Melissah Rowe

Abstract submission may be closed, but it is not too late to sign up to attend the NLSEB Annual meeting. Great plenary talks and a great line up of talks and posters. And thanks to our sponsors NWO and @isme-microbes.bsky.social for helping making this meeting possible.

Don’t miss out. If you are in the Netherlands and consider yourself an evolutionary biologist then this is a must attend event!

I am proud to present our recent #neuroethology paper on #magnetoreception in #ants today on the #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience where all authors are #WomenInSTEM @chiaratenne.bsky.social 🤩👩‍🔬🧪🧠🐜🧭
Thanks to @sfb1372.bsky.social for featuring our research in a video 🤩 doi.org/10.1007/s003...

📣SUBMISSION DEADLINE APPROACHING:
📣 28th February

Special Issue: Foundations of Internal Conflicts

Guest Edited by @martijnschenkel.bsky.social, @arvidagren.bsky.social, @imprintedgene.bsky.social, Nina Wedell and Manus Patten

For more info: academic.oup.com/jeb/pages/ca...

Expression of heat shock proteins and thermal sensitivity of male fertility across six Drosophila species Abstract. Understanding the mechanisms that confer resilience to thermal stress is crucial in the context of climate change. Recently there has been increa

Heat can make #fruitfly males sterile at temperatures below their lethal limits. We explore if tissue-specific heat shock protein expression can explain why using 6 #Drosophila species:

@chsmithson.bsky.social et al.
@ejduncan.bsky.social @amandabretman.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

The American Naturalist classic cover

Special Feature: Can we predict the future of evolution? In this review, Jackson et al. dig into genomic analyses of change over time to determine if and when evolution can be forecast using genomic methods.

Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Great to have @alexfig.bsky.social joining the team to work on reproductive microbiomes in house sparrows

Grateful for received #funding from @koneensaatio.fi for our project on impact of light pollution on the flux of insects between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Will be looking for a #postdoc and a #PhD for 4 years – take contact if interested.
koneensaatio.fi/apurahat-ja-...

Are you an evolutionary biologist? Would you like to support your society journal? We are looking for new editorial board members across the field of evolutionary biology:

🧬🌿🪰🐀🦀🔬🧫🦠🐟🐦🧑‍💻🪸🦎

Learn more and find out how to apply: jevbio.net/call-for-edi...

DEADLINE 19th January 2026 📣

Exposure to high temperatures is fatal for eggs and suppresses growth in a false widow spider, Steatoda grossa Ectothermic organisms are highly sensitive to ambient temperature, and exposure to extreme heat can induce a range of lethal and sublethal effects. Sp…

Congratulations to Yuting Dong and co-authors on another publication from Yuting's PD thesis. High temperatures have negative impacts on spiderling growth and survival. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Out now on the cover of @journal-evo.bsky.social!

Led by Sarah Khalil, we took a genomic approach to investigate the hybrid zone between different-colored Red-backed Fairywren subspecies. We found some interesting candidate genes under selection. Check it out! academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

Let’s talk about sperm. Almost all passerine birds have filiform sperm with corkscrew-shaped heads. Not the red-browed finch. This species has highly atypical sperm morphology. Check it out!

Figure 1 in Rosamond et al. (2025): "Overview of the pathway proposed in this paper. Changes in the host microbiome can drive changes in host quality (arrow A), which in turn can impact biodiversity–disease relationships (arrow B); this pathway can be influenced by host-extrinsic (here, anthropogenic) factors (arrow C). (A) Changes to host microbiome composition can either increase or decrease any of the four components of host quality (parasite exposure, establishment, growth, and infectivity). These increases or decreases can be moderated, either directly or indirectly, by various host-associated factors (dashed box). (B) Changes in host quality can subsequently affect biodiversity–disease relationships in numerous hypothetical ways. A figure from Rohr et al. (2020) illustrates potential relationships between biodiversity and disease. (C) Extrinsic factors can influence host microbiomes, triggering cascading effects that ultimately influence biodiversity–disease relationships (i.e., via A and B). The structure and sequence of this pathway, depicted through boxes and arrows, are mirrored in the main sections of the accompanying text."

New publication: Host–#Microbiome Interactions as Moderators of Host Quality and #Biodiversity–#Disease Relationships, by @melissahrowe.bsky.social and others.
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

Stock photo house sparrow

New publication: Simulated bacterial infection induces different changes in #DNAmethylation between introduced and native #housesparrows, by @melissahrowe.bsky.social and others. #passerdomesticus #stressresponse #epigenetics
doi.org/10.1002/jav....

Simulated bacterial infection induces different changes in DNA methylation between introduced and native house sparrows Passer domesticus DNA methylation, which can change within-individuals over time and regulate gene expression, is important to many aspects of avian biology. It is particularly important in avian responses to various ...

More great work coming out of a fantastic collaboration with Aaron Schrey and the Martin Lab and other. #sparrows Schrey - 2025 - Journal of Avian Biology - Wiley Online Library nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Woohoo! Well done STN leads!

Finally we have @dd10mz.bsky.social presenting his work on the colonization of the gut microbiome in offspring during development. He will show the influence of the nest microbial environment on this process. #EOU2025 (3/3)

See you soon. Looking forward
To your talk!

TODAY!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at the symposium!

Quantitative Genetics of Microbiome Mediated Traits Multicellular organisms host a rich assemblage of associated microorganisms, collectively known as their “microbiomes”. Microbiomes have the capacity to influence their hosts’ fitnesses, but the condi...

hai eseb people ! come to my talk introducing the quantitative genetics of microbiome mediated traits :) 2:30-2:45 at S07.02

btw our ppr just got accepted at evolution ! amazing and challenging reviews ::)) revised pre-print here

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Marina Martín Maroto (@marinamartinmaroto.bsky.social) Envision PhD Student at the University of Nottingham investigating urban adaptation in birds 🐦🏙

marinamartinmaroto.bsky.social and especially the extensive and impressive PhD work from @jack-harper.bsky.social who sadly isn't here (he's writing up)!

Also, I'm talking at #eseb2025 on the evolutionary history of a commensal species at 2 pm on Monday in S51-02. Come along to hear about how cool house sparrows are and all the exciting work from the sparrow team @melissahrowe.bsky.social @eriksroeed.bsky.social @ruthfawthrop.bsky.social

Interested in host-associated microbiomes? Attending @eseb2025.bsky.social? Then come check out Symposium S07 on Monday August 18th and hear all about how microbiomes contribute to adaptation. Gut microbiomes, climate change, thermal physiology, behaviour, invasion biology, blood-feeding, and more!

Metalog: curated and harmonised contextual data for global metagenomics samples Metagenomic sequencing enables the in-depth study of microbes and their functions in humans, animals and the environment. While sequencing data is deposited in public databases, the associated context...

We hope many of you will find it useful, and will continue to add data. Here's the preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... - hopefully coming soon to a NAR Database Issue near you 😅 Thanks to everyone in the @borklab.bsky.social @embl.org who contributed to this! 7/7

Excited to share my recent paper on the evolution of atypical sperm morphology in a passerine bird (the red-browed finch) in @jevbio.bsky.social with @danielmhooper.bsky.social and others. Check out their weird #sperm!

academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...

Hi Pamela. Happy to be added to the wild animal microbiome starter pack. Thanks!

Postdoctoral researcher: avian microbiomes and reproduction We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join our team working on avian reproductive microbiomes at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in the group of Dr. Melissah Rowe. The postd...

3.5-year #Postdoc position on avian microbiomes and reproduction @animalecol-nioo.bsky.social @niooknaw.bsky.social on a fully-funded ERC project focused on understanding the significance of reproductive microbiomes for host biology and fitness. Reach out for more info!

nioo.knaw.nl/en/vacancies...

Getting excited for our symposium on host-associated microbiomes next week (Monday 18 August) @eseb2025.bsky.social. We have a great line up of talks covering plants, mice, honeybees, squirrels, nematodes, mites, Drosophila, leeches, muskox, cockroaches, birds, bats, butterflies, beetles, and bears!

PhD position - bioinformatica / microbioom - Werkenbijumcg.nl - UMCG DXP We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic PhD student with a focus on computational biology, bioinformatics, and microbiome analysis to join a fully funded project on the role of the gut microbiome in cancer and cancer immunotherapy.

Come and join us at the Groningen Microbiome Hub! We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic PhD student with a focus on computational biology, bioinformatics, and microbiome analysis to join a fully funded project on the role of the gut microbiome in cancer and cancer immunotherapy.
bit.ly/4fBt38H