The evolution of eukaryotic cells represents one of the most pivotal transitions in the history of life, marked by the emergence of cellular compartmentalisation and increased complexity. Central to ...

One of the most important and puzzling events in the evolution of life has been the origin of the first complex eukaryotic cells. Almost all lifeforms that we can perceive with the naked eye, such as ...

A new study challenges a popular scenario put forward to explain the arrival of the first eukaryotic organisms. In the beginning, there was boredom. Following the emergence of cellular life on earth, ...

A prime example is a roughly 100-million-year-old partnership between insects called mealybugs and two bacterial endosymbionts, one nested inside the other in the mealybugs’ cells. (The endosymbionts ...

Two of my stories came out this week–one on the near future, and one on the distant past. 1. Global warming is beginning to drive evolution of plants and animals. And soon it will be shifting to high ...

The discovery that a group of cell-infecting bacteria lived roughly 2 billion years ago stirs a longstanding controversy around which came first: phagocytosis or mitochondria. The ability of one cell ...

This is a preview. Log in through your library . Abstract Summary Brown algae are one of the few eukaryotic lineages that have evolved complex multicellularity, together with Opisthokonts (animals, ...

Viruses acquire genes from eukaryotes — organisms whose cells store their DNA in a nucleus — and use them for their own function. Conversely, eukaryotes acquire genes from viruses to bring new ...

Microbes form the base of food webs and drive biogeochemical cycling. Predicting the effects of microbial evolution on global elemental cycles remains a significant challenge due to the sheer number ...