Nature study shows Asgard archaea crawl like animal cells, narrowing the gap to the first eukaryotes
30 September 2026
Nature published on 30 September 2026 a study of Asgard archaea, the closest known prokaryotic relatives of eukaryotes.
Using live imaging, the researchers saw cells grow and retract protrusions at 1.5 to 4.8 micrometres per minute, rearranging their membrane architecture within minutes.
Both the Lokiarchaea and Hodarchaea lineages crawled along surfaces at 1.6 to 3.4 micrometres per minute, speeds that match the crawling of eukaryotic cells.
The movement depends on Lokiactin, an archaeal counterpart of actin; actin inhibitors, particularly Swinholide A, stopped it at concentrations similar to those that affect eukaryotic cells.
Crawling motility of this kind had not been reported in prokaryotes before.
The authors argue that membrane plasticity and actin-driven movement may have been crucial to the emergence of the first eukaryotic cells, about 2 billion years ago.
In plain words
Asgard archaea Asgard archaea — A group of archaea that carry many eukaryote-like proteins and are regarded as the closest prokaryotic relatives of eukaryotes.
actin actin — A protein that forms filaments inside cells and drives changes in cell shape and movement.