How specific are heritable symbioses? And what can we learn from swapping obligate symbionts across host species? We address this in our latest, led by @inespons.bsky.social & in our collaboration w/ @microbiome.bsky.social 🦠🪲 Out today in @natcomms.nature.com! 1/n www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our new paper in @natcomms.nature.com is now online-early! We describe independent evolution of bacterial genomes of only ~50–52 kb — the smallest known outside cellular organelles — revealing striking convergence toward minimal gene sets. 🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Thursday night I was lucky enough to tick off another photography milestone - documenting the moment when a cicada nymph molts its skin to reveal the adult within. For these smaller species the change is quick, they can anchor on a tree, molt and then go forth in 30 minutes #BugSky

New #microbiome paper from our lab @ioes-ju.bsky.social! Unexpected host associations for Bartonellaceae - a bacterial family primarily known as mammalian pathogens. Striking #symbiont evolutionary trajectories, exemplified by a highly reduced, 158kb genome with no nutrient biosynthetic capacity!

Ma, @annamichalik.bsky.social, Deng, Hu & @sympiotr.bsky.social discover the presence of Bartonellaceae bacteria in planthoppers, broadening the host spectrum of nonpathogenic Bartonellaceae. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf216 #genome #evolution

Please consider signing a petition to increase the spending on science in Poland / List otwarty w sprawie finansowania nauki, w tym @ncn.gov.pl www.petycjeonline.com/list_otwarty...

Based on feedback from applicants, reviewers and broader research community, the ERC Scientific Council decided to make changes in the 2026–27 calls for proposal for research funding. More details from the ERC President 👉 europa.eu/!hP3WWF What’s your take on this? Tell us! 👇

🚨 Save the date! Thrilled to be co-organizing the next iteration of the @embl.org Symposium on the Cellular Mechanics of Symbiosis (📅 March 17-20), w/ @floravincent.bsky.social, @hassansalem.bsky.social & Tom Richards. www.embl.org/about/info/c... #EESSymbiosis #Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky 🦠

Last Wednesday, my first Ph.D. Student, Junchen Deng, defended his thesis! So proud! Check some of the underlying papers - on planthopper phylogenomics doi.org/10.1111/syen..., origins of Auchenorrhynchan symbionts doi.org/10.1093/gbe/..., and planthopper symbiont evolution doi.org/10.1101/2025... !

New preprint from our lab! We show that #Bartonellaceae bacteria, mostly known as mammalian #pathogens, also colonizes #planthoppers. The planthopper #symbionts typically resemble related ant symbionts in nutritional functions, but show a much greater breadth of #genome sizes and functions. 1/2

A new paper by our team @ioes-ju.bsky.social just published in J Invert Pathol @jinvertpathol.bsky.social! In Diptera-#Entomophthora system, we show how simultaneously #sequencing #insect, #fungal #pathogen, and bacterial marker genes can aid biodiversity and biological interaction discovery.

The 2025-26 Eco-Evo job list is out. Good luck to those applying! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

NEW PAPER, JUST OUT! 👀 Insects from the '70s and '80s were already collecting microplastic, decades before the term microplastic even existed. 🤯 A thread on the surprising history of this pollutant and the incredible insect larvae that helped us uncover it. 🐛 Let's dive in! 🧵👇 1/x

New preprint by our team @ioes-ju.bsky.social! Using custom multi-target amplicon sequencing on diverse pathogen-killed dipterans from Greenland, we find multiple #Entomophthora genotypes with notable host specificity, and reconstruct bacterial communities associated with the killed insects.

A convincing demonstration of a unique transmission strategy of a widespread #insect #endosymbiont --- check out the recent publication in @currentbiology.bsky.social @kaltenpoth-lab.bsky.social et al. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Thank you, @einsteinberlin.bsky.social, for recognizing the importance of raising concerns about scientific papers. Often, science sleuths face professional, personal, and legal threats. Awards like these are vital to acknowledging the significance of our work.

Our new #OpenAccess paper How can long-term #ecology studies survive & resist political & social change, authoritarianism, war, but also embrace positive change? The Białowieża Forest as an example of the resilience of long-term studies in a changing world: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 1/

Recommended read: A @theguardian.com interactive mapped the record heat experienced by two-thirds of the Earth’s surface in 2024.

Dark Taxonomy: From unknown to ready for biomonitoring in 5 steps. By describing 120 species, most species of fungus gnats routinely caught in Malaise traps in Singapore now have names. Bees, butterflies and birds, make room for your new friends. Read here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

It’s not the head, it’s the butt! Meet a completely unknown organism: a blow fly (Calliphoridae) that evolved social integration in termite nests using a false termite head in the posterior part of the body. @CurrentBiology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Hardly new info, but BSky should know: Warsaw's water quality is monitored by eight clams with magnets attached to their shells. If contamination in the water causes the clams to close, the magnets trigger an alarm and shut off the city's water supply. Thank you, little guardian molluscs. 🧪🌏🚰

A #gingerbread Christmas #cicada - a sure sign that the much-needed vacation is just around the corner!

How to write a grant? 1. The application is for the reviewer, not you, the applicant. 2. Communicate in stories. 3. Make your story cohesive—leave no puzzling gaps. 4. Make your story resonate to keep the reviewer reading. 5. Accept chance and noise in peer-review. www.pnas.org/doi/epub/10....

A forest of neurons inside your head, happy #FluorescenceFriday! 🔬🧪🧠

Hope I'm the first to post this all time classic on this platform

Three (!) positions as Assistant Professor in #Biodiversity We hope to get one to our department #biogeography A super recruitment within Life sciences. Maximum of 7 since PhD 🌍🧪 #biodiversity #academic #climatechange #lifescience #ecology #StockholmUniversity Please re-🦋 www.su.se/english/news...

I’m not sure most people appreciate how many different species our planet holds. Here are just some (maybe 20%?) of the plant- and leaf-hopper bugs, from just one state, Texas.

I'm new to BlueSky - it's fun exploring this new site! And here is a photo of me at another site that was new to me this year: collecting insects for microbiome research in Ilulissat, #Greenland. It's turned out great. #microbiome #symbiosis #insects #biodiversity #sequencing