Lokiarchaeota:
Lokiarchaeota is a proposed phylum of the Archaea.[1] The phylum includes all members of the group previously named Deep Sea Archaeal Group (DSAG), also known as Marine Benthic Group B (MBG-B). A phylogenetic analysis disclosed a monophyletic grouping of the Lokiarchaeota with the eukaryotes. The analysis revealed several genes with cell membrane-related functions. The presence of such genes support the hypothesis of an archaeal host for the emergence of the eukaryotes; the eocyte-like scenarios. [Wikipedia]
Noted in “The mysterious microbes shifting humanity’s place in the tree of life,” Colin Barras, NewScientist (1 February 2020, paywall):
The Lokis, more officially known as the Lokiarchaeota, have versions of the genes that help eukaryotes build membrane-enclosed compartments inside their cells. Without those compartments, eukaryotic cells would lack their most dramatic feature, the nucleus.
Jane Gaskell, as a teenager, wrote a novel named Strange Evil, which, upon being published, entered into the annals of legend in the genre of weird fiction. It concerns itself with the question of why gods exist, and, for Gaskell, it came down to belief: the more people believed, the greater the divinity.
As I recall, the novel ends with a giant, diaper-girt baby, chasing someone, presumably the protagonist, in order to wreak some terrible (terribly?) divine punishment, but shrinking as more and more of its believers choose not to believe in such a horror. It had its amusing moments. Sadly, I seem to have mislaid my copy, if in fact I ever had one.
But imagine if her premise were true: would naming an entire phylum of organisms for the old Norse God of mischief possibly bring him, it, back from where ever old, forgotten gods have gone? I don’t suppose that would be a boneyard, the sobriquet of the final storage area for retired planes before they are salvaged, but you never know. Are gods subject to salvage as well?
And would he be fatally insulted at being associated with a bunch of microbes? Or would it appeal to his reportedly macabre sense of humor?
Yep, this is a wandering piece of useless digression. Did you read all the way to the end? Shame on you!
