KamilSJaron.bsky.social@kamilsjaron.bsky.social · 2w ago

New preprint: 338 coleopteran genomes reveal exceptional rearrangement variation compared to other insect orders. Big congrats to @arf-mln.bsky.social, for getting this giant piece together. Big collaboration of @joanameier.bsky.social's and my groups. 🧵👇 doi.org/10.64898/202...

We had a great time visiting Xiao Yutao’s amazing new lab in Hainan, China

This is AMAZING

Tom Astle@tjalamont.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#Bugsky 🐙🌿 Shared with me by a fof in SoCal - this is a gynandromorph (both male & female) valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa sonorina). Females are black, males orange, so the extreme color dimorphism really stands out. Per Doug Yanega at UC Riverside, bee gynandromorphs he’s seen are mosaic instead—

There are few researchers for whom an entire field is so clearly distinct before and after their work. The gap between evolutionary biology "before Joe" and "after Joe" is just awesome. It is a measurably different enterprise, and the reach of his influence doesn't end at the phylogeny. Hats off!

The Royal Society@royalsociety.org · 2mo ago

Professor Joe Felsenstein FRS is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. After initially working on population genetics theory of recombination, of migration, and of speciation, his main focus has been on phylogenetic inference. #RSFellows https://royalsociety.org/people/joseph-felsenstein-38106/

Excellent opportunity here: a 5 year senior research fellowship in Life Sciences (broadly defined) at All Souls College Oxford. Many opportunities to work with the diverse & inclusive community here in @biology.ox.ac.uk here in the brand new Life & Mind Buiilding www.asc.ox.ac.uk/post-doctora...

The spreadsheet for inputting these suggestions can be found here. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

OPEN for comments - BGE+ breaking the cold chain project

docs.google.com

We are proud to share that Ruth Ley @microbiome.bsky.social , Director of the Department of Microbiome Science, has been elected Fellow of The Royal Society @royalsociety.org . Congratulations!!!

Ruth Ley elected Fellow of the Royal Society

bio.mpg.de

Thanks Chris 🙏 Beautiful work. Somehow I'm finding myself blogging more and more about lepidoptera :) kamounlab.medium.com/postcard-fro...

Postcard from Sardinia: a fragile migrant

In an age of growing tension between north and south, one ordinary orange butterfly flutters freely across continents, unbothered by border…

kamounlab.medium.com

Nice to see mention of Anna Orteu’s work on genetics of colour and mimicry in Hypolimnas butterflies!

Sophien Kamoun@kamounlab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Postcard from Kenya 🇰🇪 The big animals get the posters. But the small, slow, multi-million-year relationships are where the hidden magic of the savanna truly resides.

🚨Job claxon🚨 4-year #Postdoc available in our lab in @camzoology.bsky.social developing molecular and anatomical approaches to mapping evolutionary changes in the brain, using #Heliconiini butterflies. Come join us, we are nice. 🧪 www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

Excited to see this out!

Genome Biology and Evolution@genomebiolevol.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Generalovic et al. studied the genetics of the black soldier fly, finding two highly divergent genetic clusters and signatures of domestication bottlenecks in this key species for the global industry of insects food and feed. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag097 #genome #evolution

Generalovic et al. studied the genetics of the black soldier fly, finding two highly divergent genetic clusters and signatures of domestication bottlenecks in this key species for the global industry of insects food and feed. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag097 #genome #evolution

Excited to be awarded a BBSRC grant with @henrylnorth.bsky.social to study pangenomes of hybridising Lepidoptera species

Voted

Kelsey J.R.P. Byers@plantpollinator.bsky.social · 3mo ago

UK folks: don't forget that today is elections day for some if you are able to vote. Polls are open from 7am-10pm & if in queue by 10pm you can still vote. Look up your polling site and candidate list here: www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter... and don't forget to bring ID if in England!

Human-potato coevolution

Luane Landau@lulandau.bsky.social · 3mo ago

1/ New paper out in Nature Communications! We studied the salivary amylase gene, AMY1, in Indigenous Andean populations and found evidence that high AMY1 copy number rapidly increased in frequency, likely through recent positive selection. doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Read ‘Genetic parallelism underpins convergent mimicry coloration in Lepidoptera across 120 million years of evolution' from @york.ac.uk @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @joanameier.bsky.social, et al., in @plosbiology.org ⤵️ journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

No surprise - its Optix and Ivory again - amazing predictability of gene re-use in convergent mimicry phenotypes across amazonian mimicry rings @joanameier.bsky.social @wtf-r-species.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Genetic parallelism underpins convergent mimicry coloration in Lepidoptera across 120 million years of evolution

The repeated evolution of similar phenotypes, or convergent evolution, is widespread in nature, but there are few studies investigating the genetic mechanisms across wide evolutionary timescales. This...

journals.plos.org

Wrote a fun little thing on gene tree discordance: authors.elsevier.com/a/1mzPI3QW8S...

If you are researcher or student in Latin America apply for our Biodiversity Genomics course in Colombia from 27th-31st July 2026 (10 days left for registration) biodiversitygenomicslatam.weebly.com

Back in the noughties when I was an academic, my lab did quite a bit of work on (conserved) alternative transcripts. This study in @plosbiology.org presents compelling evidence that most alternative transcripts are deleterious noise journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Transcript diversity reflects deleterious RNA processing errors shaped by population size in metazoans

Alternative transcription initiation, splicing and polyadenylation generate extensive transcript diversity in eukaryotes, but its evolutionary significance has been disputed. This study analyses 166 t...

journals.plos.org

I am advertising PhD opportunity with Syngenta to discover enzymes using microfluidics - an exciting collaboration with Florian Hollfelder in Biochemistry www.heliconius.zoo.cam.ac.uk/jobs/phd-ica...

Congratulations to Prof Ed Turner who has won a Pilkington Prize for excellence in teaching! He is recognised for his transformative and innovative teaching, as well as his outstanding outreach work with students from under-represented backgrounds. Read more: bit.ly/4lGKuYw

Excited so share our newest study using a single-library HiFi-CiFi approach to generate chromosome-scale diploid assemblies of two vole genomes, identifying putative drivers of divergent pair-bonding behavior, namely a prairie-vole-specific duplication of Avpr1a gene, led by @mabuelanin.bsky.social

bioRxiv Genomics@biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Single-library chromosome-scale diploid assemblies of vole genomes resolve a species-specific duplication implicated in pair bonding https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.13.711624v1

I've just had a jaw-to-the-floor moment with this new paper from the Hines lab. They describe a yellow-white switch in bees, which maps to the same TF as the yellow-white switch in Colias butterflies, previously described by the @chriswheat.bsky.social lab. journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

We are thrilled to announce the next ECR (and apparently butterfly)-themed session of the Integration of Speciation seminar, featuring @charlottewright.bsky.social and @thymelicus.bsky.social + careers Q&A with Dr Sally Potter. Find the link on the Ios website & mailing list.

The #PestSurveyCard on Helicoverpa zea is now available! ➡️ link.europa.eu/GHgFVW EFSA ranked Helicoverpa zea among the EU candidate #PriorityPests: ➡️ bsky.app/profile/efsa... @chrisjiggins.bsky.social @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

NEW - Helicoverpa zea

Updated 20 February 2026 (Version 1). Taxonomy: insects (HELIZE). Host plants: cereals, fruit-bearing vegetables. Regulation: quarantine pests).

link.europa.eu

EFSA Plants@efsa-plants.bsky.social · last yr.

🌱 New EFSA Pest Report! 📄 #Helicoverpa #zea 👉 doi.org/10.2903/sp.e... EFSA’s scientific support for ranking candidate #PriorityPests. 📊 EFSA assessed 47 pests, focusing on: ✔️ Lag period ✔️ Spread ✔️ Impact on crops and the environment #EFSA #PlantHealth #ScienceToPolicy

This has been a great meeting, lots of exciting new genomics advances #AGBTGM26

AGBT@agbt.bsky.social · 5mo ago

EVOLUTIONARY GENOMICS: @chrisjiggins.bsky.social @universitypress.cambridge.org talks about genomes and the network of life at the 2026 AGBT General Meeting. #AGBTGM26 #genomics #evolutionarygenomics

EVOLUTIONARY GENOMICS: @chrisjiggins.bsky.social @universitypress.cambridge.org talks about genomes and the network of life at the 2026 AGBT General Meeting. #AGBTGM26 #genomics #evolutionarygenomics

Mark Blaxter from @sangerinstitute.bsky.social describes the ambition of the @ebpgenome.bsky.social to #Biology26 in Switzerland

JOB ALERT! We are excited to announce that we are recruiting three new academics at lecturer level! Click the link below for more info on how to apply, and don’t forget to explore our research themes too! We look forward to receiving your applications! www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...