals.asm.org
February 2, 2026 at 4:20 AM
Rereading these two papers:
Holes in the hologenome: why host-microbe symbioses are not holobionts.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
The Hologenome Concept: Helpful or Hollow?
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
And I still find myself in general agreement with most of the points in them
Holes in the hologenome: why host-microbe symbioses are not holobionts.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
The Hologenome Concept: Helpful or Hollow?
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
And I still find myself in general agreement with most of the points in them
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
New paper by Saskia Wilmsen and me just came out BioEssays:
A new classification framework to understand evolutionary transitions in individuality
Please find the OA paper here:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
A new classification framework to understand evolutionary transitions in individuality
Please find the OA paper here:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
A New Classification Framework to Understand Evolutionary Transitions in Individuality
Classifying biological entities based on whether and how the two fundamental aspects physiological and evolutionary components are represented yields six types of structural organization. The resulti...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:21 PM
New paper by Saskia Wilmsen and me just came out BioEssays:
A new classification framework to understand evolutionary transitions in individuality
Please find the OA paper here:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
A new classification framework to understand evolutionary transitions in individuality
Please find the OA paper here:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
📢 Open faculty position – Origins of Life
We have an opening in our section at the University of Geneva! 🧬🚀
SPREAD THE WORD
Apply here: jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...
We have an opening in our section at the University of Geneva! 🧬🚀
SPREAD THE WORD
Apply here: jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...
a woman says " would you like to join us " with her eyes closed
ALT: a woman says " would you like to join us " with her eyes closed
media.tenor.com
January 16, 2026 at 5:49 PM
📢 Open faculty position – Origins of Life
We have an opening in our section at the University of Geneva! 🧬🚀
SPREAD THE WORD
Apply here: jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...
We have an opening in our section at the University of Geneva! 🧬🚀
SPREAD THE WORD
Apply here: jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
How a parasite gave up sex to find more hosts—and why its victory won't last phys.org/news/2026-01...
Host range expansion of asexual parasite can be explained by loss of adaptions in Muller’s Ratchet www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#Protists #Microbes #Parasites #Giardia #Evolution
Host range expansion of asexual parasite can be explained by loss of adaptions in Muller’s Ratchet www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#Protists #Microbes #Parasites #Giardia #Evolution
January 8, 2026 at 7:55 AM
How a parasite gave up sex to find more hosts—and why its victory won't last phys.org/news/2026-01...
Host range expansion of asexual parasite can be explained by loss of adaptions in Muller’s Ratchet www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#Protists #Microbes #Parasites #Giardia #Evolution
Host range expansion of asexual parasite can be explained by loss of adaptions in Muller’s Ratchet www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#Protists #Microbes #Parasites #Giardia #Evolution
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
End-of-year preprint dump! A collaboration with @messorensen.bsky.social and German and Korean colleagues: "The phylogenetic context for the origin of a unique purple-green photosymbiosis "
doi.org/10.64898/202...
doi.org/10.64898/202...
December 23, 2025 at 2:51 PM
End-of-year preprint dump! A collaboration with @messorensen.bsky.social and German and Korean colleagues: "The phylogenetic context for the origin of a unique purple-green photosymbiosis "
doi.org/10.64898/202...
doi.org/10.64898/202...
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
Colloquium Dec 17: Fellow @messorensen.bsky.social, "On the hunt for novel microbial endosymbioses" wiko-berlin.de/en/fellows/a... www.wiko-berlin.de/en/wikothequ...
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin: Sørensen, Megan
Megan Sørensen,
www.wiko-berlin.de
December 17, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Colloquium Dec 17: Fellow @messorensen.bsky.social, "On the hunt for novel microbial endosymbioses" wiko-berlin.de/en/fellows/a... www.wiko-berlin.de/en/wikothequ...
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
New preprint out! Using ~75k environmental OTUs + 77 fossil calibrations, we reconstructed a Proterozoic timeline of eukaryote evolution. Our results show crown eukaryotes were already diversifying >1.6 Ga, long before the first undisputed fossils (~1.05 Ga).
🔗 DOI: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🔗 DOI: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
December 15, 2025 at 8:19 AM
New preprint out! Using ~75k environmental OTUs + 77 fossil calibrations, we reconstructed a Proterozoic timeline of eukaryote evolution. Our results show crown eukaryotes were already diversifying >1.6 Ga, long before the first undisputed fossils (~1.05 Ga).
🔗 DOI: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🔗 DOI: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
Save the date! The next instalment of Comparative Genomics of Unicellular Eukaryotes is a GO! Join us next year for a programme of talks, posters, ECR/networking activities.
Website and registration details to follow in the coming weeks.
See you October 5-10 2026 in beautiful San Feliu!!
Website and registration details to follow in the coming weeks.
See you October 5-10 2026 in beautiful San Feliu!!
December 13, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Save the date! The next instalment of Comparative Genomics of Unicellular Eukaryotes is a GO! Join us next year for a programme of talks, posters, ECR/networking activities.
Website and registration details to follow in the coming weeks.
See you October 5-10 2026 in beautiful San Feliu!!
Website and registration details to follow in the coming weeks.
See you October 5-10 2026 in beautiful San Feliu!!
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
📢Postdoc position available!🧪🧫🧬
Our group is seeking a motivated researcher to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving host–endosymbiont interactions.
Full details & application: karriere.hhu.de//index.php?a....
Please help us get the word out!
Our group is seeking a motivated researcher to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving host–endosymbiont interactions.
Full details & application: karriere.hhu.de//index.php?a....
Please help us get the word out!
Postdoc (m/f/d) in Endosymbiosis Research
karriere.hhu.de
November 25, 2025 at 11:21 AM
📢Postdoc position available!🧪🧫🧬
Our group is seeking a motivated researcher to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving host–endosymbiont interactions.
Full details & application: karriere.hhu.de//index.php?a....
Please help us get the word out!
Our group is seeking a motivated researcher to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving host–endosymbiont interactions.
Full details & application: karriere.hhu.de//index.php?a....
Please help us get the word out!
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
A Mitochondrially Related Plastidial Transporter Regulates Photosynthesis in the Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A Mitochondrially Related Plastidial Transporter Regulates Photosynthesis in the Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum
Eukaryotic phototrophs depend on the activity of two engines (the plastid and the mitochondrion) to generate the energy required for cellular metabolism. Because of their overlapping functions, both ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:46 PM
A Mitochondrially Related Plastidial Transporter Regulates Photosynthesis in the Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
Some news 🎉
After five incredible years in Tübingen, it’s time to say goodbye.
Starting February, the Mutualisms Lab will relocate to the John Innes Centre, right next door to @berasymbionts.bsky.social and her group at The Sainsbury Laboratory 🪲🦠
After five incredible years in Tübingen, it’s time to say goodbye.
Starting February, the Mutualisms Lab will relocate to the John Innes Centre, right next door to @berasymbionts.bsky.social and her group at The Sainsbury Laboratory 🪲🦠
November 24, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Some news 🎉
After five incredible years in Tübingen, it’s time to say goodbye.
Starting February, the Mutualisms Lab will relocate to the John Innes Centre, right next door to @berasymbionts.bsky.social and her group at The Sainsbury Laboratory 🪲🦠
After five incredible years in Tübingen, it’s time to say goodbye.
Starting February, the Mutualisms Lab will relocate to the John Innes Centre, right next door to @berasymbionts.bsky.social and her group at The Sainsbury Laboratory 🪲🦠
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
🎉 There are currently 4 opportunities to join the Holt lab in beautiful Bath! 🎉
If you're interested in protists, parasites, and/or biodiversity then please check out our website:
theholtlab.com/posts/ln5-21...
🚨 Deadlines vary between project.
✉️ Please reach out if you have any questions!
If you're interested in protists, parasites, and/or biodiversity then please check out our website:
theholtlab.com/posts/ln5-21...
🚨 Deadlines vary between project.
✉️ Please reach out if you have any questions!
November 24, 2025 at 2:30 PM
🎉 There are currently 4 opportunities to join the Holt lab in beautiful Bath! 🎉
If you're interested in protists, parasites, and/or biodiversity then please check out our website:
theholtlab.com/posts/ln5-21...
🚨 Deadlines vary between project.
✉️ Please reach out if you have any questions!
If you're interested in protists, parasites, and/or biodiversity then please check out our website:
theholtlab.com/posts/ln5-21...
🚨 Deadlines vary between project.
✉️ Please reach out if you have any questions!
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
We are looking for a PhD student to work on an exciting plastid endosymbiosis in microbial eukaryotes. This position involves sampling, exciting microscopy such as CARDFISH, ExM and FIBSEM, single-cell transcriptomics and more. #protistsonsky 1/2
November 12, 2025 at 9:50 AM
We are looking for a PhD student to work on an exciting plastid endosymbiosis in microbial eukaryotes. This position involves sampling, exciting microscopy such as CARDFISH, ExM and FIBSEM, single-cell transcriptomics and more. #protistsonsky 1/2
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
This paper has been a must! Great collaboration with @mkrupovic.bsky.social and @yifanzhou.bsky.social, a N&V by a legend of halophilic archaea tinyurl.com/yc3dcv72, and one picture of one of our expeditions to Dallol making the cover of the November issue of @natmicrobiol.nature.com
rdcu.be/eLtCH
rdcu.be/eLtCH
November 2, 2025 at 5:52 PM
This paper has been a must! Great collaboration with @mkrupovic.bsky.social and @yifanzhou.bsky.social, a N&V by a legend of halophilic archaea tinyurl.com/yc3dcv72, and one picture of one of our expeditions to Dallol making the cover of the November issue of @natmicrobiol.nature.com
rdcu.be/eLtCH
rdcu.be/eLtCH
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
Exciting day for the lab: our 1rst paper is officially out in @currentbiology.bsky.social 🥳 Wonderful collaboration wt @gautamdey.bsky.social showing how Cryo-ExM achieves consistent immunostaining in diverse diatoms, from the lab and the natural environment 1/n
#ProtistsOnSky
tinyurl.com/2zxaund7
#ProtistsOnSky
tinyurl.com/2zxaund7
October 31, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Exciting day for the lab: our 1rst paper is officially out in @currentbiology.bsky.social 🥳 Wonderful collaboration wt @gautamdey.bsky.social showing how Cryo-ExM achieves consistent immunostaining in diverse diatoms, from the lab and the natural environment 1/n
#ProtistsOnSky
tinyurl.com/2zxaund7
#ProtistsOnSky
tinyurl.com/2zxaund7
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
🚨Our collaboration with @centriolelab.bsky.social & @gautamdey.bsky.social is out today in @cp-cell.bsky.social
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
October 31, 2025 at 2:42 PM
🚨Our collaboration with @centriolelab.bsky.social & @gautamdey.bsky.social is out today in @cp-cell.bsky.social
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
Agnès Vallier, @cmonegat.bsky.social , Baptiste Vierne, @nicolasparisot.bsky.social , Guy Condemine, Pedro Da Silva, Xavier Jaurand, @yschwab.bsky.social , @kaltenpoth-lab.bsky.social , Abdelaziz Heddi, and @annazaidmanremy.bsky.social
➡️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 5/5
➡️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 5/5
Bacterial tubular networks channel carbohydrates in insect endosymbiosis
Symbiosis is widespread in nature and plays a fundamental role in organism adaptation and evolution. In nutritional endosymbiosis, host cells accommod…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Agnès Vallier, @cmonegat.bsky.social , Baptiste Vierne, @nicolasparisot.bsky.social , Guy Condemine, Pedro Da Silva, Xavier Jaurand, @yschwab.bsky.social , @kaltenpoth-lab.bsky.social , Abdelaziz Heddi, and @annazaidmanremy.bsky.social
➡️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 5/5
➡️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 5/5
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
Please share this with anyone who may be interested in a post-doc in Germany:
jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/20...
This is quite an exciting opportunity to push the boundaries of what is known regarding the molecular basis of the formation and demise of photosymbiotic relationships in marine habitats.
jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/20...
This is quite an exciting opportunity to push the boundaries of what is known regarding the molecular basis of the formation and demise of photosymbiotic relationships in marine habitats.
October 22, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Please share this with anyone who may be interested in a post-doc in Germany:
jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/20...
This is quite an exciting opportunity to push the boundaries of what is known regarding the molecular basis of the formation and demise of photosymbiotic relationships in marine habitats.
jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/20...
This is quite an exciting opportunity to push the boundaries of what is known regarding the molecular basis of the formation and demise of photosymbiotic relationships in marine habitats.
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
We are happy to share our latest work in @nature.com . We study the genomic and cellular basis of facultative symbiosis in Oculina patagonica - a Mediterranean coral remarkable for its ability to survive long periods without algal symbionts. Led by Shani Levy and @xgrau.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eLbaZ
rdcu.be/eLbaZ
October 15, 2025 at 7:58 PM
We are happy to share our latest work in @nature.com . We study the genomic and cellular basis of facultative symbiosis in Oculina patagonica - a Mediterranean coral remarkable for its ability to survive long periods without algal symbionts. Led by Shani Levy and @xgrau.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eLbaZ
rdcu.be/eLbaZ
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
Pretty excited to share our new preprint!
Non-photosynthetic Plastid Replacement by a Primary Plastid in the Making
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Non-photosynthetic Plastid Replacement by a Primary Plastid in the Making
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 10, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Pretty excited to share our new preprint!
Non-photosynthetic Plastid Replacement by a Primary Plastid in the Making
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Non-photosynthetic Plastid Replacement by a Primary Plastid in the Making
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
🪸🧪 We’re hiring! Join our ERC-funded group at the @hifmb.de in Oldenburg, Germany to explore the cellular origins of photosymbiosis:
𝟏 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐜 + 𝟐 𝐏𝐡𝐃𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
Deadlines: Oct 29 & Nov 5. Links below.
Questions: nils.raedecker@hifmb.de
#Photosymbiosis #HIFMB #ERC #AcademicJobs
𝟏 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐜 + 𝟐 𝐏𝐡𝐃𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
Deadlines: Oct 29 & Nov 5. Links below.
Questions: nils.raedecker@hifmb.de
#Photosymbiosis #HIFMB #ERC #AcademicJobs
October 6, 2025 at 12:27 PM
🪸🧪 We’re hiring! Join our ERC-funded group at the @hifmb.de in Oldenburg, Germany to explore the cellular origins of photosymbiosis:
𝟏 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐜 + 𝟐 𝐏𝐡𝐃𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
Deadlines: Oct 29 & Nov 5. Links below.
Questions: nils.raedecker@hifmb.de
#Photosymbiosis #HIFMB #ERC #AcademicJobs
𝟏 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐜 + 𝟐 𝐏𝐡𝐃𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
Deadlines: Oct 29 & Nov 5. Links below.
Questions: nils.raedecker@hifmb.de
#Photosymbiosis #HIFMB #ERC #AcademicJobs
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
How to upgrade stolen organelles into permanent plastids: A comparative transcriptomic perspective www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... #protists #protistsonsky
October 7, 2025 at 10:01 AM
How to upgrade stolen organelles into permanent plastids: A comparative transcriptomic perspective www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... #protists #protistsonsky
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
OIST is seeking up to four tenure-track or tenured faculty in Ecology, Environmental Science, Earth Science, and Oceanography. Application deadline: Oct 15. Please share. Thx!
www.oist.jp/careers/facu...
www.oist.jp/careers/facu...
October 7, 2025 at 10:01 AM
OIST is seeking up to four tenure-track or tenured faculty in Ecology, Environmental Science, Earth Science, and Oceanography. Application deadline: Oct 15. Please share. Thx!
www.oist.jp/careers/facu...
www.oist.jp/careers/facu...
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
Dear all, registration for the upcoming EMBO/EMBL Symposium on "the cellular mechanics of symbiosis" is now OPEN 🤩 ! Feel free to register ! www.embl.org/about/info/c...
#EESSymbiosis #ProtistsOnSky #SymbioSky
@hassansalem.bsky.social @berasymbionts.bsky.social @embl.org
#EESSymbiosis #ProtistsOnSky #SymbioSky
@hassansalem.bsky.social @berasymbionts.bsky.social @embl.org
The cellular mechanics of symbiosis: sensing friend from foe
www.embl.org
September 29, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Dear all, registration for the upcoming EMBO/EMBL Symposium on "the cellular mechanics of symbiosis" is now OPEN 🤩 ! Feel free to register ! www.embl.org/about/info/c...
#EESSymbiosis #ProtistsOnSky #SymbioSky
@hassansalem.bsky.social @berasymbionts.bsky.social @embl.org
#EESSymbiosis #ProtistsOnSky #SymbioSky
@hassansalem.bsky.social @berasymbionts.bsky.social @embl.org
Reposted by Megan Sorensen
Now completely published :)
Really proud of this paper led with Karla at @cstairs.bsky.social lab.
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
Really proud of this paper led with Karla at @cstairs.bsky.social lab.
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
Anaerobic breviate protist survival in microcosms depends on microbiome metabolic function
Abstract. Anoxic and hypoxic environments serve as habitats for diverse microorganisms, including unicellular eukaryotes (protists) and prokaryotes. To thr
doi.org
September 27, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Now completely published :)
Really proud of this paper led with Karla at @cstairs.bsky.social lab.
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
Really proud of this paper led with Karla at @cstairs.bsky.social lab.
doi.org/10.1093/isme...