New PhD opportunity in my group @thesainsburylab.bsky.social through the BBSRC NRP DTP Programme - see details of host to apply below biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/van...

Vanishing Virulence: Investigating pathogenicity loss in a plant pathogenic fungus (TALBOT_T26DTP) | Doctoral Training Partnership

What makes a plant killer lose its edge? This project will investigate why fungal pathogens lose virulence when they are grown in laboratory culture away from their host plant. Use cutting-edge…

biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk

Bram van Dijk @bramvandijk.bsky.social (@utrechtuniversity.bsky.social): How mobile genes reshape the microbial arms race #NIME2025

Aileen Berasategui @berasymbionts.bsky.social (VU) on Origin and evolution of a defensive symbiosis in tortoise beetle Chelymorpha alternans beetle => today, focusing on pupation see their @currentbiology.bsky.social paper (with @hassansalem.bsky.social) www.cell.com/current-biol... #NIME2025

🎤 Meet the speakers of 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟯: Fungal Crosstalk with Hosts & Predatory Interactions at #IFBC2025! 🍄🌱🪱🧬 ⏳ The registration & abstract submission deadline is fast approaching! 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀: 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟱 📍 Chania, Greece | 📅 Sept 27–30 🔗 ifbc2025.maich.gr #fungalbiology #Conference #Greece

Great sessions at #IFBC25 on fungal manipulation of ant behaviour (Charissa de Bekker) and nematode behaviour (@fungi_worms and Reinhard Fischer) -highlighting the complex cellular eukaryotic processes that fungal effectors can perturb -remarkable insights from effector biology

On my way back from the International Fungal Biology 🍄🍄‍🟫Conference in Chania, Crete. I’m exhausted. But what an amazing 4 days of science, friends, and Greek hospitality it was. And in such a beautiful conference venue too! Wish all conferences could be in Crete 🤩☀️🌴🐈🐈‍⬛

Which fungal 🍄 molecules cause zombie 🧟‍♀️ ant 🐜 behaviors? @williamycete.bsky.social has begun to answer this question! He found a peptide that binds to scramblase and affects important odor-dependent behaviors in ants. Spoiler: worms 🪱 played a key role in this research 🧐 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

The First of Us: Ophiocordyceps use a novel scramblase-binding peptide to manipulate zombie ants

Parasite-adaptive manipulation of behavior is a widespread natural phenomenon. While Ophiocordyceps zombie fungi are well-known for hijacking ant behavior to increase their fitness, functionally chara...

doi.org

Goodbye #eseb2025 @eseb2025.bsky.social see you next time! Perhaps what stuck most was powerful talk on resilience and survival by Palestinian researcher, play director, and ESEB EUEA awardee May Shehady. Let's not forget, let's not look away. 🇵🇸

❤️❤️❤️

Tilly S Scott@tillysscott.bsky.social · 12mo ago

We started today with a wonderful talk on how cordyceps fungus generates zombie ants. Then on to modelling, egg laying timing & brood number, white clover in rural and urban environments, young active SINEs in Italian sparrow, TE content in ferns 🧵1/2 #eseb2025 #eseb #sciart

Phew! What a rush presenting for the big, scientifically diverse #ESEB2025 crowd this morning. Thankful for this amazing opportunity to show off the interdisciplinary work my research team and our collaborators have been doing to better understand parasite manipulation of behavior. #zombieants 🧟‍♀️ 🐜 🍄

Brilliant plenary today from Carrisa de Bekker @zombieantdoc.bsky.social at @eseb.bsky.social conference. On her work funded by @erc.europa.eu CoG. Great example of inter-disciplinary collaboration to solve a mystery..

Fantastic keynote by @zombieantdoc.bsky.social at #ESEB2025 taking us on a journey through zombie-making strategies of Ophiocordyceps fungi to hijack ant behaviour, with lots of amazing new data, behaviour, functional genetic essays.. @ebablab.bsky.social @alealisousa.bsky.social @r3rt0.bsky.social

How do fungi manipulate ant behaviour? A beautiful story unfolding through multiple elegant approaches from @zombieantdoc.bsky.social in today’s plenary #eseb2025

#ESEB2025 Excellent Keynote by @zombieantdoc.bsky.social on how parasites affect host behavior using fungus- 🐜 as a model. Nice combination of multi-omic approaches with functional genetic assays and quantitative behavioral assays to pinpoint host pathways that are affected during fungal infection

@zombieantdoc.bsky.social spreading the biology of zombie ant fungus in the ESEB plenary. Showing mechanisms of how fungi hijack ant behaviour to help their own dispersal.

Folks going to #ESEB2025 : To help people connect on Bluesky, I've started making starter packs. Here is a first one with the names that were available when I started. Ping me if you want to be included in the next one!

Parasites 🦠🪱🍄‍🟫 that hijack insects 🐜🪰🐛and induce “zombie behaviors” 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️ often affect the host’s daily rhythms. But how do they do it? In this npj bts publication @joanadopp.bsky.social and I propose that they co-opt host circadian plasticity 🧠⌚️ We hope you’ll enjoy the read! rdcu.be/eyPz0

Insect circadian plasticity as a proposed target for the expression of parasite extended phenotypes

npj Biological Timing and Sleep - Insect circadian plasticity as a proposed target for the expression of parasite extended phenotypes

rdcu.be

Excited to have joined the Editorial Board of @plosbiology.org a few months ago, the #PLOS flagship journal in the Life Sciences. As an editor, I aim to contribute to their support of equitable #OpenScience and reaching global audiences to help advance science faster.

Only a couple of weeks till the @eseb2025.bsky.social conference! I’m so honored to be one of the keynote speakers, and incredibly excited about the amazing scientific program and the opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones! #eseb2025

ESEB 2025 Congress @eseb2025.bsky.social · 2y ago

📢 Meet the speakers: Charissa de Bekker 📢 Charissa de Bekker is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Read about her here: eseb2025.com/team/chariss...

Willkommen im Reich der Pilze.

It was a pleasure presenting our #ZombieAnt research at the #LeidenBiology symposium this afternoon. Thanks for the invite and the great discussion!

Ákos T Kovács@evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · last yr.

#LeidenBiology symposium continues with an engaging talk by Charissa de Bekker @zombieantdoc.bsky.social on behavioural manipulators, aka #ZombieAnts and their fungi Influence on insect behaviour includes disruption of #circadianclock 🤗

BREAKING NEWS: the number of #fungi species on the IUCN Red List has surpassed 1000!! 🥳🥳 Today's update confirmed that #deforestation, agricultural expansion and urban development are driving fungi to decline worldwide. It's the top story on the press release — iucn.org/press-releas...

First 1,000 fungi on IUCN Red List reveal growing threats - IUCN Red List

Gland, Switzerland, 27 March 2025 (IUCN) – The number of fungi species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ has surpassed 1,000, confirming that deforestation, agricultural expansion and urban ...

iucn.org

My friends at @terzijdehorde.bsky.social are supporting those who fight the good fight. And so could you by buying one of their shirts! Trans rights are human rights. ✊🏳️‍⚧️

Terzij de Horde - the only black metal on bluesky@terzijdehorde.bsky.social · last yr.

For this Bandcamp Friday, all of our shirts are now 10 euros, crewneck 25. All the money made will be donated to A4TE (transequality.org), to help them fight the good fight there. Let's do the same here. Trans rights forever. terzijdehorde.bandcamp.com/merch

Our newest research on plant-fungal trade published today in @nature.com. The work, led by scientists from Vrije Universiteit, Princeton University, SPUN & AMOLF combines robotics, mycology & biophysics to reveal underground supply-chain dynamics. Open access: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Such a great opportunity to present our research at #CMINorwich2025 in front of a room filled with microbiologists with such diverse and exciting research interests.

Nick Talbot@talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · last yr.

Great to welcome Clarissa de Bekker to #CMINorwich25 - fascinating fungal-insect-plant interactions

Some frivolous food for thought about parasites in case you’re up for a lighter note amidsts all the current chaos and despair. www.uu.nl/en/news/para...

Parasites are biodiversity too

Parasites are often overlooked in biodiversity research and conservation efforts. That needs to change, says zombie ant researcher Charissa de Bekker.

uu.nl

This is a room where we turn very modest salaries and budgets (and lots of coffee) into new knowledge, life-saving innovations, and technology that feeds business growth. It's literally the loom that spins hay into gold but these numpties are suddenly worried about the cost of hay.

🎙️ New Interview Alert The Scientist sat down with @fhagen.bsky.social from the Westerdijk Institute to discuss a global health challenge: the silent pandemic of antifungal resistance. Read here: www.the-scientist.com/the-silent-p...

Looking for conversation material for the holidays? Look no further! Here’s some fun zombie fungi facts to share with unexpecting family members and friends. I mean, who wouldn’t want to chat about fungus-infused, out of their mind ants, flies and cicadas? www.the-scientist.com/zombie-fungi...

Zombie Fungi Hijack Hosts’ Brains

Mind-controlling fungi are changing the ways that scientists understand host-parasite relationships.

the-scientist.com

My department is hiring a fungal biologist! aprecruit.ucr.edu/JPF01990

Assistant Professor in Fungal Biology

University of California, Riverside is hiring. Apply now!

aprecruit.ucr.edu