Science

Australian researchers capture first direct images of physical link between Asgard archaeon and bacterium

High-resolution imaging of Shark Bay stromatolites reveals microscopic nanotubes that may model how complex eukaryotic life first evolved.

Updated Sep 3, 2026 · 13:19 UTC1 reports

The short version

Scientists isolated and imaged a newly named Asgard archaeon physically connected to a bacterium inside Shark Bay stromatolites.
The microbes exchange nutrients and hydrogen via nanotube structures, offering a physical model for the origins of eukaryotic cells.
Researchers plan to search for additional microbial pairings to further reconstruct early evolutionary cellular partnerships.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales, the University of Technology Sydney, and The University of Melbourne published findings in Current Biology showing direct physical interactions between an Asgard archaeon and a bacterium.[ScienceDaily]
The newly discovered archaeon was named Nerearchaeum marumarumayae in consultation with and with permission from Malgana language experts and elders.[ScienceDaily]
Cultivating the organisms required four to five years in the laboratory, as the archaea could not be grown in pure culture without their bacterial partners.[ScienceDaily]
Using electron cryotomography, the researchers captured nanoscale images showing the organisms connected by bacterial nanotubes and exchanging vitamins, nutrients, and hydrogen.[ScienceDaily]
Deep learning models were used alongside structural imaging to predict microbial protein structures and identify ancestral cellular machinery.[ScienceDaily]

Whether these specific observed modern nanotube interactions fully mirror the exact mechanisms that led to the original evolution of eukaryotes billions of years ago remains an open scientific question.[ScienceDaily]