Eva Pillai
@evapillai.bsky.social
mechanics | evolution | choanoflagellates
Between the Diz-Muñoz + Arendt labs (EMBL, Heidelberg) and Thibaut Brunet’s lab (Institut Pasteur).
PhD: mechanics in nervous system development @FranzeLab
Between the Diz-Muñoz + Arendt labs (EMBL, Heidelberg) and Thibaut Brunet’s lab (Institut Pasteur).
PhD: mechanics in nervous system development @FranzeLab
Reposted by Eva Pillai
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 13, 2025 at 8:34 PM
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Eva Pillai
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Eva Pillai
Asgard archaea are full of surprises, this time we found (tiny) microtubules (snapshots of microtubule evolution?!) - Check out our new paper on the cytoskeleton of Lokiarchaeum ossiferum: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Asgard archaea have actin - but what about microtubules? Where do they come from? 🧐 Our new paper www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... by @xujwet.bsky.social & @florianwollweber.bsky.social, in collaboration with the Schleper & Wieczorek labs, describes tiny Asgard microtubules! #TeamTomo #ArchaeaSky 1/6
March 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Asgard archaea are full of surprises, this time we found (tiny) microtubules (snapshots of microtubule evolution?!) - Check out our new paper on the cytoskeleton of Lokiarchaeum ossiferum: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Eva Pillai
🚨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 Eva Pillai
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 Eva Pillai
First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution
Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...
rdcu.be
October 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Reposted by Eva Pillai
Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports...
This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵
This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵
October 5, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports...
This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵
This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵
Deeply saddened by Sir John Gurdon’s passing. A pioneer in developmental biology and Nobel laureate with endless curiosity and humility (I’ll never forget the day he asked me -then a student- to teach him a protocol in the institute bearing his name!). Elegant science, fabulous hair… truly a legend!
It is with great sadness that the University shares the news of the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon, founder of the @gurdoninstitute.bsky.social
Read our tribute to the visionary Nobel Laureate and watch an interview from 2012, just after he won: https://bit.ly/4mM8o3r
Read our tribute to the visionary Nobel Laureate and watch an interview from 2012, just after he won: https://bit.ly/4mM8o3r
October 8, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Deeply saddened by Sir John Gurdon’s passing. A pioneer in developmental biology and Nobel laureate with endless curiosity and humility (I’ll never forget the day he asked me -then a student- to teach him a protocol in the institute bearing his name!). Elegant science, fabulous hair… truly a legend!
Reposted by Eva Pillai
Automatic filament tracing in 3D data is now only a few clicks (or one macro) away! In the amazing #BigTrace FIJI plugin by @ekatrukha.bsky.social 🤩
My workflow will be to autotrace and then manually correct the autotraces, reducing the time for our tracing significantly!
My workflow will be to autotrace and then manually correct the autotraces, reducing the time for our tracing significantly!
New release of #BigTrace plugin is out. Together with @aafkegros.bsky.social from Simone Köhler group we added a fully automatic tracing mode. + more macro functions and bug fixes github.com/ekatrukha/Bi...
September 24, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Automatic filament tracing in 3D data is now only a few clicks (or one macro) away! In the amazing #BigTrace FIJI plugin by @ekatrukha.bsky.social 🤩
My workflow will be to autotrace and then manually correct the autotraces, reducing the time for our tracing significantly!
My workflow will be to autotrace and then manually correct the autotraces, reducing the time for our tracing significantly!
🤯🤩
Most striking, in some instances of spontaneous flagellar detachment, the flagellum can glide on its own - mercilessly leaving the cell body behind, stabbing it on the way if need be (don't do this at home).
September 11, 2025 at 7:01 AM
🤯🤩
Reposted by Eva Pillai
New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵
Flagellar gliding in choanoflagellates
Freire-Delgado and Brunet discover a new mode of cell motility in choanoflagellates,
the closest relatives of animals. Under mild confinement, choanoflagellate move over
surfaces without cell deformat...
www.cell.com
September 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM
New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵
Reposted by Eva Pillai
🧠🦈Excited to present our latest work🧠🦈Interested in brain evolution? And shark embryos? Then read on… Our work sheds light on the deep origins of our brain’s most complex regions.
September 2, 2025 at 5:51 PM
🧠🦈Excited to present our latest work🧠🦈Interested in brain evolution? And shark embryos? Then read on… Our work sheds light on the deep origins of our brain’s most complex regions.
Reposted by Eva Pillai
Beautiful story that combined mechanobiology, evolution, and the power of fly (opto)genetics to make sense of the cephalic furrow. It was a pleasure writing the News & Views. No doubt this is still just the beginning for the field of mechano-evo-devo! Hats off to all involved
We are all super happy and proud to see our work on the function and evolution of the #cephalic #furrow published in @nature.com. Let me say a few things about the background and history of this work on the #Evolution_of_Morphogenesis (1/12)
September 4, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Beautiful story that combined mechanobiology, evolution, and the power of fly (opto)genetics to make sense of the cephalic furrow. It was a pleasure writing the News & Views. No doubt this is still just the beginning for the field of mechano-evo-devo! Hats off to all involved
Reposted by Eva Pillai
For some three billion years, unicellular organisms ruled Earth. Then, around one billion years ago, a new chapter of life began
go.nature.com/3JyRV4S
go.nature.com/3JyRV4S
How did life get multicellular? Five simple organisms could have the answer
Single-celled species that often stick together in colonies have researchers rethinking the origin of animals.
go.nature.com
August 27, 2025 at 10:19 AM
For some three billion years, unicellular organisms ruled Earth. Then, around one billion years ago, a new chapter of life began
go.nature.com/3JyRV4S
go.nature.com/3JyRV4S
Reposted by Eva Pillai
Want to acquire #ExM images like this and help us understand the true extent of cytoskeletal diversity across the tree of life? This position might be for you!
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
With @dudinlab.bsky.social
@embl.org @biology-unige.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
With @dudinlab.bsky.social
@embl.org @biology-unige.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social
August 7, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Want to acquire #ExM images like this and help us understand the true extent of cytoskeletal diversity across the tree of life? This position might be for you!
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
With @dudinlab.bsky.social
@embl.org @biology-unige.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
With @dudinlab.bsky.social
@embl.org @biology-unige.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social
Reposted by Eva Pillai
Thrilled to bits to see our latest work online in Dev Cell! 🥳
We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n
tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n
tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
Mechanochemical coupling of cell shape and organ function optimizes heart size and contractile efficiency in zebrafish
Andrews et al. demonstrate that multiscale feedback between mechanical and chemical
cues builds a functional heart to support zebrafish embryonic life. Cell recruitment
and organ-scale forces drive tr...
tinyurl.com
August 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Thrilled to bits to see our latest work online in Dev Cell! 🥳
We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n
tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n
tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
Reposted by Eva Pillai
Reposted by Eva Pillai
Our new paper on structure and growth of Porpita porpita - rdcu.be/etcY6 . Like Velella and Physalia, this is a colonial cnidarian that floats at the surface of the Ocean. The whole colony arises form a single embryo through clonal growth that gives rise to many specialized bodies.
June 24, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Our new paper on structure and growth of Porpita porpita - rdcu.be/etcY6 . Like Velella and Physalia, this is a colonial cnidarian that floats at the surface of the Ocean. The whole colony arises form a single embryo through clonal growth that gives rise to many specialized bodies.
Reposted by Eva Pillai
Morphogenesis & Organogenesis!
Part 1 (full) in the comments 👇
Comment if you'd like to be added (regardless of age or career stage!)
Please post your own biology-related starter packs using #BioStarterPacks
🧬🔬🪰🐟🐁🌱
Part 1 (full) in the comments 👇
Comment if you'd like to be added (regardless of age or career stage!)
Please post your own biology-related starter packs using #BioStarterPacks
🧬🔬🪰🐟🐁🌱
June 26, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Morphogenesis & Organogenesis!
Part 1 (full) in the comments 👇
Comment if you'd like to be added (regardless of age or career stage!)
Please post your own biology-related starter packs using #BioStarterPacks
🧬🔬🪰🐟🐁🌱
Part 1 (full) in the comments 👇
Comment if you'd like to be added (regardless of age or career stage!)
Please post your own biology-related starter packs using #BioStarterPacks
🧬🔬🪰🐟🐁🌱
Reposted by Eva Pillai
1/27 We have a new paper out! Turns out that snowflake yeast have been hiding a secret from us - they've evolved a (very!) crude circulatory system. Not with blood vessels or a heart, but through spontaneous fluid flows powered by their metabolism. 🧪🔬
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
June 24, 2025 at 4:52 PM
1/27 We have a new paper out! Turns out that snowflake yeast have been hiding a secret from us - they've evolved a (very!) crude circulatory system. Not with blood vessels or a heart, but through spontaneous fluid flows powered by their metabolism. 🧪🔬
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
How did life begin, and why does it matter today? Excited to have contributed to this ASM @asm.org report, supported by @MooreFound, exploring 3 key steps in Earth’s history - from simple cells to complex life- and what it means for future science.
Read more: asm.org/reports/earl...
Read more: asm.org/reports/earl...
Early Microbial Life: Our Past, Present, and Future
The Academy report, funded by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, examines the origins and trajectory of early microbial life to inform and inspire future research.
asm.org
June 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM
How did life begin, and why does it matter today? Excited to have contributed to this ASM @asm.org report, supported by @MooreFound, exploring 3 key steps in Earth’s history - from simple cells to complex life- and what it means for future science.
Read more: asm.org/reports/earl...
Read more: asm.org/reports/earl...
Reposted by Eva Pillai
Excited to share our study on sailing siphonophores, AKA bluebottles or man-o'-war! 🌊 we received hundreds of samples from scientists around the world, part of a huge effort to sequence genomes and test for multiple species 🧬 out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... 🦑🧪📌
June 19, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Excited to share our study on sailing siphonophores, AKA bluebottles or man-o'-war! 🌊 we received hundreds of samples from scientists around the world, part of a huge effort to sequence genomes and test for multiple species 🧬 out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... 🦑🧪📌
Thank you Dionn Hargreaves, Sarah Woolner & @dev-journal.bsky.social for highlighting our @sudimukherjee.bsky.social @franzelab.bsky.social preprint! Chuffed to see it engaged with through fresh eyes! 🙌
Interested in how mechanical & chemical signals shape tissue development? Give it a look!
🧠🐸⚙️
Interested in how mechanical & chemical signals shape tissue development? Give it a look!
🧠🐸⚙️
In preprints: unpicking chemical and mechanical crosstalk for axonal pathfinding
Dionn Hargreaves and Sarah Woolner @mcrcellmatrix.bsky.social discuss the #preprint from @evapillai.bsky.social @sudimukherjee.bsky.social @franzelab.bsky.social et al.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Dionn Hargreaves and Sarah Woolner @mcrcellmatrix.bsky.social discuss the #preprint from @evapillai.bsky.social @sudimukherjee.bsky.social @franzelab.bsky.social et al.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
June 19, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Thank you Dionn Hargreaves, Sarah Woolner & @dev-journal.bsky.social for highlighting our @sudimukherjee.bsky.social @franzelab.bsky.social preprint! Chuffed to see it engaged with through fresh eyes! 🙌
Interested in how mechanical & chemical signals shape tissue development? Give it a look!
🧠🐸⚙️
Interested in how mechanical & chemical signals shape tissue development? Give it a look!
🧠🐸⚙️
When in the tropics, we sample! #choanoflagellate from Malaysia 🇲🇾 -a treat from a lovely coastal walk, spotted by the eagle-eyed @jujumathieu.bsky.social
#protistsonsky
#protistsonsky
June 16, 2025 at 6:59 AM
When in the tropics, we sample! #choanoflagellate from Malaysia 🇲🇾 -a treat from a lovely coastal walk, spotted by the eagle-eyed @jujumathieu.bsky.social
#protistsonsky
#protistsonsky