New genes play a prominent role in evolution of new sperm classes of Drosophila https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.10.737682v1
Martin Garlovsky
@martingarlovsky.bsky.social
Evolutionary biology, reproduction, speciation and the odd photo
We have a new preprint up looking at how much variation there is in aggression in male and female fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). Check it out here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Genetic Variation in Drosophila melanogaster Aggression
Animals fight for resources to obtain fitness benefits; most contests are intrasexual, and males tend to fight more than females. Although the genetic basis of male aggression is well studied, we know...
biorxiv.org
Comparing reproductive isolation across species has been harder than it should be. The new Reproductive Isolation Ontology (RIO) provides a common framework to standardize RI estimates across the tree of life. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
A standardised framework for classifying estimates of reproductive isolation
Abstract. Understanding reproductive isolation (RI) between lineages is a central goal of speciation research. While the strength of RI has been estimated
academic.oup.com
I wanted to like QED's new 1% preprint ranking. I really did. But the more I looked at the data, the more uncomfortable it made me. Here is my full peer review. open.substack.com/pub/blekhman...
My Peer Review of The 1%
I wanted to like QED's new 1% ranking. I don't.
open.substack.com
Does anyone else have all their old conference posters up in their bedroom or is it just me?
Out today in PLoS Biology, our work showing that mimicry evolution across multiple lineages is driven by recurrent, mutations in the same place in the genome 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
Now out in @royalsocietypublishing.org "The seminal proteome of a monandrous fly, Drosophila subobscura". We discovered that, despite monandry, D subobscura's seminal fluid is surprisingly similar D melanogaster's, and likely shaped by conflict! royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
My lab is looking to hire a postdoc to work on the evolution of organs and cell types. I’m at #EED2026 this week. If you’re here too and this sounds interesting then please reach out. Multi-year funding available!
New insights into #fertilization from the @pauligroup.bsky.social & Ikawa labs! In a tour-de-force study, we discovered ✨ SPARK ✨, a conserved sperm fertilization complex that couples sperm-egg binding to membrane fusion. Read on 🧵👇 and check out our preprint for more details! tinyurl.com/34cm4xat
tinyurl.com
Victoria Deneke@vdeneke.bsky.social · 3mo agoHow do sperm and egg fuse? Surprisingly, we still don’t fully know… Our field has uncovered many pieces of the fertilization puzzle, but not how they fit together. We identify ✨ SPARK ✨ - a conserved sperm complex that couples sperm-egg binding to fusion. tinyurl.com/34cm4xat Read on! 🧵👇
Hot new study out as a preprint on @ecoevorxiv.bsky.social We investigated the effect of developmental heat stress on a whole spectrum of traits in a subtropical/tropical species, highlighting the importance of studying heat stress beyond short-term heatwaves 🔆 Read here: doi.org/10.32942/X2C...
Sex differential effects of developmental heat stress on life-history and reproductive traits
doi.org
New paper out in Evolution! @sse-evolution.bsky.social From mating to sperm storage: density-dependent plasticity in pre- and post-copulatory shared mating traits 🦗 doi.org/10.1093/evol... #openaccess
From mating to sperm storage: density-dependent plasticity in pre- and post-copulatory shared mating traits
Abstract. Mating interactions depend on traits expressed jointly by males and females, yet the extent to which each sex controls variation in these shared
doi.org
Latest paper. We studied ATF4 in ageing in the fly. We find in contrast to previous suggestions that ATF4 suppression rather than activation extends lifespan. The study was largely conducted in an MSc project by Miriam Götz who showed an exceptional drive for science. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
pnas.org
Interested in working on the evolution of photosynthetic endosymbioses? Come join us! I have 2 open positions in my new group @cemess.bsky.social in Vienna 3yr postdoc info: tinyurl.com/4emkjpn4 4yr PhD info: tinyurl.com/mtxmsjpy Apply by 1st June! Please share/repost #Protists #Symbiosis #PhD
If the reproductive system of internal fertilisation could evolve anew would it be the same or different? This is the question we were able to investigate in bed bugs which inject sperm into a novel organ within the abdomen bypassing the reproductive tract.
Martin Garlovsky@martingarlovsky.bsky.social · 4mo agoTo deal with being stabbed in the gut by a dirty “needle” filled with sperm, female bedbugs have evolved a novel organ called the spermalege that’s separate from the reproductive tract. Sperm stay in this sponge-like organ for hours before crossing into the blood and then the reproductive tract.
Have you ever lifted the covers to find a bedbug and thought: COOL! I thought not, but hopefully I can change your mind. 🧵 (1/8)
Nice to see our work featured in The Guardian — showing that sperm quality can decline the longer it is stored. @krishsanghvi11.bsky.social @itchyshin.bsky.social
Royal Society Publishing@royalsocietypublishing.org · 4mo ago#ProcB in @theguardian.com | Sperm storage causes sperm senescence in human and non-human animals: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
The great care home cash grab: how private equity turned vulnerable elderly people into human ATMs
The great care home cash grab: how private equity turned vulnerable elderly people into human ATMs
When did care homes come to be seen as recession-proof investments? And who pays the price?
theguardian.com
🧬 Funded GTA PhD in my lab at UCL @ucllifesciences.bsky.social ! Looking for a motivated student to work on how mismatches between mitochondrial & nuclear genomes shape health, ageing & evolution. Experimental (Drosophila) | Computational genomics The project is flexible & shaped around you.
FindAPhD : Biosciences Graduate Training Assistant PhD Studentships at University College London
Apply for a PhD: Biosciences Graduate Training Assistant PhD Studentships at University College London
findaphd.com
Sperm can “age” independently of the male, when stored in male or female reproductive tracts. Our meta-analysis finds widespread evidence across animals (including abstinence in men). Important consequences for fertility, sexual selection, haploid selection! doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
Are you looking for a PhD position, hoping to learn sexual selection theory from one of the true experts in the field? Lehtonen's work is awesome - Look at this and apply! ats.talentadore.com/apply/doctor...
Doctoral Researcher in Theoretical Evolutionary Biology (1-2 positions)
The Department of Biological and Environmental Science is seeking to recruit Doctoral Researcher in sexual selection theory (1-2 positions) starting 1.9.2026, or as soon as possible after that for a m...
ats.talentadore.com
🚨 Postdoc in conservation genomics & experimental evolution (Copenhagen) Join us explore questions on gene editing for biodiversity conservation 🔬 Required: exp in experimental evolution (ideally C. elegans) 📅 1-year pos ⏰ Dline: April 6 employment.ku.dk/faculty?show... @hologenomics.bsky.social
Postdoctoral position in conservation genomics and experimental evolution at Hologenomics Section, Globe Institute
The Hologenomics Section, Globe Institute, University at Copenhagen, is looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic postdoctoral researcher to join our team. This position is part of the research project “Back from the Brink: experimental de-extinction in a model-organism to restore lost diversity”, funded under the Villum Experiment Programme. The project explores the potential of gene editing technologies for conservation using an experimental setting, the risks and consequences for the management of genetically vulnerable populations. Duration: one year.
employment.ku.dk
I am SO THRILLED to share our first fully-lab lab paper!!!!!! Led by @hybridzones.bsky.social & @hagarsoliman.bsky.social, w/ a major assist from @pfschwarz.bsky.social!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read more below, if you're curious (you should be- it's AWESOME!!!!!!!) link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Introgression and parental conflict shape repeated occurrences of postzygotic isolation in Mimulus
Postzygotic reproductive isolation is often thought to accumulate as a byproduct of neutral divergence. Yet it frequently evolves rapidly, in line wit…
sciencedirect.com
Happy to be able to share our review of the consequences of rising temperatures on animal fertility, led by @rhondasnook.bsky.social with @liamdougherty.bsky.social and Claudia Fricke. Research is getting active in this area but there's still a lot of unknowns... rdcu.be/e7uGm
The consequences of rising temperatures for animal fertility
Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Thermal stress reduces fertility in animals at temperatures below lethal, yet these sublethal effects remain underrepresented in biodiversity forecasts. This Review...
rdcu.be
Quick plug for our new resource, the Drosophila Species Stock Exchange. This is a database and mailing list that documents species currently in culture and the labs holding them. If you want to know more or sign up then please get in touch. See attached for more info and please share!
question to those doing sperm motility analysis. Are there any recent resources/reviews you'd recommend? What software are you using? Thanks
Another unsuccessful MSCA postdoc application. The same proposal has now scored 90.2, 77.4 and now 96.2