Nils Reinhard

Our new paper is out now!
We show the non-image forming role of #Rhodopsin7 in #Drosophila, expanding our understanding of #opsins beyond classical vision.
This work highlights how #Rh7 contributes to extra-retinal light sensing and plays a role in behavioral light responses.
@flyneuro.bsky.social

I was wondering first if it is autofluorescent, but grains that incubated longer had brighter signal which made me think that they were actually stained. But I would not exclude it completely.

When you work with insects that play a role in pollination, you sometimes get some nice surprises, like this dandelion (Taraxacum) pollen grain. Interestingly, it was stained by Hoechst, although it contains no DNA in the exine. #didn'tMakeItIntoThePaper-TooPrettyNotToBeShown #FluorescenceFriday

Two days left....
Abstract submission is opened until Sunday 15th June 2025
Clocks for Life - a life's journey in chronobiology
Farewell symposium Prof. Charlotte Helfrich-Förster
#GermanClockClub #Drosophila #CircadianClock @uni-wuerzburg.de @biologie-uniwue.bsky.social @flyneuro.bsky.social

As a member of the #Helfrich-Förster Lab, a staining against PDF cannot be missed :D
Enjoy another picture from the category #didn'tMakeItIntoThePaper-TooPrettyNotToBeShown #FluorescenceFriday 2/2

Today's pictures are closely related to last week's picture of the onion leaf miner. I was quite surprised when, instead of flies, this pretty parasitic wasp eclosed from the pupa. Unfortunately, I was unable to identify the species. If you know the species, please let me know. 1/2

As a member of the Helfrich-Förster Lab, a staining against Pigment Dispersing Factor cannot be missed :D Enjoy another picture from the category #didn'tMakeItIntoThePaper-TooPrettyNotToBeShown #FluorescenceFriday 2/2

In this time-lapse video you can follow the first moments of an eclosing P. gymnostoma.

The cells near the accessory medulla resemble the PDF-positive LNv of D. melanogaster. This fly also shows PDH-ir cells in the last abdominal segment. Interestingly, P. gymnostoma has no fully condensed ganglia. The last abdominal ganglion is located much further in the abdomen than in Drosophila.

PDH-ir cells in the brain and the VNC of Phytomyza gymnostoma

The second picture is of the onion leaf miner Phytomyza gymnostoma. Thanks to the infested leek plants of #CharlotteHelfrich-Förster, we had the opportunity to look at the nervous system and the PDH-ir cells of this pest fly. #didn’tMakeItIntoThePaper-TooPrettyNotToBeShown #FluorescenceFriday

Starting off with this Drosophila brain expressing MultiColorFlipOut (Nern et al. 2015) in combination with Timeless-Gal4, which was created during the work for my last publication (doi.org/10.1038/s414...).
Picture was taken with the Sp8 @leicamicrosystems.bsky.social Confocal.

Colorful neurons in a Drosophila melanogaster brain.

Since my time as a PhD student is slowly coming to an end, I would like to take the opportunity to post a few pictures here that I took during my PhD and that fall into the #didn’tMakeItIntoThePaper-TooPrettyNotToBeShown category. #FluorescenceFriday

Die neue Würzburger Professorin Silke Sachse. (Foto: Nives Kramberger)

Wir begrüßen Professorin @silkesachse.bsky.social‬ als neue Leiterin des Lehrstuhls für #Neurobiologie und #Genetik! Sie kommt aus Jena zu uns (@mpi-ce.bsky.social) und erforscht den Geruchssinn von #Insekten.
➡️ www.uni-wuerzburg.de/aktuelles/ei...

www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de/neurogenetic...

#CharlotteFörster #CharlotteHelfrich-Förster #Chronobiology #Drosophila #CircadianClock

Farewell symposium in honour of Prof. Dr. Charlotte Förster July 30th 2025

#chronobiology #chronobiologie #CharlotteHelfrich-Förster #circadianclock #Drosophila #charlotteförster #Julius-Maximilians-Universität @uni-wuerzburg.de @biologie-uniwue.bsky.social

A maximum of six centimeters long and weighing two grams: Antarctic krill

New paper out in @elife.bsky.social! Antarctic krill not only reacts to external environmental influences such as light or food. It also uses its internal clock to adapt to the conditions of the polar environment. @lhueppe.bsky.social @awi.de @hifmb.de ➡️ go.uniwue.de/antarctic-kr... 📷 Lukas Hüppe

Career perspective npj Biological Timing and Sleep - In this career perspective article, the author describes her long pathway to a professorship in Germany.

Very interesting career perspective from Charlotte Helfrich-Förster.

A lot of very good advices for young scientists

rdcu.be/ekQat

A circadian clock drives behavioral activity in Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) and provides a potential mechanism for seasonal timing Behavioral experiments provide strong evidence that krill swimming behavior is controlled by biological clocks throughout the year, revealing a key mechanism for adaptation to high-latitude habitats.

New paper out in @elife.bsky.social!
Antarctic krill use their clock to control daily rhythms of swimming activity across a wide range of photoperiods, which helps them adapt to their high-latitude habitat🌊🦐🕖☀️
Great collaboration between @uni-wuerzburg.de, @awi.de, @hifmb.de!
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Kommentar: Ein AfD-Verbot ist das Gebot der Stunde Das Gutachten des Verfassungsschutzes zur AfD hat auch juristisches Gewicht, meint Max Bauer. Die verfassungsfeindlichen Ziele der Partei seien überdeutlich: Nur ein Verbot könne die Demokratie und ih...

"Tatsächlich fragen sich viele, ob man eine Partei, die derzeit so viel Zuspruch erfährt, überhaupt verbieten kann. Doch diese Frage geht verfassungsrechtlich am Kern dessen vorbei, was ein Parteienverbot in der Demokratie bedeutet. [...] Die Demokratie und ihre Institutionen [zu] schützen."

Official appointment by the president of the University of Wuerzburg.

It‘s finally official! I am thrilled to start at the Chair of Neurobiology and Genetics at the @uni-wuerzburg.de on April 1st! I am very grateful to all my mentors, group members, collaborators and friends without whom I could not have achieved this. Please come & visit beautiful Wuerzburg soon!

A few months ago, Yao Cai and I had the opportunity to interview the amazing Dr. Charlotte Helfrich-Förster. We asked questions about her career and life experiences. An example of scientific resilience and success. Out now in the Journal of Biological Rhythms.
t.co/v2UxlEFZme

@nils-reinhard.bsky.social
Look what nature, a microscope and an amazing young scientist can do.

Ephelota sp. stained with Hoechst showing the Macro- and Micronucleus.

A bird's-eye view of a former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp showing a wide dirt pathway flanked by parallel rows of barbed-wire fences. Groups of visitors walk along the path, surrounded by the remnants of brick structures and barracks, now reduced to foundations. Green grass contrasts with the somber history of the site, as the path leads toward a guard tower in the distance.

Auschwitz was at the end of a long process. It did not start from gas chambers.

This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.

Auschwitz took time.

We are pleased to report publication of the Drosophila circadian clock connectome in @naturecomms.bsky.social. Check out the final version for additional analyses not present in the preprint. @unrcabnr.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🪰The Never Given 2022 Pittendrigh/Aschoff Lecture: The Clock Network in the Brain—Insights From Insects - Charlotte Helfrich-Förster, 2024
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

bpod.org.uk/archive/2024...
Thank you #BPoD
rdcu.be/d2vJg for all of you who are intressted its open access. Enjoy

#FörsterLab #ZandawalaLab #YoshiiLab #circadianClocks
#connectome #Drosophila #chronobiology
@nils-reinhard.bsky.social @zandawala.bsky.social

Synaptic connectome of the Drosophila circadian clock Nature Communications - Circadian clocks are a fundamental biological system which orchestrate various physiological and behavioral processes in response to daily environmental changes. Here, the...

rdcu.be/d2vIj
Synaptic connectome of the Drosophila circadian clock