Dynamic protrusions mediate crawling motility in Asgard archaea
6 affiliations
- 1Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Unit, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- 2Department of Cell Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- 3Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, Austria
- 4Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research of Life (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan
- 5Division of Molecular Cell Biology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany; Molecular Cell Biology Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- 6Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Unit, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. [email protected]
Abstract
Crawling motility is a hallmark of eukaryotic cells and requires a dynamic actin cytoskeleton, regulated adhesion and spatially organized signalling pathways1,2. Asgard archaea, which are considered the closest known prokaryotic relatives of eukaryotes, potentially encode these functions within their large set of ‘eukaryotic signature proteins’3–6. The few cultivated members show a complex cell morphology, consisting of a central cell body from which several protrusions extend, filled with an actin-based cytoskeleton7,8. Here, live-cell microscopy of two organisms of the Lokiarchaea and Hodarchaea lineages7,9 showed that they dynamically and greatly change their cell shape on a minute time scale and grow and retract their extensive protrusions with a speed of 1.5–4.8 µm min−1, respectively. After adhering to a glass surface, cells use their protrusions to undergo active crawling motion. In the presence of selected actin inhibitors, however, the observed dynamics were arrested, suggesting a central role of actin in these processes. The observed cellular plasticity and motility are unique features among prokaryotes and might have been crucial for the emergence of the first eukaryotic cells that are thought to have formed through the association of a member of the Asgard archaea and an α-proteobacterium, the ancestor of mitochondria.
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BibTeX
@article{radler2026dynamic,
title = {{Dynamic protrusions mediate crawling motility in Asgard archaea}},
author = {Philipp Radler and Tobias Viehboeck and Zhen-Hao Luo and Nevena Maslać and Katharina Schmidt and Robert Hauschild and Masaru Konishi Nobu and Silvia Bulgheresi and Theresia E. B. Stradal and Klemens Rottner and Hiroyuki Imachi and Michael Sixt and Christa Schleper},
journal = {Nature},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1038/s41586-026-11063-9},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11063-9},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Dynamic protrusions mediate crawling motility in Asgard archaea
AU - Philipp Radler
AU - Tobias Viehboeck
AU - Zhen-Hao Luo
AU - Nevena Maslać
AU - Katharina Schmidt
AU - Robert Hauschild
AU - Masaru Konishi Nobu
AU - Silvia Bulgheresi
AU - Theresia E. B. Stradal
AU - Klemens Rottner
AU - Hiroyuki Imachi
AU - Michael Sixt
AU - Christa Schleper
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
JO - Nature
DO - 10.1038/s41586-026-11063-9
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11063-9
AB - Crawling motility is a hallmark of eukaryotic cells and requires a dynamic actin cytoskeleton, regulated adhesion and spatially organized signalling pathways1,2. Asgard archaea, which are considered the closest known prokaryotic relatives of eukaryotes, potentially encode these functions within their large set of ‘eukaryotic signature proteins’3–6. The few cultivated members show a complex cell morphology, consisting of a central cell body from which several protrusions extend, filled with an actin-based cytoskeleton7,8. Here, live-cell microscopy of two organisms of the Lokiarchaea and Hodarchaea lineages7,9 showed that they dynamically and greatly change their cell shape on a minute time scale and grow and retract their extensive protrusions with a speed of 1.5–4.8 µm min−1, respectively. After adhering to a glass surface, cells use their protrusions to undergo active crawling motion. In the presence of selected actin inhibitors, however, the observed dynamics were arrested, suggesting a central role of actin in these processes. The observed cellular plasticity and motility are unique features among prokaryotes and might have been crucial for the emergence of the first eukaryotic cells that are thought to have formed through the association of a member of the Asgard archaea and an α-proteobacterium, the ancestor of mitochondria.
SN - 0028-0836
SN - 1476-4687
ER -