Arnaud Martin

@mcgregorlab.bsky.social and I had the pleasure of writing a dispatch article discussing the latest work from @gavinrrice.bsky.social and @rebeizlab.bsky.social. You can find it over on this link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Programmed meiotic errors facilitate dichotomous sperm production in the silkworm, Bombyx mori The goal of meiosis is typically to produce haploid gametes (eggs or sperm). Failure to do so is catastrophic for fertility and offspring health. However, Lepidopteran (moths and butterflies) males pr...

So excited to share this preprint from the Rosin lab in collaboration with the Hawley lab and @eelcotromer.bsky.social on moth spermatogenesis! We investigate the meiotic errors that occur during the formation of apyrene sperm (that have no DNA) in silkworms!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Genomics of Neotropical biodiversity indicators: Two butterfly radiations with rampant chromosomal rearrangements and hybridization | PNAS A central question in evolutionary biology is what drives the diversification of lineages. Rapid, recent radiations are ideal systems for this ques...

Thanks for the amazing science from your group, Joana! 👍 The butterflies took us on a fascinating flight into the tangled chromatin genealogies in the fragrant rainforest community evolving through Pleistocene glacial cycles. 🏔️Such a rich piece!! #biogeography #genomic #speciation
shorturl.at/8AVQT

Glasswing butterfly (Mechanitis messenoides). Photo by Alex Arias

New research on glasswing butterflies🦋 by an international team of researchers, including @joanameier.bsky.social and Prof @chrisjiggins.bsky.social offers fresh insights into insect evolution and may help shape more effective conservation of these species.

Read more: bit.ly/4oi4XUo

Very lucky to be at UCSF with such great microscopy facilities. These instruments are definitely pushing the limits of what we thought feasible in live imaging! Excited to keep exploring how these single cells organize and secrete such precise morphologies.

1/5 ✨Proud✨ to see our review with Katie Peichel as featured content in Trends_Ecol_Evo, with my beloved alpine lineages of Arabidopsis arenosa on the cover. Hope that you find it interesting! doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.11.007

Super excited for this chance to share our @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social #preprint, in wihch we ask a simple question – what were the genomic of gorillas evolving polygyny?

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

we put the corresponding Minos donor plasmid on Addgene
www.addgene.org/240410/

Transgenic Plodia larvae expressing the very bright mBaoJin (mStayGold variant) in its silk glands.

Also some gorgeous 3xP3:mCherry staining of larval ocelli and glia.

(see revised preprint) by pantry moth wizards
@donyaniyaz.bsky.social & @lucalivraghi.bsky.social doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Preprint alert from the lab
@jasminealqassar.bsky.social led this elegant study of gene expression in the silk glands of our favorite alternative "silk worm", the pantry moth.

Mega-polyploid cells with thousands of genome copies just to express a handful of proteins

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

So very excited for the magnum opus of my #PhD to finally be out in @pnas.org. 🎉🎉 We demosntrate that mutualistic co-mimicking tropical butterflies not only converge in light microhabitat but, as a consequence, have also converged in visual system morphology! 1/n😀
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

curious what's the most common issue you are encountering : symbiosis used as non-general
or mutual as general rather than +/+?

Fast & Fair peer review A new initiative offering high-quality peer review within 7 working days of submission Biology Open logo

Looking to get involved in peer review?

Check out the Fast & Fair initiative run by @biologyopen.bsky.social.

journals.biologists.com/bio/pages/fa...

#PeerReview #PaidWork #Journals #Academia #Research #Biology #BiologyOpen

that's the way I was taught,
symbiosis = general close interaction,
mutualism : +/+
commensalism = neutral/+
parasitism = -/+

The pigment transporter Redboy confers programmed body colour transition in orchid mantises - Nature Ecology & Evolution First-instar orchid mantis nymphs avoid predators by mimicking black-red assassin bugs, whereas those in later instars avoid predators and attract prey by camouflaging themselves as lighter-coloured f...

"We name [this gene] Redboy based on its functional role in the programmed body colour transition of orchid mantis, reflecting the demon ‘Red Boy’ who changed his red clothes to white after becoming a fairy in Chinese mythology"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#evodevo #colsci

1/2
🧬🎨 When gills do Pointillism!

For this #FluorescenceFriday,
here’s a dissected gill arch expressing nuclear fgf10b:nEOS — depth color-coded: blue for medial filaments, yellow for lateral ones.

#Zebrafish #DevBio #Microscopy #Gills

YouTube video by Arnaud Martin The genetic basis of silver polymorphism in Speyeria mormonia butterflies

we made a fun little video abstract
youtu.be/Kunvn2GDq8o?...

Excited to advertise a shared PhD position at KU Leuven (Belgium) and Mondsee (Austria) with @markusmoest.bsky.social on the genetic basis, plasticity and evolution of melanization in Daphnia from alpine lakes. Apply here: www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

Range extender mediates long-distance enhancer activity - Nature The REX element is associated with long-range enhancer–promoter interactions.

Our paper describing the Range Extender element which is required and sufficient for long-range enhancer activation at the Shh locus is now available at @nature.com. Congrats to @gracebower.bsky.social who led the study. Below is a brief summary of the main findings www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/

Gene loss associated with plasticity-first evolution in Heliconius butterflies Phenotypic plasticity occurs when a genotype can produce more than one phenotype under different environmental conditions. Genetic accommodation allows plastic phenotypes to be tuned to new environmen...

Very excited about this paper led by Erika Castro. She has shown that Heliconius were ancestrally plastic in how they acquired their cyanogens, but some species have lost the ability to biosynthesise toxins, and have lost genes involved www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

not quite, there this 1969 paper that observed some diffuse stripiness but definitely nothing like diptera salivary glands.

bsky.app/profile/evol...

Image above was from us in Plodia,
and here is a closely related species at an earlier stage

DOI: 10.1139/g2012-060

🥁 and the answer is :
Branched polyploid nuclei in the silk glands of a Plodia pantry moth larva. At least 8,000 genome copies (DOI: 10.1139/g2012-060).

warm-ish taxonomically speaking but you won't find this on a wing

nope!

⭐ Can anyone guess what this is? ⭐

🔎 hints 🔍
- finding out will make your head spin!
- image ~ 100 um wide.

The aim of this proposal is to place population genomic insights into a comparative framework to gain fundamental insights into the determinants of evolutionary outcomes. The project will work within LepEU, the European Lepidopteran Population Genomics Consortium (https://lepeu.github.io/). LepEU provides access to field samples from European populations of diverse species. Chromosome-scale reference genomes are provided by Project Psyche (https://www.projectpsyche.org/). Networking during the postdoc will be facilitated by participation in the 10kLepGenomes COST Action (https://10klepgenomes.eu/). Existing datasets await analysis, while additional samples need DNA extraction and submission for sequencing. Functional validation capability (CRISPR/Cas9 gene manipulations) is also available to test emergent hypotheses of allele-to-phenotype impacts. Personal research interests of the postdoc will be important to determine the exact project, as the project has a generous sequencing budget.

The successful applicant should have a PhD (obtained within 6 years of the application deadline) in a suitable subject area, such as evolutionary biology or population genomics. A strong interest in population genomics, local adaptation, comparative analyses, and experience working with genomic-scale data is essential. The candidate must have a documented publication record demonstrating relevant skills. Experience working with bioinformatic pipelines (e.g., Snakemake), or working with butterflies is welcome but not essential. The net salary is 28,000 SEK/month (~2,430 Euro, not subject to Swedish income tax) and comes directly from the Carl-Trygger Foundation stipend, which is paid out directly to the postdoc. Only PhD candidates acquired outside of the host department can apply. Currently, the lab of Prof. Wheat consists of 3 postdoctoral researchers, while the Dept. of Zoology provides a vibrant and excellent research environment of active, dynamic researchers. Applications should include: i) a succinct description of research interests and experience, detailing your contribution to any relevant publications (max 1 page), ii) why you are the ideal candidate for this position in the lab (max 1 page); iii) a CV including a list of publications, and iv) the name and contact information of two personal references. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with a deadline of 23 August 2025. The project is planned to start on 1 October, but flexibility in the starting date can be provided for a suitable candidate. Please contact Prof. Wheat for additional information.

🚨Postdoc opportunity🚨: LepEU postdoc: comparative population genomics of European scale adaptation in butterflies

2 year, full-time PD in my group, Stockholm Univ.

Applications assed on rolling basis, deadline: 23 August 2025. Planned start 1 Oct.

Details:
christopherwheatlab.wordpress.com

Physalia megalista, a cnidiran with a gas filled float, raised sail, and long blue tentacles hanging below. Image credit: Dalila Destanović

Excited to share our study on sailing siphonophores, AKA bluebottles or man-o'-war! 🌊 we received hundreds of samples from scientists around the world, part of a huge effort to sequence genomes and test for multiple species 🧬 out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... 🦑🧪📌

Some of them with evidence of selective sweeps in a UV-polymorphic hybrid population, where we think UV presence-absence is under sexual selection

fin