|
Freshwater bivalves play key ecological roles in lakes and rivers, largely contributing to healthy ecosystems. The freshwater pearl mussel, Margaritifera margaritifera, is one bivalve species with rapidly declining population. The reasons for this decline are likely complex and are poorly understood. In a recent work led by PhD student Anders Alfjorden, we show that a parasitic infection by a novel gregarine parasite is linked to mass mortality events of M. margaritifery in Sweden. You can have a look at the preprint here. Identification of a new gregarine parasite in mass mortality events of freshwater pearl mussels (Margaritifera margaritifera) in Sweden Anders Alfjorden, Ioana Onut Brännström, Niklas Wengström, Arni Kristmundsson, Mahwash Jamy, David Persson, Fabien Burki bioRxiv 2023.09.26.559503; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.26.559503  Žárský V, Karnkowska A, Boscaro V, Trznadel M, Whelan TA, Hiltunen-Thorén M, Onut-Brännström I, Abbott CL, Fast NM, Burki F, et al. 2023. Contrasting outcomes of genome reduction in mikrocytids and microsporidians. BMC Biol. 21:137.
Last week we welcomed Débora to the group. Débora will develop spatial proteomics of red algae (with LOPIT), an exciting method and indeed we are very excited for this project to start.  It was the first fondue for most lab members, it turned out to be a success I think  We are very excited to welcome Yash to the lab for his PhD project. Supported by Fabien's ERC Consolidator grant PlastidOrigin, Yash's project will involved digging out heterotrophic paulinellid amoebae from hiding to better understand how this group acquired a photosynthetic organelle. Watch out Paulinella, we are coming!  Welcome Nina! We are excited to work together to unravel the mysteries of novel, maybe heterotrophic, archaeplastid groups.  To complete the ERC project PlastidOrigin dream team, we are now looking for a field-oriented postdoc with expertise in sampling, microscopy, and culturing of protists. Please consider applying especially if the question of the origin of primary plastids is of interest to you!
More info and how to apply here: www.uu.se/en/about-uu/join-us/details/?positionId=559238 In collaboration with the lab of Lars Behrendt, we are hiring a 2-year postdoc to work on developing a method to targeted cell-sorting and genomics of microbes. More information and how to apply here.
|
