Saravanan Palani
@syncellbiolab.bsky.social
Asst Professor, Dept of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science
Cell biology, Cytoskeleton, Cell cycle, Synthetic biology, Evolution.
Lab webpage: https://syncellbiolab.weebly.com
Alumnus of UniWarwick|DKFZ|MKU|VIT
Cell biology, Cytoskeleton, Cell cycle, Synthetic biology, Evolution.
Lab webpage: https://syncellbiolab.weebly.com
Alumnus of UniWarwick|DKFZ|MKU|VIT
Pinned
We’re on the cover of @embojournal.org
Odin, from Norse mythology, emerges from the Odinarchaeota yellowstonii genome, holding FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 the ancestral twins of tubulin highlighting their evolutionary divergence in Asgard archaea. 👉 shorturl.at/n7iZE
#archaea #evolution #tubulin #cytoskeleton
Odin, from Norse mythology, emerges from the Odinarchaeota yellowstonii genome, holding FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 the ancestral twins of tubulin highlighting their evolutionary divergence in Asgard archaea. 👉 shorturl.at/n7iZE
#archaea #evolution #tubulin #cytoskeleton
We’re on the cover of @embojournal.org
Odin, from Norse mythology, emerges from the Odinarchaeota yellowstonii genome, holding FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 the ancestral twins of tubulin highlighting their evolutionary divergence in Asgard archaea. 👉 shorturl.at/n7iZE
#archaea #evolution #tubulin #cytoskeleton
Odin, from Norse mythology, emerges from the Odinarchaeota yellowstonii genome, holding FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 the ancestral twins of tubulin highlighting their evolutionary divergence in Asgard archaea. 👉 shorturl.at/n7iZE
#archaea #evolution #tubulin #cytoskeleton
November 3, 2025 at 11:54 AM
We’re on the cover of @embojournal.org
Odin, from Norse mythology, emerges from the Odinarchaeota yellowstonii genome, holding FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 the ancestral twins of tubulin highlighting their evolutionary divergence in Asgard archaea. 👉 shorturl.at/n7iZE
#archaea #evolution #tubulin #cytoskeleton
Odin, from Norse mythology, emerges from the Odinarchaeota yellowstonii genome, holding FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 the ancestral twins of tubulin highlighting their evolutionary divergence in Asgard archaea. 👉 shorturl.at/n7iZE
#archaea #evolution #tubulin #cytoskeleton
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
🚨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 Saravanan Palani
Glad to share our paper out today @NatureEcoEvo: “Serial innovations by Asgard archaea shaped the DNA replication machinery of the early eukaryotic ancestor”. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #microsky #archaeasky
Serial innovations by Asgard archaea shaped the DNA replication machinery of the early eukaryotic ancestor - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Phylogenetic and biochemical analyses show a diversity of components of the DNA replication machinery in different Asgard archaea that contributed to the eukaryotic DNA replication machinery.
www.nature.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Glad to share our paper out today @NatureEcoEvo: “Serial innovations by Asgard archaea shaped the DNA replication machinery of the early eukaryotic ancestor”. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #microsky #archaeasky
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
Happy to share that our story on the bacterial archaellum was published today in @natmicrobiol.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Congrats to the authors: @sshamphavi.bsky.social @loumollat.bsky.social @mariejoest.bsky.social Najwa Taib and @sgribaldo.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Congrats to the authors: @sshamphavi.bsky.social @loumollat.bsky.social @mariejoest.bsky.social Najwa Taib and @sgribaldo.bsky.social
September 17, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Happy to share that our story on the bacterial archaellum was published today in @natmicrobiol.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Congrats to the authors: @sshamphavi.bsky.social @loumollat.bsky.social @mariejoest.bsky.social Najwa Taib and @sgribaldo.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Congrats to the authors: @sshamphavi.bsky.social @loumollat.bsky.social @mariejoest.bsky.social Najwa Taib and @sgribaldo.bsky.social
How do cells keep their #actin “highways” stable?🚦
Our paper @PLOS Genetics reveals surprising teamwork (and backup plans!) between tropomyosin isoforms in yeast. #imaging #cytoskeleton #celldivision
This work was brilliantly led by @anubhavdhar.bsky.social @bagyasree.bsky.social
t.co/RvUrzad5tL
Our paper @PLOS Genetics reveals surprising teamwork (and backup plans!) between tropomyosin isoforms in yeast. #imaging #cytoskeleton #celldivision
This work was brilliantly led by @anubhavdhar.bsky.social @bagyasree.bsky.social
t.co/RvUrzad5tL
September 9, 2025 at 6:22 PM
How do cells keep their #actin “highways” stable?🚦
Our paper @PLOS Genetics reveals surprising teamwork (and backup plans!) between tropomyosin isoforms in yeast. #imaging #cytoskeleton #celldivision
This work was brilliantly led by @anubhavdhar.bsky.social @bagyasree.bsky.social
t.co/RvUrzad5tL
Our paper @PLOS Genetics reveals surprising teamwork (and backup plans!) between tropomyosin isoforms in yeast. #imaging #cytoskeleton #celldivision
This work was brilliantly led by @anubhavdhar.bsky.social @bagyasree.bsky.social
t.co/RvUrzad5tL
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
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
Thrilled to see our work published in @embojournal.org
#asgard #archaea #cytoskeleton #tubulin #FtsZ
We sincerely appreciate the constructive peer review and the reviewers’ thoughtful, supportive feedback, which greatly strengthened our work.
#asgard #archaea #cytoskeleton #tubulin #FtsZ
We sincerely appreciate the constructive peer review and the reviewers’ thoughtful, supportive feedback, which greatly strengthened our work.
Insights into the origins of the #tubulin / #FtsZ superfamily: @syncellbiolab.bsky.social, Pananghat Gayathri et al show that two #Asgard archaeal paralogs OdinFtsZ1 and OdinFtsZ2 form distinct filamental structures, and employ different modes of membrane tethering
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
August 8, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Thrilled to see our work published in @embojournal.org
#asgard #archaea #cytoskeleton #tubulin #FtsZ
We sincerely appreciate the constructive peer review and the reviewers’ thoughtful, supportive feedback, which greatly strengthened our work.
#asgard #archaea #cytoskeleton #tubulin #FtsZ
We sincerely appreciate the constructive peer review and the reviewers’ thoughtful, supportive feedback, which greatly strengthened our work.
🎉🍾Excited to share our #Asgardarchaea #odin #cytoskeleton study published in
@embojournal.org Dual FtsZ proteins in Odinarchaeon form distinct filaments shedding light on tubulin/FtsZ evolution. Brilliantly led by @jayantik.bsky.social
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
@embojournal.org Dual FtsZ proteins in Odinarchaeon form distinct filaments shedding light on tubulin/FtsZ evolution. Brilliantly led by @jayantik.bsky.social
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
August 8, 2025 at 11:26 AM
🎉🍾Excited to share our #Asgardarchaea #odin #cytoskeleton study published in
@embojournal.org Dual FtsZ proteins in Odinarchaeon form distinct filaments shedding light on tubulin/FtsZ evolution. Brilliantly led by @jayantik.bsky.social
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
@embojournal.org Dual FtsZ proteins in Odinarchaeon form distinct filaments shedding light on tubulin/FtsZ evolution. Brilliantly led by @jayantik.bsky.social
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
This was fun! Folding whole proteomes… looking at tomogram, looking at genomes🤩 lots to discover!🧬🧶
An Asgard archaeon from a modern analog of ancient microbial mats
It has been proposed that eukaryotic cells evolved via symbiosis between sulfate-reducing bacteria and hydrogen-producing archaea. Here we describe a highly enriched culture of a novel Asgard archaeon...
www.biorxiv.org
July 23, 2025 at 7:11 AM
This was fun! Folding whole proteomes… looking at tomogram, looking at genomes🤩 lots to discover!🧬🧶
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
How does evolution shape ancient cellular processes? Our new paper uncovers the mosaic evolution of conserved and diverging endocytic traits in fungi!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Mosaic evolution of clathrin-mediated endocytosis in fungi
Picco et al. take an evolutionary approach to study clathrin-mediated endocytosis
in a fungal clade and discover that the process is evolving in a mosaic fashion. The
early phase of endocytosis has sh...
www.cell.com
July 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
How does evolution shape ancient cellular processes? Our new paper uncovers the mosaic evolution of conserved and diverging endocytic traits in fungi!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
Hello microscopy and imaging experts and enthusiasts!
We are looking for a staff scientist to join us here in Geneva to work on microscopy and image analysis projects! See the link for the job announcement (in French and in English).
Please apply and/or repost!
jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...
We are looking for a staff scientist to join us here in Geneva to work on microscopy and image analysis projects! See the link for the job announcement (in French and in English).
Please apply and/or repost!
jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...
July 7, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Hello microscopy and imaging experts and enthusiasts!
We are looking for a staff scientist to join us here in Geneva to work on microscopy and image analysis projects! See the link for the job announcement (in French and in English).
Please apply and/or repost!
jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...
We are looking for a staff scientist to join us here in Geneva to work on microscopy and image analysis projects! See the link for the job announcement (in French and in English).
Please apply and/or repost!
jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
How do cells switch on the actin assembly at endocytic sites? How can this on-switch evolve? Check out our new preprint!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June 24, 2025 at 7:22 PM
How do cells switch on the actin assembly at endocytic sites? How can this on-switch evolve? Check out our new preprint!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
We’ve uncovered Asgard chromatin structures formed by a Hodarchaeal histone : closed hypernucleosome conserved in archaea and an open form resembling the H3-H4 eukaryotic octasome. Fantastic work by @harshranawat.bsky.social!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM
May 26, 2025 at 4:56 PM
We’ve uncovered Asgard chromatin structures formed by a Hodarchaeal histone : closed hypernucleosome conserved in archaea and an open form resembling the H3-H4 eukaryotic octasome. Fantastic work by @harshranawat.bsky.social!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#Chromatin #Asgard #Archaea #cryoEM
Preprint: IntAct-U-ExM enables robust, isoform-specific expansion microscopy of actin networks in yeast and mammalian cells. A cool study led by @anubhavdhar.bsky.social in collaboration with Sudarshan and Deepak Nair. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
May 16, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Preprint: IntAct-U-ExM enables robust, isoform-specific expansion microscopy of actin networks in yeast and mammalian cells. A cool study led by @anubhavdhar.bsky.social in collaboration with Sudarshan and Deepak Nair. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
On this day, 10 years ago, my lab published the @nature.com paper reporting the discovery of the Asgard archaea (Lokiarchaeota at the time), revealing the archaeal nature of eukaryotic cells, and reshaping the Tree of Life. What a ride it has been since then... www.nature.com/articles/nat...
Complex archaea that bridge the gap between prokaryotes and eukaryotes - Nature
This study identifies a clade of archaea that is the immediate sister group of eukaryotes in phylogenetic analyses, and that also has a repertoire of proteins otherwise characteristic of eukaryotes—pr...
www.nature.com
May 14, 2025 at 1:48 PM
On this day, 10 years ago, my lab published the @nature.com paper reporting the discovery of the Asgard archaea (Lokiarchaeota at the time), revealing the archaeal nature of eukaryotic cells, and reshaping the Tree of Life. What a ride it has been since then... www.nature.com/articles/nat...
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
Excited to announce the Molecular Biology of Archaea (MBoA) 2026!
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated to Archaea.
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated to Archaea.
April 18, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Excited to announce the Molecular Biology of Archaea (MBoA) 2026!
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated to Archaea.
Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated to Archaea.
Reposted by Saravanan Palani
Isolated in just 3 years! (previously, 12 years). We obtained two strains from 'Hodarchaeales', proposed to be closest to our archaeal ancestor. Our analysis suggests the ancestor was an anaerobic, syntrophic, peptidotrophic, archaeon with a simple intracellular structure and possible aerotolerance.
Eukaryotes' closest relatives are internally simple syntrophic archaea
Eukaryotes are theorized to have originated from an archaeal phylum Promethearchaeota (formerly 'Asgard' archaea)1,2. The first cultured representatives revealed valuable insight3,4 but are distantly ...
www.biorxiv.org
February 27, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Isolated in just 3 years! (previously, 12 years). We obtained two strains from 'Hodarchaeales', proposed to be closest to our archaeal ancestor. Our analysis suggests the ancestor was an anaerobic, syntrophic, peptidotrophic, archaeon with a simple intracellular structure and possible aerotolerance.
February 4, 2025 at 6:07 AM
First Post! Thrilled to share our lab's first evolutionary cytoskeleton study! We uncover two distinct FtsZ paralogs in Odinarchaeota OdinFtsZ1 forms curved filaments, while OdinFtsZ2 assembles into spiral rings. A glimpse into tubulin evolution! threads👇 #Eukaryogenesis #AsgardArchaea #cytoskeleton
February 4, 2025 at 5:55 AM
First Post! Thrilled to share our lab's first evolutionary cytoskeleton study! We uncover two distinct FtsZ paralogs in Odinarchaeota OdinFtsZ1 forms curved filaments, while OdinFtsZ2 assembles into spiral rings. A glimpse into tubulin evolution! threads👇 #Eukaryogenesis #AsgardArchaea #cytoskeleton