Matt Webster @mwbstr - Bluesky Profile

Genetic mapping in the red mason bee Osmia bicornis implicates ANTSR as an ancient sex-determining locus in bees and ants Haplodiploid inheritance, in which females are diploid and males are haploid, is found in all species of Hymenoptera. Sex in haplodiploids is commonly determined by the alleles present at a complementary sex determination (CSD) locus, with heterozygosity triggering the female developmental pathway. The identity of this locus differs among taxa and is only known in a few species. Here, we map a single CSD locus to a 2 kbp region in the genome of the red mason bee Osmia bicornis . It overlaps the long noncoding RNA ANTSR , which has been identified as the sex-determining gene in the invasive ant Linepithema humile . This locus is homozygous in diploid males and exhibits extremely high levels of haplotype diversity, consistent with the action of frequency-dependent selection. The elevated levels of heterozygosity in the CSD locus enable us to fine-map potentially functional genetic variation within it. We also identify elevated levels of genetic diversity in the ortholog of the CSD locus in other bee genera, suggesting that it may govern sex determination widely in bees. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that ANTSR evolved a role in sex determination at least 150 million years ago and is the ancestral sex-determination locus of bees and ants. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Erik Philip-Sörensens Stiftelse Swedish Research Council, 2022-06725

I'm happy to share our new study where we mapped the sex-determining locus in the red mason bee. It maps to the ANTSR lncRNA discovered in ants, suggesting that this gene determines sex widely in Hymenoptera.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

07.07.2025 07:17 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Fascinating work

20.05.2025 11:48 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

NOBEL SYMPOSIA

We are delighted to announce two exciting public talks on Ancient DNA at Aula Magna (Stockholm University) on May 30th, 10:00-12:30h.

🦣⬅️ ”Can we bring back the woolly mammoth?” by Beth Shapiro.

🐎✋”The taming of the horse” by Ludovic Orlando.

Free entrance. All welcome!

30.04.2025 15:08 — 👍 25 🔁 19 💬 1 📌 3

Meta-analysis reveals that phenotypic plasticity and divergent selection promote reproductive isolation during incipient speciation Nature Ecology & Evolution - The authors examine factors affecting reproductive isolation in the early stages of speciation by collating data from 34 experimental speciation studies in 15...

Divergent selection and plasticity increases reproductive isolation early during incipient speciation. Find our new meta-analysis on experimental speciation studies here: rdcu.be/ek019 🧪 @EvolOdonata.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy @pipdowning.bsky.social

07.05.2025 15:32 — 👍 43 🔁 23 💬 0 📌 0

MAYosis 2025

I enjoyed the first installment of MAYosis yesterday. Highly recommended seminar series for those interested in recombination and evolution!
meiosis.cornell.edu/mayosis2025/...

08.05.2025 06:58 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

PhD student in Biological Sciences

PhD position in evolutionary genetics in Linköping, with Urban Friberg. Mutation rates, flies, lots of sequencing, quantitative genetics!

Please pass on to those who might be interested. :)

liu.se/en/work-at-l...

31.03.2025 07:26 — 👍 3 🔁 9 💬 0 📌 0

Two more weeks to apply for a PhD position in our yeast genomics and evolution lab at Stockholm University! Please share widely. 🧪🧬🌳🍄

08.04.2025 09:52 — 👍 9 🔁 14 💬 0 📌 0

Come get your PhD with me, and at @stockholm-uni.bsky.social and @scilifelab.se ! :)

14.04.2025 17:32 — 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

@hybridzones.bsky.social, @nemovrobles.bsky.social and @majorodriguezb.bsky.social scoured the literature to find the examples in Table 1. Is your favorite incompatibility gene missing? Please let us know so we can update the table and make a complete resource! Other feedback on the paper welcome

10.04.2025 17:52 — 👍 8 🔁 4 💬 3 📌 0

PhD student in Ecology and Evolution The Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences (DEEP) is located in the Arrhenius Laboratories, situated at the University Campus at Frescati. Presently around 100 people, including 35 PhD

We have an open 4-year PhD position in the Slotte lab at Stockholm University, to investigate genomic signatures of selection associated with pollination mode shifts.
Full ad: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Apply by April 22, 2025 via the University application portal (link). Please repost! 🧪

01.04.2025 14:41 — 👍 45 🔁 76 💬 1 📌 3

Great opportunity to become a PhD student in Urban Friberg's lab in Linköping Uni studying somatic mutations and ageing: liu.se/en/work-at-l...

28.03.2025 09:48 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Unexpectedly low recombination rates and presence of hotspots in termite genomes An international, peer-reviewed genome sciences journal featuring outstanding original research that offers novel insights into the biology of all organisms

Our paper on recombination rate in termites is out! Our findings suggest that crossover rates are not universally high in social insects. We also find evidence for active PRDM9 and hotspots in an insect.
genome.cshlp.org/content/earl...

22.03.2025 09:55 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Matt Webster

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