CEES, University of Oslo

Pierre Taberlet kicking off the #eDNA and #DNAmetabarcoding school in beautiful #Drøbak. Youngsters from 16 countries, including faraway places such as Hong Kong and Nepal! @uniinnlandet.bsky.social #IRSAE
@ugrenoblealpes.bsky.social @unioslo-cees.bsky.social @eric.coissac.eu @magnen.bsky.social

Look what my amazing colleagues did! Early Triassic bonebed at Svalbard shows recovery after mass extinction🥳 @aubronectes.bsky.social

TWS Journals Reindeer is an iconic species in the Arctic and subarctic but populations are declining. An environmental quality standard for reindeer populations assess their overall status (poor, medium, and good...

New publication: "A quality standard for conservation of wild #reindeer" with Atle Mysterud from @unioslo-cees.bsky.social & @biovitenskap.bsky.social
Published in The Wildlife Society @thewildlifesociety.bsky.social

One-time administration of the SpayVac ® vaccine prevents pregnancy in red deer (Cervus elaphus) in a temperate forest ecosystem - European Journal of Wildlife Research Contraception has traditionally been used on domesticated and captive animals, but it has also found increasing application in locally overabundant wildlife species. Different immunocontraceptives are...

New publication demonstrates the 1-year efficacy of SpayVac® immunocontraception in red deer. It also describes methods for improved determination of pregnancy status and calf presence in wildlife.
With Atle Mysterud @unioslo-cees.bsky.social @biovitenskap.bsky.social
Published @springernature.com

Epigenetic Potential and Dispersal Propensity in a Free‐Living Songbird: A Spatial and Temporal Approach Natal dispersal is a key life history trait determining fitness and driving population dynamics, genetic structure, and species distributions. Despite existing evidence that not all phenotypes are eq...

Very excited about this work now out in
@molecology! We test whether🐦with ⬆️dispersal propensity differ in the nº CpGs across the genome, with the hypothesis that⬆️CpGs allow for⬆️epigenetically-driven plasticity facilitating environmental coping
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Reference genome bias in light of species-specific chromosomal reorganization and translocations - Genome Biology Background Whole-genome sequencing efforts, have during the past decade, unveiled the central role of genomic rearrangements—such as chromosomal inversions—in evolutionary processes, including local a...

Article alert: Maurstad, Hoff; Cerca et al. Reference genome bias in light of species-specific chromosomal reorganization and translocations. Now out in Genome Biol. Congrats to Sissel and the team😀 doi.org/10.1186/s130...

Super happy to see our paper out! Reference choice matters, especially if you work with species that has lots of chromosomal rearrangements 🧬🐟

Reference genome bias in light of species-specific chromosomal reorganization and translocations - Genome Biology Background Whole-genome sequencing efforts, have during the past decade, unveiled the central role of genomic rearrangements—such as chromosomal inversions—in evolutionary processes, including local a...

New paper out where we demonstrate how pop gen parameters and scoring of structural variants (inversions) could be affected by the choice of reference genome (both in terms of both quality and relatedness).
@unioslo-cees.bsky.social
@biovitenskap.bsky.social

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Inga is a new member at the Academy - Department of Biosciences Inga Angelica Frøland Steindal has been accepted as a new member of The Young Academy of Norway. Inga is a researcher at the Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES) at the Department o...

Congratulations, Inga! @biovitenskap.bsky.social

Genome of the green-head ant, Rhytidoponera metallica, reveals mechanisms of toxin evolution in a genetically hyper-diverse eusocial species - Genome Biology Background While ants are textbook examples of eusocial animals in which altruistic behavior is maintained through kin selection, several ants form genetically diverse colonies that challenge this concept. One example is the Australian green-head ant (Rhytidoponera metallica) whose colonies harbor such extreme genetic variation that they have been speculated to represent an unstable form of eusociality. Yet, R. metallica is among the most successful ants on the Australian subcontinent. This success has been hypothesized to be partly due to the diverse venoms harbored within each colony. However, the genomic basis and evolutionary scenarios that maintain this toxin diversity remain unknown. Results To examine toxin genomic architecture, quantify individual-level genetic variation, and identify both proximate and ultimate mechanisms that have facilitated the toxin diversity in R. metallica, we generate a high-quality draft genome from a single worker. Most ectatotoxin genes are in clusters that contain evidence of multiple, complex gene-family expansions, some of which are likely explained by the presence of transposable elements. We also show that toxin regions of the genome exhibit elevated genetic variation despite being under strong selection and that this variation can translate to phenotypic diversity through toxin alleles with different functional properties. Conclusions Taken together, our results point to classical gene duplication and diversification as the main evolutionary mechanism by which the main toxin family in ant venoms evolves, suggest toxin-gene functional diversification under frequency-dependent selection maintains colony-level venom hypervariability in R. metallica, and provide new insight into the role of multi-level selection in eusocial animals.

New publication: "Genome of the green-head ant, #Rhytidoponera metallica, reveals mechanisms of toxin evolution in a genetically hyper-diverse eusocial species" with Isaksen, Nachtigall, Araya, Hansen & Undheim from @biovitenskap.bsky.social
Published in Genome Biology by @springernature.com

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, Structural Variants, and Short Tandem Repeats Capture Distinct Signals of Adaptive Divergence in the Atlantic Puffin Abstract. The Arctic has been the scene for (re)colonization, diversification, and adaptation of boreal and Arctic fauna. As anthropogenic warming of the A

New publication: "Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, Structural Variants, and Short Tandem Repeats Capture Distinct Signals of Adaptive Divergence in the #Atlantic #Puffin" with O. Kersten, B. Star, K. Jakobsen and S. Boessenkool from @biovitenskap.bsky.social
Published in @genomebiolevol.bsky.social

Er elgens gevir lite? Ja, mener forsker, men svaret er ikke opplagt. - Titan.uio.no Skogens konge har liten krone sammenliknet med det regaliet den irske kjempehjorten bar.

Hva er egentlig størrelsen på et gevir?

– Gevirene har komplekse og varierende størrelser. Det er ikke åpenbart at lengde eller bredde kan sammenliknes på tvers av arter fordi de kan ha ulik utforming, sier Thomas Hansen @biovitenskap.bsky.social @unioslo-cees.bsky.social

Les hele saken i #Titan

A reconceptualized framework for human microbiome transmission in early life - Nature Communications Here, the authors provide a critical view of historical approaches to categorize microbial transmission in early life, and present a conceptual framework to capture the multifaceted nature of human mi...

New article reviews historical approaches to early-life microbiome acquisition and proposes a new framework based on "what, where, who, and when" to improve understanding and guide disease prevention strategies.
By Hanna Noordzij @biovitenskap.bsky.social & @unioslo-cees.bsky.social
Publ.@nature.com

The genome of the Glacier lanternfish shows loss of MHC I and II function and provides insight into evolution of lanternfish immune systems Lanternfishes (Myctophidae) are one of the most abundant and species diverse orders inhabiting the mesopelagic zone. Exploitation of marine resources has recently attracted increased interest. It is t...

Check out our new preprint: the high quality genome of Glacial lanternfish showes that it can do well without MHC I and II function - breaking the immunological rules. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Regjeringen med storsatsing i Arktis: Vil bruke en milliard på polarforskning Norge skal fortsatt være en av verdens fremste polarforskningsnasjoner. Det er viktig for å ivareta Norges sikkerhet og geopolitiske interesser, og for å håndtere og forstå raske klimaendringer. Derfo...

Regjeringen gir 1 milliard kroner til polarforskning og forskningsprosjektet #Polarhavet2050, hvor Universitetet i Oslo er én av fjorten partnere. Dette blir spennende!
@jentoft.bsky.social

Disse endringene gjør skreien mer sårbar for ytterligere påvirkning og kan trolig knyttes til endringer i vandringsmønsteret til torsken i senere tid. Mao ja, vi påvirker våre fiskebestander kanskje mer enn vi aner …

Verdens største torskebestand er påvirket av mennesker. Endringen er synlig i genene. - Titan.uio.no Skreien er annerledes i dag enn for 100 år siden. Torsken er ikke genmanipulert. Endringene er menneskeskapte, ifølge ny forskning.

I flere tiår har det vært debattert om vi mennesker påvirker genene til bestandene vi høster. I ett nytt studie - hvor vi har fått tilgang på over hundre år gamle prøver av skrei samlet inn i Lofoten - avdekker nettopp dette!! For mere info se:
www.titan.uio.no/naturvitensk...

Kristine Bonnevie lectures 2025: Guardians of Biodiversity – The Vital Role of Taxonomists - CEES - Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis Open lectures on biodiversity from ants to ocean life, and how taxonomy helps us understand ecology and evolution. With Corrie S. Moreau, Cornell University, and Torsten H. Struck, University of Oslo.

Welcome to the Kristine Bonnevie lectures – Tuesday 2 September, with Corrie S. Moreau and Torsten H. Struck. On biodiversity from ants to ocean life, and how taxonomy helps us understand ecology and evolution. Venue: Helga Engs hus, Blindern, Oslo @corriemoreau.bsky.social @biovitenskap.bsky.social

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Epidemiological modelling (Plague) (284120) | University of Oslo Job title: Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Epidemiological modelling (Plague) (284120), Employer: University of Oslo, Deadline: Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Available position: Postdoc in Epidemiological modelling (Plague). Join a pioneering project dedicated to the study of plague through history! The position is associated with an ERC-funded interdisciplinary research project. Application deadline: 16 September 2025. @biovitenskap.bsky.social

A century of anthropogenic perturbations impact genomic signatures of the iconic migratory Atlantic cod Retrospective assessment of the iconic migratory Atlantic cod uncovers human-induced genome-wide changes during the last century.

Finally is this story out public!! With an amazing historical dataset from IMR (@havforskningsinstituttet) we demonstrate how human perturbations impact the genomic signal in one of the largest cod stocks in the world: the northeast arctic cod | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New publication: "Assessing spatial variability and efficacy of surrogate species at an ecosystem scale" with Kristin M. Brunk from @biovitenskap.bsky.social
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New publication: "Ancient #DNA suggests a historical demographic decline and genetic erosion in the Atlantic #bluefin tuna" with Emma Falkeid Eriksen, Bastiaan Star, Lane M. Atmore, Oliver Kersten from @biovitenskap.bsky.social
Published by PNAS @pnas.org
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Ny forskning viser at det for få år siden var en tredje torskebestand i Oslofjorden - Titan.uio.no Nå er den borte. Forskerne advarer om pågående kollaps av de lokale torskebestandene.

For få år siden var det en tredje torskebestand i Oslofjorden
Nå er den borte.
Forskere fra @biovitenskap.bsky.social advarer om pågående kollaps av de lokale torskebestandene @jentoft.bsky.social
#Titan
www.titan.uio.no/livsvitenska...

Understanding the role of ageing in the thermal responses of life history and fitness in Daphnia magna | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences The current climate warming has raised concerns that increased rates of ageing will lead to reduced fitness and population viability in ectotherms. However, it is currently not known whether temperatu...

Do ectotherms age more strongly in warm environments? And if so, does it mean reduced fitness and population viability in a warmer world? We investigated these questions in a recent study based on an experiment with Daphnia magna (1/7)
@t-ergon.bsky.social
@biovitenskap.bsky.social

Unike funn i norsk grotte: – Avdekker ting vi aldri før har visst ­

– Jeg hadde aldri drømt om at vi skulle finne så mange arter fra så lang tid tilbake, sier Sanne Boessenkool til NRK. Hun er professor ved @biovitenskap.bsky.social

Eksempler på arter som er funnet i grotten er Arktisk lemen, fjellrev, torsk, hvalross, grønlandshval, lundefugl og fjellrype.

PhD position alert! Fully-funded PhD in my group to work on avian reproductive microbiomes and immunity. Please RT! Deadline June 29th, reach out for more information. #microbiomes #sparrows #spermbiology