A microbiome is a community of microorganisms that inhabit an ecological niche. Microbiomes exist in environmental biotopes, for example, a water body or forest soil, as well as in living ...

Ciliate protozoa possess the remarkable ability to reproduce through both asexual and sexual means. Their distinctive sexual process involves conjugation and autogamy, and they wield a secret weapon: ...

A microbiome is a community of microorganisms that inhabit an ecological niche. Microbiomes exist in both environmental biotopes, for example, a water body or forest soil - and in living multicellular ...

Conjugation (or mating) of ciliates is a unique phenomenon among living beings. They have sex not for reproduction or pleasure — they seek to increase genetic variation. Scientists from St Petersburg ...

Paramecium are ciliates, members of a phylum of protists that possess both germline and somatic genomes housed in functionally distinct nuclei — the micronucleus and macronucleus, respectively. During ...

Ciliates are minute, single-celled organisms with several nuclei, and are abundant in freshwater, the oceans and soil. The name “ciliate” comes from 'cilia', tiny hair-like structures, which cover ...

Ciliate protozoa exemplify an extraordinary interplay between genome architecture, developmental rearrangements and evolutionary innovation. These single-celled eukaryotes possess two distinct nuclei ...

Scientists have discovered a new family of molecules that work together to precisely remove unwanted DNA during reproduction in single-celled, freshwater organisms called ciliates. The discovery of ...