“Halobacteria" (Haloarchaea), a group of extremophilic microorganisms, continue to excite us with fascinating hidden features. These extremophilic microorganisms were first observed in the late 19th century on salted fish, display highly variable cell shapes, led to the discovery of bacteriorhodopsin (a light driven proton pump), and later were recognized as representatives of the domain Archaea. Now, an international team of researchers around Prof. Dr. Alexandre Bisson at Brandeis University, USA, showed widespread multicellularity in these Archaea, a group of prokaryotic microbes from which eukaryotes originated, using 51 haloarchaeal strains (48 of which are held and distributed by the DSMZ). Go halophiles!
For more information see the publication of Rados et al. (2025).
Scientific contact at DSMZ: Dr. Vera Thiel
