Join us for another Internal Conflicts STN seminar tomorrow at 9:00 UTC! Emily Hornett (@bolinabug.bsky.social) and Greg Hurst (@greghurst.bsky.social) will talk about their work on male-killing and sex determination evolution. Zoom info and more: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/

Last chance to join us next month for the #Biodiversity25 conference. A fantastic set of speakers, mix of talks & focused workshops, and the chance to meet others in the field of biodiversity genomics 🧬 In-person registration closes next Monday 29th September! Registration 🔗: bit.ly/4j3vAZ9

Two fully funded #PhD positions on insect #Symbiosis available in our lab: Spiroplasma in Neotropical Arthropods (tinyurl.com/spiroplasma) & Psyllid symbionts (tinyurl.com/psyllids). Please contact me for any questions & share widely #symbiosky #academicjobs

We are offering an exciting opportunity for a clinical trainee to undertake a PhD in an area relating to outbreak prone infectious disease of public health importance or zoonoses: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNJ811/h...

HPRU Clinical Fellow at University of Liverpool

Apply now for the HPRU Clinical Fellow role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

jobs.ac.uk

Looking for a postdoc on bacterial-insect symbiosis, combining evolution and molecular mechanisms? I'll have one open in my lab starting Sept 2025. If interested contact me (or find me at the GRC on Animal-microbe symbiosis if you'll be there). #SymbioSky

#drosophila @flybase.bsky.social request emergency funding: "As it stands, by the end of July, 2025, there will be no future updates to FlyBase, and in the worst case scenario access to the website will also be lost" => please donate! www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk/give-to-camb...

Drosophila Genetic Database

The Drosophila Genetic Database, FlyBase, is on the brink of collapse due to the sudden termination of the FlyBase NIH grant, which includes salaries for 5 literature curators based at the University ...

philanthropy.cam.ac.uk

New preprint ex @bolinabug.bsky.social (+ @daisukekageyama.bsky.social & @scottishwormboy.bsky.social) on the pronounced secondary expansion of Spiroplasma and Rickettsia genomes in lacewings doi.org/10.1101/2025... #symbiosky 1/2

Concerted genome expansion of heritable symbionts in an insect host

Maternally transmitted symbionts represent important components of arthropod biology, acting as both beneficial partners and as reproductive parasites. Their strict vertical transmission greatly reduc...

doi.org

Rachel Drysdale and I prepared a biographical memoir for Michael Ashburner, now published at: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Our New Paper is out! Great work by Mashaneh Ahrar and the team - thank you all, especially @makaefer.bsky.social and Greg Hurst (is he on Bsky???)! TBC :)

Marie Held@makaefer.bsky.social · last yr.

New publication ( @greghurst.bsky.social @ewachrostek.bsky.social ) out using one of the @cci-liv.bsky.social microscopes and image analysis expertise: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @livuni-livsrf.bsky.social @livuniresearch.bsky.social @zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social

Please spread the word - 2 new PhD positions, one fully funded and one self-funded, with us at Durham and @clarahowcroft.bsky.social at Northumbria Uni! We are looking for people with interdisciplinary experience (biology, computer vision, engineering) and interest to work across disciplines.

InsectNeuroLab@insectneurolab.bsky.social · last yr.

Please re-post: We have 2 new PhD positions on insect behaviour. We are looking for people with interests and expertise in development of behavioural assays, working with insects, computer vision, image processing and data analysis, and previous research experience. Please email us to discuss! 🦟💻🐝

Delighted to have been awarded a BBSRC Fellowship to look at the genetics of how insects have adapted to living in freshwater habitats 🧬🦋🪰🪲🌊 Extremely grateful to all who have supported me over the years and excited to be at Liverpool with some great colleagues! www.ukri.org/news/9-milli...

£9 million investment fuels groundbreaking bioscience research

From unlocking the secrets of animal movement to tackling antimicrobial resistance, UK’s brightest bioscience minds are pushing the boundaries of innovation.

ukri.org

@haraipapilio.bsky.social paper on evolution of Wolbachia MK mechanism through prophage acquisition in molina butterflies - avoiding suppression by the host. Now out! #symbiosky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... With @daisukekageyama.bsky.social @bolinabug.bsky.social and others

Evolution of Wolbachia male-killing mechanism within a host species

Male-killing bacterial symbionts, prevalent in arthropods, skew population sex ratios by selectively killing male progeny, profoundly impacting ecolog…

sciencedirect.com

Happy to contribute to this piece in recognition of #InternationalWomensDay

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · last yr.

How to keep more women in research. Ahead of International Women’s Day, four female researchers (incl. @kimholzmann.bsky.social, @aislingbrady.bsky.social and @mbigoni.bsky.social) discuss the barriers and opportunities they have experienced. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-worl...

New study from my lab and former grad Dr. Kwak shows Liberibacter psyllaurous, a dual insect symbiont and plant pathogen, boosts psyllid fitness by providing essential nutrients like arginine. A rare case of nutritional benefits from non-obligate symbionts #symbiosis journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

A dual insect symbiont and plant pathogen improves insect host fitness under arginine limitation | mBio

Unlike obligate symbionts that are permanently associated with their hosts, facultative symbionts rarely show direct nutritional contributions, especially under nutrient-limited conditions. This study...

journals.asm.org

Job! 2-year postdoc position in EVElab, Bristol UK on nutrition and infections in pregnancy (FLF-funded) www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DLV631/r... Apply if you are enthusiastic about: - experiments on insects which get pregnant - relevance of evolution to public health - a vibrant city & research environment

Hardly new info, but BSky should know: Warsaw's water quality is monitored by eight clams with magnets attached to their shells. If contamination in the water causes the clams to close, the magnets trigger an alarm and shut off the city's water supply. Thank you, little guardian molluscs. 🧪🌏🚰

🚨 Job alert 🚨 — are you interested in understanding how mobile genetic elements and defence systems shape bacterial genome evolution? 🧬 🧪 🧫 🦠 2x 5-year research positions available in experimental evolution @mermanchester.bsky.social Join us! #microsky www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Research Associate in Experimental Evolution:Manchester

jobs.manchester.ac.uk

NERC Fellowships are open! We (Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, at the @liverpooluni.bsky.social) have a policy to provide a PERMANENT JOB to successful candidates at the end of the fellowship. Please in touch if you're interested!

NERC Independent Research Fellowship 2024

Apply for funding to further your career through an independent research fellowship.

ukri.org

BBSRC fellowships are open: 3yrs of funding, ECRs worldwide are eligible (including the US 👀). Deadline 7th May. If you've a some postdoc experience (but no prior independent fellowships) and fancy coming to my Dept/ Institute in @liverpooluni.bsky.social, drop me a message.

2025 BBSRC Fellowships scheme

Apply for funding to carry out independent research within a host laboratory and gain leadership skills.

ukri.org

Celebrating the work of Dr. Ruth Ella Moore, cph.osu.edu/news/2022/01..., who worked on #tuberculosis for her thesis! #28DaysOfBlackSTEMHistory #BlackHistoryMonth

Proud they're ours: Ruth Ella Moore

Ruth Ella Moore ’26 BS, ’27 MA, ’33 PhD Born: May 19, 1903 Died: July 19, 1994 Alumna Ruth Ella Moore's work continues to inform the global struggle against tuberculosis Ruth Ella Moore ’26 BS, ’27 MA...

cph.osu.edu

It's the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. In 1995, I visited the camp's Hungarian room. A room of plain white walls with hundreds of thousands of names inscribed. Hundreds of thousands of lost lives. Now, more than ever, for people of all creeds, colours & identities, never again.

Lovely tribute from the Microbiology Society to a wonderful colleague who has left us too soon. microbiologysociety.org/news/society...

New preprint from @haraipapilio.bsky.social with @bolinabug.bsky.social @daisukekageyama.bsky.social and others not on bluesky #symbiosky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Evolution of Wolbachia male-killing mechanism within a host species

Male-killing bacterial symbionts, prevalent in arthropods, skew population sex ratios by selectively killing male progeny, profoundly impacting ecology and evolution of their hosts. Male-killing is a ...

biorxiv.org

Richard Cordeaux (EGCE lab, Gif sur Yvette, France) is offering an 18-month postdoc position in evolutionary genomics to study sex determination and resistance to vertical transmission of feminizing Wolbachia endosymbionts in an isopod. #SymbioSky #Wolbachia filesender.renater.fr?s=download&t...

Two #postdoc positions available in my lab. Position 1 focusses on #phytoplasma transmission via #insects. Position 2 aims to investigate the dynamics of #symbiont #evolution in #psyllids in collaboration with @mgerth.bsky.social, Martin Kaltenpoth and Liliya Serbina. Please share.

BBSRC funded PhD - evolution in the early stages of symbiosis, using Arsenophonus as model. tinyurl.com/Edgeofsymbio.... Apply by 30/01/2025. Available for UK and International students. With @brockhurstlab.bsky.social and @acdarby.bsky.social. #symbiosky

BBSRC NWD: On the edges of symbiosis: how insect symbionts evolve in newly established interactions at University of Liverpool on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - BBSRC NWD: On the edges of symbiosis: how insect symbionts evolve in newly established interactions at University of Liverpool, listed on FindAPhD.com

tinyurl.com

My wonderful PhD advisor is accepting inquiries for a postdoc - come work in beautiful Narragansett @urigso.bsky.social on anaerobic ciliates and their symbionts -- very cool project with international collabs. ive been in this lab for past 5+ yrs and will miss it dearly! #ProtistsOnSky #SymbioSky

Dr. Roxanne Beinart@symbiosisrox.bsky.social · 2y ago

We are searching for a postdoc to join our team, focused on anaerobic ciliate-methanogen symbiosis. Please share widely!

🆕New in @plosbiology.bsky.social: we show compensatory mutations make plasmids play Rock-Paper-Scissors and turn conjugation into a weapon🛡️💫✂️🦠 w/Rosanna Wright, Jamie Wood, @mbottery.bsky.social, @kmudz.bsky.social, @scottishwormboy.bsky.social, Ellie Harrison & @brockhurstlab.bsky.social #MicroSky

A chromosomal mutation is superior to a plasmid-encoded mutation for plasmid fitness cost compensation

Plasmids spread important traits in microbiomes but impose fitness costs on their hosts. This study of the ecological consequences of plasmid-bacterial compensatory evolution reveals benefits to bacte...

journals.plos.org

Are you or do you know someone interested in symbiosis research? Anaeramoeba is an exciting organism to explore symbiosis in a low-oxygen environment. Less than a week (December 6) to apply for the PhD position in my group! uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/... Please share widely!

I created this stater pack with women in ecology and evolution. If you want to be added you can comment or DM me, but also please suggest the names of those I am missing 🧪🌎🌐 go.bsky.app/8jFH7cS