{
  "abstract": "Increasing evidence supports that eukaryotes originated from the symbiosis of an Asgard archaeon, the alphaproteobacterial ancestor of mitochondria, and possibly additional bacterial contributions. Eukaryogenesis likely occurred in redox-transition environments such as microbial mats or shallow sediments ~2 billion years ago, when atmospheric oxygen was far lower than today. We investigated Asgard-enriched microbial mats from the low-oxygen, sulfidic Catherine volcano lake (Afar region, Ethiopia), mimicking early Proterozoic conditions. 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding, metagenomics, and metagenome-assembled genome analyses across redox-stratified layers of in situ and mesocosm-maintained mats revealed that Asgardarchaeota thrived in the sulfate-reduction zone, mainly co-occurring with Desulfurobacterota-Myxococcota, among others. Lokiarchaeia and Thorarchaeia preferred anoxic layers. Within Heimdallarchaeia, Heimdallarchaeales were enriched in upper layers, correlating with oxygen-tolerant hydrogenase and sulfate-reduction genes, and Hodarchaeales, in anoxic layers, correlating with methanogenesis. Although reactive-oxygen-species defense mechanisms were widespread, Asgardarchaeota lacked aerobic respiration. These results support the hypothesis that Asgard archaea engaged primarily in syntrophic interactions with sulfate-reducers under early-Earth-like conditions.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Ana Gutiérrez-Preciado"
    },
    {
      "name": "Agathe Struillou"
    },
    {
      "name": "Lewen Liang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Miguel Iniesto"
    },
    {
      "name": "Philippe Deschamps"
    },
    {
      "name": "Laura Eme"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yvan Zivanovic"
    },
    {
      "name": "José López-García"
    },
    {
      "name": "Karim Benzerara"
    },
    {
      "name": "David Moreira"
    },
    {
      "name": "Purificación López-García"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/262fqm11g928v.bib",
  "cited_by": 1,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41522-026-01148-8",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "262fqm11g928v",
  "issns": [
    "2055-5008"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05837597v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "hal",
      "0.sde"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "0.sdv"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2303|Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7215999685",
  "pdf_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05837597/document",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-02",
  "publisher": "[London?]: Springer Nature published in partnership with Nanyang Technological University",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/262fqm11g928v.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:01Z",
      "native_id": "hal-05837597",
      "source": "hal",
      "url": "https://hal.science/hal-05837597v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "hal:0.sdv",
      "subfield": "general"
    },
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "hal:0.sde",
      "subfield": "environmental-science"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Redox distribution of Asgard archaea and co-occurring taxa in microbial mats from an early Proterozoic ecosystem analog",
  "title_text": "Redox distribution of Asgard archaea and co-occurring taxa in microbial mats from an early Proterozoic ecosystem analog",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:01Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/262fqm11g928v",
  "venue": "npj Biofilms and Microbiomes",
  "versions": []
}