Host – Symbiont Interactions, Symbiosis Research in Evolutionary Biology
Main Objectives
Functional and evolutionary long- & short-term dynamics of mobile genetic elements and endosymbiotic bacteria such as Wolbachia in different eukaryotic host systems.
Nuclear Symbionts (Transposons)
Microbial Symbionts (Wolbachia)
Experimental Systems
Insects - Drosophilidae: D. melanogaster, D. simulans, D. willistoni, D. paulistorum species complex; Tephritidae: Rhagoletis cerasi (Cherry fruit fly), Bactrocera tryoni (Queensland fruit fly), Glossinidae: Glossina ssp. (Tsetse fly) | Mammals - Mus musculus musculus
Content of Research
Symbiotic Systems
Nuclear Symbionts (Tranposons)
Microbial Symbionts (Wolbachia)
Main Research Questions
What are the impacts of symbionts on sexual host behavior and other life history traits?
What are the epigenetic mechanisms that modulate symbiotic interactions?
What are the impacts of Wolbachia on insect host speciation?
Is symbiosis a common driving force in organismic evolution?
1. Classic cases for nuclear symbionts that have triggered evolutionary novelities
Innovation
Symbiont Type
Function
Theory
Eukaryotic Telomeres
Reverse Transcriptase
Linear Chromosomes
Transposon Domestication
Cell organelles
α-proteobacteria
Metabolism
Endosymbiotic Theory
DNA-Methylation Histone-Code RNA-interference
Mobile DNAs
Epigenetics
Nuclear Defense
VDJ-Joining
DNA Transposon
Immune System
Cellular Defense
2. The impact of the endosymbiont Wolbachia on modulating insect host biology
