Differing effects of parasite-parasite interaction types on the spatial epidemiology of co-circulating parasites www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04...

New research from #BiologyLetters: How do infections impact social relationships? royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article... | #Behaviour #Ecology #Evolution #Epidemiology

Genetic variance and phenotypic selection on pathogen-linked
oviposition choice in Drosophila

doi.org/10.32942/X20...

I believe the meeting has been / will soon be cancelled.

A drawing of fruit flies eating and laying eggs in a mix of clean and pathogen-contaminated substrates.

This pre-printed article discusses insect oviposition as a tractable, mechanistically grounded model for behavioural immunity, linking individual egg-laying decisions to population level disease dynamics.

🪰🦠
doi.org/10.32942/X2W...

Insect oviposition site selection as a simple system to investigate the ecology and evolution of pathogen avoidance behaviour.

doi.org/10.32942/X2W962

2 job adverts on a NERC project w myself + @darrenobbard.bsky.social on “What determines the virome: ecology and the environment, evolution, or species history?” early 2026 in
@uniexecec.bsky.social
- Postdoc: jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...
- RA: jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...
Pls share!

Former PhD student wins the Alfred Wallace Award for significant contribution to the science of entomology | Edinburgh Infectious Diseases | Edinburgh Infectious Diseases September 2025: Dr Arun Prakash, a Darwin Trust PhD student, has been retrospectively awarded the prestigious award from the Royal Entomological Society for his 2021 thesis ''Immune Regulation Of Dise...

*Congratulations* to former Darwin Trust-funded PhD student Arun Prakash for being awarded the Alfred Russel Wallace award from @royentsoc.bsky.social for his PhD on #immune regulation of disease #tolerance and immune #priming in #Drosophila!

@edinburghbiology.bsky.social @uoe-eid.bsky.social

The ghost of infections past: Accounting for heterogeneity in individual infection history improves accuracy in epidemic forecasting Variable pathogen exposure history contributes to individual immune differences, complicating epidemic forecasting. This Essay argues that experimental disease ecology can offer powerful tools and app...

Forecasting the effects of #epidemics is complicated by a population’s pathogen exposure history. @pfvale.bsky.social @chadisaadroy.bsky.social & Mike Boots argue for the use of experimental #DiseaseEcology to better understand the consequences of variations in #infection history 🧪
plos.io/4mdDVvW

Tagging @uoe-eid.bsky.social @edinburghbiology.bsky.social

This piece on infection history as a driver of individual heterogeneity in infection outcomes was fun to think about and to write with @chadisaadroy.bsky.social and Mike Boots. Also suggest that systems like #Drosophila can offer useful tools to tackle the epidemiological consequences.

"The myth of meritocracy in science collapses under the financial sacrifices expected at every career stage. From unpaid internships and self-funded conferences to underpaid positions, these hidden costs disproportionately exclude those without generational wealth, compounded by race and gender."

Providencia rettgeri Providencia rettgeri is a rod-shaped, urease-producing, Gram-negative bacterium. It is motile, owing to the presence of flagella, which aid in its movement and colonisation of a wide range of environments. It is prevalent in hospitals and other healthcare settings, particularly on medical equipment, and therefore plays an increasingly important role in nosocomial infections. P. rettgeri produces mannose-resistant Proteus-like (MR/P) fimbriae, which allow adhesion to uroepithelial mucosal cells and to exfoliated urinary cells, contributing to its role in urinary-tract infections.

Providencia rettgeri

#DiseaseEcology #AnimalBehavior #Evolution

Hope this primer proves helpful to anybody interested in infection avoidance. It was certainly a pleasure to write with @akgibson.bsky.social and @pfvale.bsky.social l!

This figure highlights the diversity of avoidance across different species in response to pathogens and parasites. (A) Rainbow trout avoid waters with high concentrations of trematode cercariae, reducing exposure to these parasites. (B) Healthy Caribbean spiny lobsters avoid sharing dens with those infected by viruses, preventing the spread of infection within their communities. (C,D) Avoidance underlies many human public health measures such as social distancing, to minimize the risk of infectious disease contagion. (E) Oystercatchers avoid eating the largest cockles, which are likely to be infested with parasitic helminths. (F,G) Bees and ants (eusocial insects) exhibit complex social behaviours to minimize infection risks. Bees isolate or remove infected individuals from the colony, while ants restructure their social networks to reduce contact with fungal-infected foragers. (H) Sheep avoid food and water sources contaminated with feces, reducing the risk of ingesting parasites that may be present in such environments. (I,J) Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. These model organisms illustrate how detected pathogenic cues can modify behaviour and provide insights into the neurological integration of sensory perception and behavioural response to pathogens. Plants, like Saline latifolia (K), can avoid infection too, for example by flowering for shorter periods to reduce contact with fungal spores transmitted by pollinators. Root compounds of some sorghum (L) lines are associated with reduced germination of parasitic Striga seeds, demonstrating chemical avoidance strategies. (M) Crickets avoid detection by parasitic flies through the selection of variants that cannot sing, disrupting the ability of parasites to locate hosts acoustically. (N) Spongy moths show variability in larval behaviour to avoid virus-contaminated foliage. (O) Lemurs avoid water sources that have an elevated risk of fecal contamination.

This primer on infection avoidance was incredibly fun to write with @cr-amo.bsky.social and Mandy Gibson. We cover its taxonomic breadth, mechanisms and evolution, and its importance across fields as diverse as public health, conservation, and agriculture. 🧪
www.cell.com/current-biol...

#SymbioSky

Providencia rettgeri

Providencia rettgeri is a commonly employed #Drosophila pathogen. It also has an extensive AMR profile causing opportunistic infections in hospital settings. I recently realised I know less about it than I should, so here is my homework.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#Microsky #MEvosky

Interpretation and Diagnostics for lme4 Hierarchical Models Interpret and diagnose linear mixed-effects models fitted with lme4. Provides tools for summarizing model output, visualizing assumptions checks, and performing hypothesis tests.

hollyyfc.github.io/lme4u/

Hi Michelle. I've just added you.

Detecting infection-related mortality using dynamical statistical indicators of high-resolution activity time series Predicting transitions between health, disease, and death across biological systems remains an important challenge with significant implications for both ecological management and medical intervention...

A new preprint from the lab, where we apply complex systems and machine learning approaches to identify transitions between life and infection-induced death in #Drosophila.

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

Any hybrid model journal, because the subscription (free to publish) model is available, and depositing the accepted article file on PURE will satisfy funder requirements.

Really excited to finally start this project with @andreadwilson.bsky.social, using #Drosophila as a model for experimental epidemiology and evolution to explore the genetic determinants and evolutionary constraints on extreme pathogen transmission phenotypes.

Postdoctoral Research Associate at The University of Edinburgh Apply now for the Postdoctoral Research Associate role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

Hi #Drosophila folk: I'm advertising a 2-year #Postdoc, funded by a BBSRC grant on the genetic and immune determinants and evolutionary constraints underlying extreme pathogen transmission phenotypes. Deadline 29 April, details in the link below, or feel free to email:
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMQ231/p...

Tagging #symbiosky

An interesting, tenured, Principal Researcher position at CIBIO in Northern Portugal, focused on the study of virus-host #co-evolution, with emphasis on the #evolution of #immune system genes and the impact of emerging diseases on wildlife.

www.cibio.up.pt/en/jobs/tenu...

A long, long time ago, we started this review project during the first Coron lockdown, but if finally made it out into the world - Origin and function of beneficial bacterial symbioses in insects! @naturerevmicro.bsky.social

Dental calculus, the preserved oral microbiome, is an absolute treasure trove of information that can be interrogated across thousands of years. But how to make it work? In a new preprint, @markella-morait.bsky.social asks this questions using >30 mammalian species:
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Tagging #symbiosky #drosophila #entomology

Hi Jacek. That's you added now.

Tagging 🧪 #EcoECRcareer #ecosky #mevosky #symbiosky