Varsha Mathur
@varshamathur.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist | MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow @univienna | Previously EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow, JRF Brasenose College, Oxford Biology | protists/parasites/organelles 🔬🧬
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
Pleased to share our latest paper led by @tomlewin.bsky.social, now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We present the first chromosome-level genome of a phoronid and show that shared chromosomal fusions unite phoronids and bryozoans as sister groups.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
November 7, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Pleased to share our latest paper led by @tomlewin.bsky.social, now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We present the first chromosome-level genome of a phoronid and show that shared chromosomal fusions unite phoronids and bryozoans as sister groups.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
If someone told you: "I'm doing a study featuring lichen, drones and #dinosaur bones" What would you say?
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Remote sensing of lichens with drones for detecting dinosaur bones
Brian Pickles and colleagues show that exposed dinosaur bones can be remote sensed
with drones by virtue of colored lichens growing on them.
www.cell.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:06 AM
If someone told you: "I'm doing a study featuring lichen, drones and #dinosaur bones" What would you say?
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
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 Varsha Mathur
🚨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 Varsha Mathur
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 Varsha Mathur
This Halloween, we have a spooky evolutionary story for you.
The brainchild of @delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social, Nick Irwin and our fantastic collaborators is now out in @natplants.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here’s why I love this work — and why I think you’ll enjoy it too. 👇
The brainchild of @delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social, Nick Irwin and our fantastic collaborators is now out in @natplants.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here’s why I love this work — and why I think you’ll enjoy it too. 👇
October 31, 2025 at 10:19 AM
This Halloween, we have a spooky evolutionary story for you.
The brainchild of @delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social, Nick Irwin and our fantastic collaborators is now out in @natplants.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here’s why I love this work — and why I think you’ll enjoy it too. 👇
The brainchild of @delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social, Nick Irwin and our fantastic collaborators is now out in @natplants.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here’s why I love this work — and why I think you’ll enjoy it too. 👇
Had a fun two weeks in Heidelberg visiting in the @floravincent.bsky.social and @gautamdey.bsky.social labs! Expanding diatoms and their evil little parasites was peak Halloween vibes 🎃 @embl.org #ExM #diatoms
October 31, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Had a fun two weeks in Heidelberg visiting in the @floravincent.bsky.social and @gautamdey.bsky.social labs! Expanding diatoms and their evil little parasites was peak Halloween vibes 🎃 @embl.org #ExM #diatoms
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
So happy to see my first first-author paper published! 🎈
A short thread on how Ectocarpus and its TE secrets have kept me busy lately:
rdcu.be/eITQH
A short thread on how Ectocarpus and its TE secrets have kept me busy lately:
rdcu.be/eITQH
Characterization of the transposable element landscape shaping the Ectocarpus genome | Genome Biology
rdcu.be
October 1, 2025 at 8:12 AM
So happy to see my first first-author paper published! 🎈
A short thread on how Ectocarpus and its TE secrets have kept me busy lately:
rdcu.be/eITQH
A short thread on how Ectocarpus and its TE secrets have kept me busy lately:
rdcu.be/eITQH
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
Excited to introduce Auxenochlorella as a new algal reference organism for fundamental plant science and bioengineering. A paper in two parts: a genetic toolkit for site-specific genomic manipulation, paired with the most unusual genome I’ve ever worked on
academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...
academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...
Targeted genetic manipulation and yeast-like evolutionary genomics in the green alga Auxenochlorella
Auxenochlorella, green algae shaped by evolutionary forces acting on vegetative diploids, are amenable to discovery research and bioengineering via efficie
academic.oup.com
October 29, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Excited to introduce Auxenochlorella as a new algal reference organism for fundamental plant science and bioengineering. A paper in two parts: a genetic toolkit for site-specific genomic manipulation, paired with the most unusual genome I’ve ever worked on
academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...
academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
Please join us next week for the second iteration of the DinoSphere Seminars! This time our two speakers will talk about host-associated dinoflagellates and any challenges they might have encountered when working with them. All current and future friends of dinoflagellates welcome!
#ProtistsOnSky
#ProtistsOnSky
We’re back with the next DinoSphere Online Seminar!
Join us on Nov 4th, we're hosting:
Edmée Royen (ULiège) - Symbiodinium
Nicolas dos Santos Pacheco (Cambridge) - Perkinsids
📅 Tue, Nov 4 - 4 PM CET/3 PM GMT
💻 Zoom link: sites.google.com/view/dinosphere
Please spread the word!
#protistonsky
Join us on Nov 4th, we're hosting:
Edmée Royen (ULiège) - Symbiodinium
Nicolas dos Santos Pacheco (Cambridge) - Perkinsids
📅 Tue, Nov 4 - 4 PM CET/3 PM GMT
💻 Zoom link: sites.google.com/view/dinosphere
Please spread the word!
#protistonsky
October 29, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Please join us next week for the second iteration of the DinoSphere Seminars! This time our two speakers will talk about host-associated dinoflagellates and any challenges they might have encountered when working with them. All current and future friends of dinoflagellates welcome!
#ProtistsOnSky
#ProtistsOnSky
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
Lab’s first paper is out!! We show the first structures of #Asgard #chromatin by #cryo-EM 🧬❄️
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
October 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Lab’s first paper is out!! We show the first structures of #Asgard #chromatin by #cryo-EM 🧬❄️
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
Our collaboration with @mbonhivers.bsky.social is now out in @plosbiology.org! 🎉Using U-ExM, we mapped the formation of the flagellar pocket collar in T. brucei. Huge thanks to everyone involved — one step closer to #PhDone!
#ExM #oneringtorulethemall #Bilbo1 #trypanosoma #protistsonsky
#ExM #oneringtorulethemall #Bilbo1 #trypanosoma #protistsonsky
The flagellar pocket collar (FPC) is a cytoskeletal structure essential for nutrient uptake & immune evasion in #Trypanosome. @mbonhivers.bsky.social &co use U-ExM to provide novel insights into FPC biogenesis, and reveal 2 unknown cytoskeletal structures @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4n3bWi6
October 10, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Our collaboration with @mbonhivers.bsky.social is now out in @plosbiology.org! 🎉Using U-ExM, we mapped the formation of the flagellar pocket collar in T. brucei. Huge thanks to everyone involved — one step closer to #PhDone!
#ExM #oneringtorulethemall #Bilbo1 #trypanosoma #protistsonsky
#ExM #oneringtorulethemall #Bilbo1 #trypanosoma #protistsonsky
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
Pre-print alert 🚨
We answer a longstanding question in the field. Do immune cells cause cerebral malaria?
The answer is YES!!!! And independently of P. falciparum accumulation in the brain.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
We answer a longstanding question in the field. Do immune cells cause cerebral malaria?
The answer is YES!!!! And independently of P. falciparum accumulation in the brain.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Innate immune responses to Plasmodium falciparum disrupt the blood-brain barrier
Plasmodium falciparum accumulation at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a hallmark of cerebral malaria, a life-threatening complication. Conversely, the contribution of the immune response to vascular ...
www.biorxiv.org
October 21, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Pre-print alert 🚨
We answer a longstanding question in the field. Do immune cells cause cerebral malaria?
The answer is YES!!!! And independently of P. falciparum accumulation in the brain.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
We answer a longstanding question in the field. Do immune cells cause cerebral malaria?
The answer is YES!!!! And independently of P. falciparum accumulation in the brain.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
Declining ocean greenness and phytoplankton blooms in low to mid-latitudes under a warming climate www.science.org/doi/full/10.... #jcampubs 🌊
Declining ocean greenness and phytoplankton blooms in low to mid-latitudes under a warming climate
Chlorophyll a is declining in low- to mid-latitude oceans, indicating reduced ocean productivity and fewer phytoplankton blooms.
www.science.org
October 21, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Declining ocean greenness and phytoplankton blooms in low to mid-latitudes under a warming climate www.science.org/doi/full/10.... #jcampubs 🌊
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
We have recently shown the large potential of organellar genome-resolved metagenomics by assembling 100s of new marine plastid MAGs (ptMAGs), including revealing the new deep-branching algal group leptophytes: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
New deep-branching environmental plastid genomes on the algal tree of life
Marine algae support the entire ocean ecosystem and greatly impact planetary biology. The availability of algae in culture poorly represents their large environmental diversity, and we still have a li...
www.biorxiv.org
October 17, 2025 at 7:33 AM
We have recently shown the large potential of organellar genome-resolved metagenomics by assembling 100s of new marine plastid MAGs (ptMAGs), including revealing the new deep-branching algal group leptophytes: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
Hot off the press! Our latest work on the evolution of facultative symbiosis in stony corals, focusing on a remarkable Mediterranean species: Oculina patagonica.
🪸 🌊
#evobio #corals #coralbiology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🪸 🌊
#evobio #corals #coralbiology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 15, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Hot off the press! Our latest work on the evolution of facultative symbiosis in stony corals, focusing on a remarkable Mediterranean species: Oculina patagonica.
🪸 🌊
#evobio #corals #coralbiology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🪸 🌊
#evobio #corals #coralbiology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
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 Varsha Mathur
Our study on the first rhodopsin channels known to respond to UV light is now published in PNAS! And they come from our favourite protists, apusomonads! #protistonsky
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
October 14, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Our study on the first rhodopsin channels known to respond to UV light is now published in PNAS! And they come from our favourite protists, apusomonads! #protistonsky
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
Just 5 more days left to apply to the Workshop on Genomics 2026, in Cesky Krumov, Czechia! evomics.org/apply-worksh... (Deadline 20th of October) Do not miss your chance! 💻🤗 #Bioinformatics #Genomics #evomics2026
October 15, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Just 5 more days left to apply to the Workshop on Genomics 2026, in Cesky Krumov, Czechia! evomics.org/apply-worksh... (Deadline 20th of October) Do not miss your chance! 💻🤗 #Bioinformatics #Genomics #evomics2026
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
We're excited to share with everyone a preprint of our manuscript that resolves the cellular origins of the symbiosome in cnidarian-algal symbiosis through proteomics of the symbiosome, RNAi, and CRISPR/Cas9 experiments. ⬇️
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Read on below!
1/12 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Read on below!
1/12 🧵
October 13, 2025 at 10:00 PM
We're excited to share with everyone a preprint of our manuscript that resolves the cellular origins of the symbiosome in cnidarian-algal symbiosis through proteomics of the symbiosome, RNAi, and CRISPR/Cas9 experiments. ⬇️
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Read on below!
1/12 🧵
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Read on below!
1/12 🧵
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
Online now!!! Apusomonad rhodopsins: A new family of ultraviolet to blue light–absorbing rhodopsin channels www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Apusomonad rhodopsins: A new family of ultraviolet to blue light–absorbing rhodopsin channels | PNAS
Apusomonads are sediment-dwelling bacterivorous protists that are sister to all Opisthokonta.
They have been found to show a negative phototactic r...
www.pnas.org
October 13, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Online now!!! Apusomonad rhodopsins: A new family of ultraviolet to blue light–absorbing rhodopsin channels www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
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 Varsha Mathur
A new preprint from us using a single-cell genome pipeline to investigate diversity of uncultured Bodo spp. flagellates.
We isolated 7 Bodo spp. cells from a single environmental sample and show that they represent 3 Bodo sp. each with a unique species of bacterial endosymbiont. #protistsonsky
We isolated 7 Bodo spp. cells from a single environmental sample and show that they represent 3 Bodo sp. each with a unique species of bacterial endosymbiont. #protistsonsky
Single-cell sequencing reveals unexpected genetic diversity among Bodo spp. flagellates and their bacterial endosymbionts
Bodo is a cosmopolitan genus of free living bacterivorous single-celled flagellates in the class Kinetoplastea. Members of genus Bodo are considered the closest free-living relatives to the parasitic ...
www.biorxiv.org
October 6, 2025 at 9:25 AM
A new preprint from us using a single-cell genome pipeline to investigate diversity of uncultured Bodo spp. flagellates.
We isolated 7 Bodo spp. cells from a single environmental sample and show that they represent 3 Bodo sp. each with a unique species of bacterial endosymbiont. #protistsonsky
We isolated 7 Bodo spp. cells from a single environmental sample and show that they represent 3 Bodo sp. each with a unique species of bacterial endosymbiont. #protistsonsky
Reposted by Varsha Mathur
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...
How to upgrade stolen organelles into permanent plastids: A comparative transcriptomic perspective | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... #protistsonsky
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
October 6, 2025 at 10:13 AM
How to upgrade stolen organelles into permanent plastids: A comparative transcriptomic perspective | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... #protistsonsky