Tag Archives: symbiosis

Don’t ask “When is it coevolution?” — ask “How is it coevolution?”

Ask me to pick a single word that describes what I study, and I’ll typically say “coevolution.” This is probably true of most evolutionary biologists who study interactions between species — plants and pollinators, hosts and symbionts, predators and prey, et … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Coevolution, ecology, evolution, mini-review | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Recent reading: 18 March 2022

In the last fortnight, I saw one long-gestating project finally published, and got to be a small part of the publication of what’s arguably the biggest-ever study of adaptive evolution. I subjected an SUV full of students to a botany-themed … Continue reading

Posted in ecology, evolution, journal club, quantitative genetics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Molecular Ecologist Podcast: Darwin Day, a glow-in-the-dark phylogeny, and pandemic PopGroup

A new episode of The Molecular Ecologist Podcast is now out on Anchor.fm. In this episode, Stacy Krueger-Hadfield, Kelle Freel, and Rishi De-Kayne chat with Jeremy Yoder about a pandemic-focused Darwin Day symposium, the phylogenetic conservation of a bioluminescence symbiosis, and the online … Continue reading

Posted in career, community, conferences, TME Podcast | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

FISHing for molecules, a link between form and function in animal–bacteria symbioses

I am posting a blog post that was written by Benedikt Geier, a Ph.D. candidate who just handed in his Ph.D. thesis at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany. In my eyes, these last couple of … Continue reading

Posted in Coevolution, community ecology, ecology, evolution, genomics, methods, microbiology, natural history, Symbiosis, transcriptomics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It's all because of the holobiont

It’s conference season at the Molecular Ecologist. I went for the first time to a Gordon Research Conference (GRC). GRCs @GordonConf are well known for their efforts to foster an informal and inclusive atmosphere where frontier research in the biological, … Continue reading

Posted in Coevolution, community ecology, conferences, conservation, ecology, evolution, Symbiosis, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Symbiotic organs shaped by distinct modes of genome evolution in cephalopods

Last week I was whining about gaps in our understanding of evolutionary processes in the ocean. The universe heard me, and today I am satisfied to write about the published genome of Euprymna scolopes – the Hawaiian bobtail squid and … Continue reading

Posted in Coevolution, evolution, genomics, microbiology, next generation sequencing, Symbiosis | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

In it to win it: Selective Advantage through Host-Selected Mutations

Julian Jackson wrote this post as a final project for Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Science Communication course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Julian is a MS student and investigates symbiotic relationships in microbial communities in Dr. Jeff Morris‘ lab. Outside of the … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, evolution, genomics, microbiology, Science Communication, selection | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A sponge and its symbionts, using genomics to unravel complex relationships

The ocean is full of interesting organisms and even more fascinating (as well as difficult to tease apart) are the interactions among them. From deep sea giant tube worms, to the adorable bobtail squid, symbioses have a central role, and … Continue reading

Posted in Coevolution, community ecology, genomics, metagenomics, microbiology | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

How much wood would a termite chuck…if it was missing its microbial symbionts

Termites get a pretty bad rap, probably because we think of our houses disintegrating when they move in. Ironically, we have a lot to learn from these critters, and their mounds have served as an inspiration for modern architecture. Either … Continue reading

Posted in Coevolution, evolution, genomics, microbiology | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment