Asher Cutter

Job Alert! 🚨 The Department of Biology at UTM @utmbiology.bsky.social is currently recruiting for an Assistant Professor, Molecular Genetics
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Mississa...

A single theory for the evolution of sex chromosomes and the two rules of speciation Sex chromosomes are involved in three major empirical patterns: (i) Y (or W) chromosomes are often nonrecombining and degenerate; (ii) heterogametic offspring (XY or ZW) from interspecific crosses are...

Interested to know more about a new theory relating the #evolution of #sexchromosomes to the rules of #speciation? Check out this paper that we published with Denis Roze in the last issue of #Science. PDF here: www.science.org/stoken/autho...

After 10 years of work, a complete telomere-to-telomere gap-free genome for C. elegans finally exists: it has 106 Mb rather than the textbook 100.3 Mb, and up to 366 additional genes.
genome.cshlp.org/content/35/8...

My department @utoronto.ca (www.utm.utoronto.ca/biology/) is hiring a molecular biologist in any field (e.g., ecology, evolutionary biology, etc.). Please encourage any excellent finishing PhD students, postdocs or assistant professor to apply here:
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Mississa...

Tom Gludovacz, chief horticulturist, says the new LED lighting emits the specific spectrum of light plants need

From rooftop greenhouses to subterranean growth chambers, plant research facilities on #UofT’s historic St. George campus are quietly undergoing a major lighting retrofit – and gaining a research boost in the process. 🌱 uoft.me/bJ3

Volume 38 Issue 6 | Journal of Evolutionary Biology | Oxford Academic Journal of Evolutionary Biology

⭐Issue 6 of JEB is now online!⭐

This issue is headlined by a Target Review from @josselin-clo.bsky.social et al. on #matingsystems evolution, accompanied by several #invitedcommentaries expanding on this key discussion comparing concepts in plants and animals:

academic.oup.com/jeb/issue/38/6

Clo et al.’s new review on mating system evo was a great excuse to let me dig into some underexplored ideas in the field: roles of interspecies interactions doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Western University launches program to capitalize on shrinking U.S. research funding | CBC News Western University is looking to capitalize on massive shifts in the academic landscape of the United States with a new initiative designed to turn a difficult situation into a brain gain for both the...

Are you a PhD student, have an offer, or have had an offer recently rescinded from a US university? If so, Western (in London, ON, Canada) has a new scholarship program for you! Check out this news story. I can vouch for this university! You will love it.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Job opportunities - Fondation pour la recherche sur la biodiversité Créée en 2008, la FRB recherche régulièrement de nouveaux collaborateurs. Elle constitue un point de convergence entre la science et la société, autour des défis que doit aujourd’hui relever la recher...

3-year #postdoc position at Centre de synthèse et d'analyse de la biodiversité (CESAB) in Montpellier to work on how taking intraspecific diversity and evolutionary processes into account in translocation-based programs. Please share widely #PopGen #NbS
www.fondationbiodiversite.fr/en/about-the...

The "reproducibility crisis" in science constantly makes headlines. Repro efforts are often limited. What if you could assess reproducibility of an entire field?

That's what @brunolemaitre.bsky.social et al. have done. Fly immunity is highly replicable & offers lessons for #metascience

A 🧵 1/n

Expression Divergence in Response to Sex-biased Selection Abstract. It remains debated whether greater degrees of sexual dimorphism would evolve if not for intersexual genetic constraints. Here, we used experiment

Out now in @molbioevol.bsky.social with Michelle Liu (co-first), Ryan Frost, Matthew Lindsay, Malak Bayoumi, Martin Brengdahl, @ruxmolnar.bsky.social and @aneil-agrawal.bsky.social, we evolved ~40% of the D. melanogaster genome under male-limited inheritance, ...

academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

Eh tu Toronto?

Four review requests in my inbox this morning. The one I accepted? Society journal.

Our Societies consistently reinvest in our communities in ways the glossies never will. And that makes me invest in them.

Cuticular collagens mediate cross-kingdom predator–prey interactions between trapping fungi and nematodes by Han-Wen Chang, Hung-Che Lin, Ching-Ting Yang, Rebecca J. Tay, Dao-Ming Chang, Yi-Chung Tung, Yen-Ping Hsueh Adhesive interactions, mediated by specific molecular and structural mechanisms, are fundamental to host–pathogen and predator–prey relationships, driving evolutionary dynamics and ecological interactions. Here, we investigate the cellular and molecular basis of adhesion between the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and its natural predator the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora, which employs specialized adhesive nets to capture its prey. Using forward genetic screens, we identified C. elegans mutants that escape fungal traps and revealed the nuclear hormone receptor NHR-66 as a key regulator of fungal-nematode adhesion. Loss-of-function mutations in nhr-66 conferred resistance to fungal trapping through the downregulation of a large subset of cuticular collagen genes. Restoring collagen gene expression in nhr-66 mutants abolished the escape phenotype, highlighting the essential role of these structural proteins in fungal-nematode adhesion. Furthermore, sequence analysis of natural C. elegans populations revealed no obvious loss-of-function variants in nhr-66, suggesting selective pressures exist that balance adhesion-mediated predation risk with physiological robustness. We observed that loss of nhr-66 function resulted in a trade-off of increased hypersensitivity to hypoosmotic stress and cuticular fragility. These findings underscore the pivotal role of structural proteins in shaping ecological interactions and the evolutionary arms race between predator and prey.

Cuticular collagens mediate cross-kingdom predator–prey interactions between trapping fungi and nematodes @PLOSBiology.org

I’m excited to share our work which identifies a new seminal fluid protein in C. elegans!

A novel sperm-derived seminal fluid protein in Caenorhabditis nematodes Abstract. Nematode sperm contains subcellular vesicles known as membranous organelles (MOs) that fuse with the sperm cell membrane upon sperm activation to

Kasimatis et al. identify a new nematode seminal fluid protein which is released from a novel sperm subcellular organelle. This protein is not involved in sexual conflict but provides a small fitness benefit to females

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

@katjakasimatis.bsky.social @asherdcutter.bsky.social

Tracing the evolution of key traits in dorid nudibranchs Reconstructing trait evolution is critically important for elucidating the processes generating biodiversity. However, this work is in its infancy in non-model clades for which we lack a basic underst...

Check out our recent paper “Tracing the evolution of key traits in dorid nudibranchs”! 🧬🐌 dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Nudibranchs are a fascinating and diverse group of molluscs, unique and interesting systems in ecology and evolutionary biology.
@molluscular.bsky.social

New preprint: we advertise DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly eco-evo-archaeo journals. 1/6
#AcademicPublishing #ecoevo #archaeology #EthicalPublishing #SocietyJournals #DiamondOpenAccess
doi.org/10.32942/X24...

Exciting work creating #celegans timetree and speciation clock for 1st time in nematode phylum! Cool mol evo + speciation + phylo diversification! Led by grad students Daniel Fusca at #Worm25 + Maia Dall'Acqua at #Evol2025 #speciation www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Lineage-resolved analysis of embryonic gene expression evolution in C. elegans and C. briggsae The constraints that govern the evolution of gene expression patterns across development remain unclear. Single-cell RNA sequencing can detail these constraints by systematically profiling homologous ...

Happy to announce our paper comparing embryonic gene expression between C. elegans and C. briggsae, work led by Christopher Large with Rupa Khanal and in collaboration with Junhyong Kim and Bob Waterston. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Biking advocacy group places bike lanes on Bloor in the spotlight A biking advocacy group is out with a new analysis on bikes vs. cars - which may or may not steer you in the big debate. CTV'S Sean Leathong reports.

"What we found was that between 5 and 7 pm, the percentage of all vehicles that were bikes exceeded the numbers of cars and trucks."

#Toronto #Cycling #Bikelanes

www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/vide...

Lineage-resolved analysis of embryonic gene expression evolution in C. elegans and C. briggsae The constraints that govern the evolution of gene expression patterns across development remain unclear. Single-cell RNA sequencing can detail these constraints by systematically profiling homologous ...

Lineage-resolved analysis of embryonic gene expression evolution in C. elegans and C. briggsae | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 😍

weblogin idpz | University of Toronto UofT is updating its password authentication systems. This weblogin service uses an authentication mechanism that will not accept a password that does not meet current requirements. If your password is relatively weak (and, likely, old), we highly recommend you change it. And it may be necessary to change your password in order to use this login service. In the near future, all authentication will require passwords meet stronger rules.

Great postdoc opportunity to join us in EEB Toronto! eeb.utoronto.ca/people/facul...

research.utoronto.ca/funding-oppo...

Dynamic Birth and Death of Argonaute Gene Family Functional Repertoire Across Caenorhabditis Nematodes Abstract. Diverse small RNA pathways, composed of Argonaute effector proteins and their bound small RNA molecules, define critical systems for regulating g

D.D. Fusca, @katjakasimatis.bsky.social, H. Zhu, @asherdcutter.bsky.social scanned the genomes of 51 Caenorhabditis species for Argonaute genes, identifying over 1,200 genes, novel subfamilies, and repeated gene gains and losses.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf106

#genome #evolution #RNA

Positive allometry in the forceps of the female earwig Anisolabis maritima (Dermaptera: Anisolabididae) Abstract. Positive allometry and asymmetry in male weaponry have gained widespread recognition in the study of sexual selection. However, few studies have

Darwin suggested that males often evolve weapons via sexual selection to compete with other males for mating opportunities.

He never, AFAIK, identified any cases of female weapons evolved by sexual selection. But here, it seems, is a case in earwigs.

🌱🐋🧪 #HistSTM #EvoBio

Dynamic Birth and Death of Argonaute Gene Family Functional Repertoire Across Caenorhabditis Nematodes Abstract. Diverse small RNA pathways, composed of Argonaute effector proteins and their bound small RNA molecules, define critical systems for regulating g

Exciting new study showing extensive Argonaute protein family gain, loss, neofunctionalization + more among species, by PhD student Daniel Fusca with @katjakasimatis.bsky.social + Hongyu Zhu; Now out @genomebiolevol.bsky.social #celegans #rna doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...

Kicking off the 2025 ROM Population Genomics Symposium is @asherdcutter.bsky.social sharing new insights into the diversity of Caenorhabditis in the @romtoronto.bsky.social Glass Room.

Still a good summer read! You can find my "Evolving Tomorrow: Genetic Engineering and the Evolutionary Future of the Anthropocene" at your favorite local bookseller, as well as online #science #books
www.amazon.com/dp/0198874529