Martina Pavlek

YouTube video by The New York Times Scientists Discover Colossal Spider Web in Stinking Cave

Footage of the World Wide(st) Web - in a smelly cave in the Balkans.

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youtube.com/shorts/8yhOF...

The colonial spider web in Sulfur Cave, is home to a mixed colony of Tegenaria domestica and Prinerigone vagans. A. Side view; B. frontal view. The swarm of adult chironomids is visible near the cave stream. Photo A: Marek Audy.

Biggest spider web in the world: the area of a flat.

Found in a sulphur-smelling cave in the Balkans, this ~100m² spongy web is maintained by two species of solitary 🕷️. The 110K inhabitants feed on midges, probably because they can't see the other spiders.

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subtbiol.pensoft.net/article/1623...

Read more about this Arachnopolis here: doi.org/10.3897/subt...

🧬 Hiring Postdocs at @astar_gis !

We need Computer Scientists and Computational Biologists to develop novel algorithms for de novo assembly of cancer genomes or to help us reconstruct them.

Experience in sequence alignment/assembly algorithms or assembly of complex genomes required

Please RT! 🔄

Let's look at some numbers

2022: 7 044 applications submitted. 17.9 % success rate
2023: 8 039 applications submitted. 15.8 % success rate
2024: 10 360 applications submitted. 16.6 % success rate
2025: 17 058 applications submitted (record high). 9.7% success rate (preliminary numbers).

Long-read sequencing can revolutionise the way we monitor #biodiversity.

A comprehensive guide for using #ONT & #PacBio for analysis of biodiversity through #eDNA, #metabarcoding, metagenomics

Just published in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Highlight of our review paper on long-read sequencing for biodiversity analysis by the EBP @ebpgenome.bsky.social

#BiodiversityGenomics #eDNA #Biodiversity
#PacBio #ONT

Read @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/2041...

Subterranean ecosystems are key to water, climate, biodiversity & culture. But to what extent?

As part of @biodiversa.eu DarCo we demonstrate that they contribute to 75% of classified ecosystem services. Read OA in Biol Rev:

doi.org/10.1002/brv....

Illustration @jmalumbresolarte.bsky.social

Resurrected nitrogenases recapitulate canonical N-isotope biosignatures over two billion years - Nature Communications The study shows that nitrogenase enzymes have maintained stable isotope signatures over billions of years, revealing how ancient microbes shaped Earth’s nitrogen cycle and offering a new experimental ...

Our new paper, out today! We resurrected ancient nitrogenases first used by life on Earth 3 billion years ago. We combined synthetic biology and geology & validated their chemical #biosignature in rocks that helps reveal ancient life on Earth!(and beyond!)

Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Spiders possess multiple types of silk glands, which produce silk materials with contrasting properties.
What happens if they combine different silks into a single line - Does this reinforce, even toughen, the silk thread?

We got some answers from cellar and cave spiders:
doi.org/10.1039/D5SM... 🔓

An ancient genome duplication event drives the development and evolution of spinnerets in spiders A genome duplication event during the Silurian played a crucial role in the evolutionary emergence of spinnerets in spiders.

Chromosome-scale #genomes from newly sequenced spiders & the whip scorpion, the genetic basis of spinneret emergence in spiders & the complex history & functional importance of arachnid genome #evolution www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #biodiversity #genomics

AI-generated graphical summary of the DNA replication origins study

📢new study @genomedatalab.bsky.social

When a cell divides, it copies 3 billion DNA letters. How does it know where to begin?

⁉️For years, the field debated if replication initiation was random or strict

📜Our preprint uses AI + mutation signatures to show it’s a precise, two-part system

And here's the report @qedscience.bsky.social generated for our new paper, summarizing what's new and what was already known before. I'm planning to submit q.e.d's reports as cover letters together with my pre-prints from now on (and so should you!)

Assessing the Impact of Whole Genome Duplication on Gene Expression and Regulation During Arachnid Development Abstract. Whole genome duplication (WGD) generates a new genetic material that can contribute to the evolution of developmental processes and phenotypic di

A genome-wide comparison of #gene regulatory sequences & embryonic gene expression in arachnids - new insights into the impact of the arachnopulmonate whole #genome duplication academic.oup.com/gbe/article/... #biodiversity #genomics

a life changing opportunity made possible by the Nobel Prize funds awarded to John Sulston -- the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social runs the Sanger Prize scheme, open to an undergrad from any LMIC to spend 3 months here learning all about genomics. more details here www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/...

The commitments in the SAFE Labs Handbook.

A new community-driven lab handbook for reducing conflict and creating more positive and equitable work environments gets strong support from a survey of 200 researchers.
buff.ly/K7CGFLV

The Idiot's Guide to Effective Population Size This is a reference manual for the elegant, yet hideously complex concept of effective population size (Ne), inspired by a classic, self-published manual of automotive repair ‘for the compleat idiot’...

I have only read the abstract so far, but that is enough to see that this should be a useful paper for those whose work confronts the "hideously complex concept of effective population size"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections - Nature Communications Natural history collections hold over two billion specimens representing Earth’s biodiversity, but their scientific value depends on continued specimen collection and digitisation. This study demonstr...

In an era marked by rapid climate change and biodiversity loss, it is imperative that we continue to invest in the unique value of natural history collections data

"Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections" 🧪

I’m recruiting a postdoc to work on algorithms for cancer genome reconstruction. We have access to a rich set of tumour samples sequenced across multiple technologies. If interested, feel free to DM. Please share.

Abstract submission & Award applications for SMBE 2026 are now open!

Abstract submission & Award applications for SMBE 2026 are now open!

Submit your research and apply for SMBE awards via the submission portal.
📝 Read more & submit here: smbe2026.org/abstracts

And symposium selection is now finalized!
👉 See all accepted symposia: smbe2026.org/programme

#SMBE2026

Please help! We are looking for tissue-specific RNA-seq datasets or pubs with both male and female individual gene expression data, not pooled, from animal species. If you know of any relevant resources, please drop a link in the comments or send me a DM. Also, please help spread the word - thanks!

Join us in Crete in May 2026 for the Mathematical and Computational Evolutionary Biology Meeting mceb2026.sciencesconf.org on the island's northern coastline near Heraklion. Abstract Deadline: January 31st

Naming species is crucial to conserving them according to spider expert - ABC listen Living scientist Dr Mark Harvey reaches rare milestone of naming 1000 species of invertebrates.

Dr Mark “Spider Man” Harvey, Western Australian Museum Research Associate and Associate Editor of our journal Invertebrate Systematics, has reached an extraordinary milestone: he has described 1,000th species.

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

#InvertebrateSys

Record-breaking success: Study on spider megacolony is the most popular article published by Pensoft In less than a month, a paper in Subterranean Biology surpassed nearly 27,000 Pensoft studies in popularity.

🎉 BROKEN RECORD!

🕸️ The recent discovery of a 100,000- #spider “megacity” on the border between Greece and Albania, published in our #openaccess, peer-reviewed journal @subtbiol.pensoft.net, became the most popular article across our entire #scientific portfolio, outperforming ~27,000 articles! 👏

New #OpenAccess research in #RESSystematicEnt

Alone no more — Integrative #taxonomy of New Zealand odd-clawed #spiders challenges the monotypy of #Pianoa and #Gradungula (#Araneae: #Gradungulidae)
doi.org/10.1111/syen.70006

#IntegrativeTaxonomy
@gkergoat.bsky.social @wileyeco.bsky.social

An extraordinary spider colony was found in a cave on the Albania-Greece border. Comprising over 100,000 spiders, the network spans a surface area of over 100 m².

This discovery was published in our journal Subterranean Biology: doi.org/10.3897/subt...

Video by @vrenozina.bsky.social

@vrenozina.bsky.social @uni-goettingen.de

Biodiversa+ (Obzor Europa 2021.–2027.) Uključivanje Republike Hrvatske Pozivamo sve zainteresirane istraživače, znanstvenike, članove stručnih udruga i ostale da potpišu ovu peticiju s ciljem iskaza interesa za uključivanje Republike Hrvatske u Biodiversa+ partnerstvo Eu...

Dear colleagues, if you want to support our initiative to encourage Croatian government to include Croatia in the @biodiversa.eu partnership of the European Commission, please sing the following petition:
actionnetwork.org/petitions/bi...
Please re post!

Contest point 7 – Postdoctoral Fellow Postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Molecular Biology, Laboratory for Evolutionary Genetics. Fixed-term contract: 2 years and 4 months Number of positions: 1

Postdoc position available at Ruder Boskovic Institute in Zagreb, in the field of genomics and NGS data processing. Check out the call: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/376320

Flyer for the next instalment of the Palaeoverse Lecture Series. The flyer features a yellow cartoon trilobite, and pictures of Drs. Mongiardino Koch and Garwood. Mongiardino Koch wears a grey t-shirt and glasses, while Garwood wears a white shirt and is holding a glass trophy.

🚨Palaeoverse Lecture Series🚨
🗓️25th September 2025, 15:00 UTC🗓️

Join us next week to hear from @nmkphylo.bsky.social and @russellgarwood.co.uk, on “The Tree of Life and Death: What do Fossil Taxa Contribute to Morphological Phylogenetics?” 🌳🐣⚰️

Register here: bit.ly/palaeoverse-...