Mateusz Konczal
@mkonczal.bsky.social
Evolutionary and population genomics; conservation biology; experimental evolution; genomics and transcriptomics. Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland
Preprint alert! 🧪 🐟 If you are interested in #LongTermStudies #BalancingSelection #KinCompetition check out our new MS. Mini thread below 🧵:
bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology@biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · last mo.Competition among kin generates balancing selection in a wild population https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.11.737918v1
Our paper on genetic load in an invasive guppy population is now published in @genomeresearch.bsky.social It was a fantastic journey — from field sampling to analysis and finally publication. I hope readers will enjoy the story as much as we enjoyed working on it. genome.cshlp.org/content/36/7...
genome.cshlp.org
@sebchm.bsky.social et al. study bulb mites to show that sex ratio manipulation drives evolution of male harm to females and widespread haplotype frequency changes without clear evidence for enhanced purging or maintenance of genetic diversity. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag151 #societyjournal
Experimental Evolution Under Biased Sex Ratios: Phenotypic and Genomic Responses in the Bulb Mite, Rhizoglyphus robini
Abstract. Sexual selection may increase population fitness by favoring high-condition individuals and accelerating the purging of deleterious alleles. Howe
doi.org
Our paper is out! 📣 we find that molecular measures of genetic variation do not predict heritable genetic variation across species - important implications for the application of genomic data for conservation! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Nucleotide diversity is a poor predictor of short-term adaptive potential | PNAS
The capacity to adapt is essential for a population to avoid extinction in a changing world and is recognized as a global conservation priority. Ad...
pnas.org
Just arrived in Copenhagen for #SMBE2026. The weather is hot, but the Royal Library is calm, (relatively) cool, and free to enter. A perfect spot to escape the heat for a while. Highly recommended!
Interested in the evolutionary genomics of host-pathogen interactions or the evolutionary ecology of senescence? 1 week left to apply for the two postdoc positions in our badger - bovine TB project🦡🦠🧪🧬👇
Barbara Tschirren@btschirren.bsky.social · 3mo agoWe are recruiting 🌟2 postdoctoral researchers🌟 for a NERC Large Grant project on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of badger - bovine tuberculosis (bTB) interactions.
Still some time to apply to our postdoc position - deadline 3rd July. I'll be at #SMBE2026 if anyone would like to chat about it 😊
Susan Johnston@susanjohnston.bsky.social · 3mo ago📣🧬 Postdoc Alert🧬📣 We are hiring a 2+ year NERC-funded postdoc at Edinburgh Uni investigating causes and consequences of sex differences in recombination in house sparrows in Norway. Informal enquiries welcome at Susan.Johnston@ed.ac.uk 🙂 Details here: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
Our traditional Evokayak retreat is sadly over. Some of us absorbed inspiring talks horizontally and survived kayak teamwork vertically. Great to see friends from Kraków and Łódź. Thanks for coming and see you in two years!
Minibwa is a hybrid of bwa-mem and minimap2 and the successor of bwa-mem for short-read mapping. ~4X/2.5X as fast as bwa-mem/bwa-mem2 for WGS reads at comparable accuracy. Native support of directional bisulfite-seq. Applicable to long reads. Preprint at arxiv.org/abs/2606.15357
Recipe for a Good π. How to Properly Estimate Population Genetics Summary Statistics and Why we Should Systematically Report Them academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...
A Recipe for a Good π. How to Properly Estimate Population Genetics Summary Statistics and Why we Should Systematically Report Them
Abstract. Many long-standing questions in population genomics can now be addressed through comparative analyses and by leveraging the vast amount of genomi
academic.oup.com
I've been keeping this quiet for a while, but now's as good a time as any to announce: I have a book contract for a new textbook, Applied Evolutionary Medicine, with Princeton Univ Press. Core theme: "What, if anything, do medical practitioners do differently when they understand evolution"?
Our new paper doi.org/10.1098/rspb... on long-term genetic threats to small populations finds that "mutational meltdown" (bad mutations fixing) is less of a problem than "mutational drought" (too few good new mutations) @wmawass.bsky.social @uliseshmc.bsky.social @jeremyjberg.bsky.social 1/5
Extinction vortices are driven more by a shortage of beneficial mutations than by deleterious mutation accumulation
Abstract. Habitat loss contributes to extinction risk in multiple ways. Genetically, small populations can face an ‘extinction vortex’—a positive feedback
doi.org
📣🧬 Postdoc Alert🧬📣 We are hiring a 2+ year NERC-funded postdoc at Edinburgh Uni investigating causes and consequences of sex differences in recombination in house sparrows in Norway. Informal enquiries welcome at Susan.Johnston@ed.ac.uk 🙂 Details here: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
As a PhD student, I was part of a unique long-term selection experiment in bank voles. Then Puumala hantavirus hit. Thanks to deep biological insight, courage & huge effort, the virus was eradicated—and the experiment survived. Now, details of this story can be found here: doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Maternal antibody-mediated elimination of a Puumala hantavirus outbreak in a bank vole colony
Author summary In 2006, we started a unique long-term experiment on the bank vole, a common European rodent. Our goal was to study how animals adapt to different challenges—a process known as adaptive...
doi.org
Our new paper on genetic rescue is now out in Nature Ecology & Evolution! Huge kudos to Jon — it was an amazing experience working on this project. Check out our results! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Genetic rescue increases long-term fitness despite elevating putative genetic load in a male-dimorphic mite - Nature Ecology & Evolution
An experiment with male-dimorphic mites shows long-lasting benefits of genetic rescue, regardless of type of male rescuer and despite introducing genetic load, in populations subjected to a thermal st...
nature.com
Evolutionary Biology Group, Adam Mickiewicz University@evobiolab.bsky.social · 3mo agoJon's new study in @natecoevo.nature.com shows that genetic rescue can increase long-term fitness despite elevating putative genetic load. Interested? Check out our paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... A short thread below 🧵 Coauthored by @jacek-radwan.bsky.social and @mkonczal.bsky.social
Our paper entitled "The persistence and loss of hard selective sweeps amid admixture in ancient Eurasians" is now out in PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1.... A really fun and informative collaboration with @mharris.bsky.social, Ziyi Mo and Adam Siepel. (1/n)
The persistence and loss of hard selective sweeps amid admixture in ancient Eurasians | PNAS
The extent to which human adaptations have persisted throughout history despite strong eroding demographic events such as admixture, genetic drift,...
pnas.org
Ver excited to share my just-published Darwin Review with @lh3lh3.bsky.social on population-scale long-read sequencing! royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
Population-scale long-read DNA sequencing: peering under the hood of the new evolutionary genomics
Abstract. Population-scale long-read DNA sequencing (PLRS) is rapidly reshaping our understanding of genomic variation in humans and non-model species. In
royalsocietypublishing.org
Please share widely! We will imminently be posting a technician position in our lab group since @rheasood.bsky.social is off to grad school 🙌! If you know of anyone excited about molecular biology, evolution, and functional genomics please have them reach out (schumer at stanford). Start date ~June
Our new paper about polymorphism in a key regulator of missing-self innate immunity is now available in @molbioevol.bsky.social Congratulations @rocconotarnicola.bsky.social et al!
@rocconotarnicola.bsky.social · 4mo agoOur paper is out! We show that a 'missing-self' regulator (CFH) isn't as constrained as we thought, instead shows strong diversifying selection, likely driven by pathogen exploitation (e.g. Borrelia). Highlights how competing selective pressures shape innate immunity academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...
We present DNAharvester 🎉🦴🚜🧬 A pipeline to process highly degraded ancient DNA data that integrates metagenomic filtering, competitive mapping, multiple alignment strategies, reference bias evaluation and much more. GitHub: github.com/NBISweden/DN... Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
New work by Neha Pandey and the group on sexual selection’s role in population resilience, dynamics & recovery is now out.
Rob Knell@robknell.bsky.social · 4mo agoNew paper out in #Ecology Letters: We manipulated the presence of "fighter" and "scrambler" males in soil mite populations and showed that aggressive male behaviour reduces population size and stability. 🧪#SexualSelection #PopulationEcology onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The second chapter of my PhD is now available as a preprint 🦚. A lot of it came together during long days in front of my blue screen, and weekends spent watching puffins in the UK. With an amazing team @robknell.bsky.social @jacek-radwan.bsky.social Jonathan Parrett and @ecologycoder.bsky.social
Rob Knell@robknell.bsky.social · 5mo ago1) New manuscript preprint up: we model adaptation to changing environments under mating systems ranging from random mating via mutual choice monogamy through to female choice polygyny. 🧪https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.30.715329v1
@jochenwolflab.bsky.social Where do potentially harmful mutations accumulate? We have an answer in birds. Congratulations Fidel for wonderful paper! doi.org/10.1093/gene...
Determinants of mutation load in birds
Abstract. Many mutations have detrimental effects. The mutation load in a population depends on the efficacy of purifying selection in removing deleterious
doi.org
📢 PhD position – Evolutionary & Conservation Genomics We invite applications for a 48-month PhD in the project “Genetic load and adaptive potential of European bison.” evobio.web.amu.edu.pl/2026/01/27/p... #PhD #Genomics #ConservationGenomics #EvolutionaryBiology #aDNA
A key regulator of missing-self innate immunity is polymorphic and under diversifying selection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.10.693425v1
Genomic basis of adaptation to constant and fluctuating environments in a global pest of cereals https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.08.698337v1
[PL] Dobry tekst o polskich jednorożcach, a w istocie o znaczeniu badań podstawowych: wszystkoconajwazniejsze.pl/andrzej-dybc...
Andrzej DYBCZYŃSKI: Bajki o polskich jednorożcach
Olga Malinkiewicz i jej Saule Technologies i perowskitach po programie, jaki Krzysztof Stanowski zaproponował w Kanał Zero.
wszystkoconajwazniejsze.pl
Maternal antibody-mediated elimination of a Puumala hantavirus outbreak in a bank vole colony https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.04.686465v1
