As a nature photographer, I tried to combine documentation with image quality — several photos ended up in publications & guidebooks.
And as a biologist, I have learnt so much about biodiversity.
#inaturalist was a game changer for me.
Observations: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Enjoy :)
New personal milestone - 10,000 observations on #inaturalist @inaturalist.bsky.social !
4,290 from Poland, the rest from 20+ countries
~3,450 total species
Several first species records on the platform, or range extensions. Data feeds into @gbif.org - contributes to #biodiversity research.
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Huge thanks to all co-authors— @annamichalik.bsky.social, Diego Castillo Franco, and others—for making this happen 🙌
And to @ncn.gov.pl for supporting the work.
(And of course, to the planthoppers 🦗—photos mine!)
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Together, our results show how ecological change and symbiont turnover can push bacterial genomes to their functional limits, redefining the lower bounds of cellular life. They also further blur the boundary between bacteria and organelles.
Enjoy the read :) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Extreme symbiont genome reduction coincides with host ecological shifts.
The smallest genomes occur in lineages that changed diet (from plant sap to fungivory during juvenile stages) or acquired additional microbes that took over nutritional functions.
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The visualization of the smallest ~50kb Vidania genomes from two planthopper lineages, and of their congruence
Remarkably, Vidania independently evolved nearly identical ~50 kb genomes in lineages separated by ~263 million years of evolution.
These ultra-reduced symbionts retain the ability to produce just one amino acid (phenylalanine).
→ striking convergent evolution at the limits of cellular life!
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Reconstruction of the gene loss patterns from symbiont genomes across planthopper phylogenies
Mapping Sulcia and Vidania gene loss across the host phylogeny, we find lineages where genome reduction accelerates dramatically.
Such shifts in Vidania often coincide with Sulcia loss—pointing to symbiosis-level drivers. The patterns also vary strongly across gene categories.
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The comparison of genome sizes, gene numbers, and GC contents among diverse bacteria, organelles, and hopper symbionts, or among planthopper-reconstructed genomes
We assembled and compared 63 Sulcia and 67 Vidania genomes. While both are highly reduced, Vidania varies widely—and in some lineages shrinks to just 50–52 kb, smaller than any other known non-organellar bacterial genome.
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Fluorescent microphotograph showing Sulcia and Vidania within the tissues of planthopper hosts
Such heritable endosymbionts that provide essential amino acids lacking in plant sap are typically remarkably stable — in genome structure, localization, and function — over >>100 million years of co-diversification with insect hosts.
But this stability has limits.
Planthopper phylogeny, with information on which symbionts result in which clades
We surveyed ~150 species across the taxonomic diversity of #planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha). We found the ancient nutritional symbionts Sulcia and Vidania in most species—often alongside additional microbes (unless replaced by #Ophiocordyceps).
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Our paper is now out in its final form in @natcomms.nature.com ! We show that ancient insect symbionts can undergo extreme, convergent genome reduction to as little as ~50 kb - driven by ecological shifts and symbiont replacement.
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
More below 👇
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How specific are heritable symbioses?
And what can we learn from swapping obligate symbionts across host species?
We address this in our latest, led by @inespons.bsky.social & in our collaboration w/ @microbiome.bsky.social 🦠🪲 Out today in @natcomms.nature.com!
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www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The visualization of two bacterial genomes, of 50 and 52kb, representing independent instances of extreme genomic reduction in ancient heritable endosymbionts of planthoppers.
Our new paper in @natcomms.nature.com is now online-early!
We describe independent evolution of bacterial genomes of only ~50–52 kb — the smallest known outside cellular organelles — revealing striking convergence toward minimal gene sets.
🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s414...
16 shots of the two to three nymphs I was photographing, showing the process of how they discard their nymph stage shells. The shell initially cracks along a dorsal seam and the newly formed cicada pushes up through this crack, emerging at a 90° angle from the tree. From here they carefully invert themselves, a position in which they remain for a few minutes while their blood begins to flow around their new appendages. After a while their legs begin to twitch, and then using core strength that would put any human to shame they perform a full body curl, latch onto their old shell with their clawed feet and carefully pull out their abdomen. Now fully free of their former self they begin pumping blood into their wings, which quickly unfurl and flatten. Once everything has been inflated to the correct size they rest a bit more before beginning the arduous climb to a higher vantage point. At some point in the night they achieve flight for the first time in their life. Now active in the branches of the trees they emerged under they only have a short adult lifespan in which to reproduce and begin the whole cycle anew.
Thursday night I was lucky enough to tick off another photography milestone - documenting the moment when a cicada nymph molts its skin to reveal the adult within. For these smaller species the change is quick, they can anchor on a tree, molt and then go forth in 30 minutes #BugSky
New #microbiome paper from our lab @ioes-ju.bsky.social! Unexpected host associations for Bartonellaceae - a bacterial family primarily known as mammalian pathogens. Striking #symbiont evolutionary trajectories, exemplified by a highly reduced, 158kb genome with no nutrient biosynthetic capacity!
Ma, @annamichalik.bsky.social, Deng, Hu & @sympiotr.bsky.social discover the presence of Bartonellaceae bacteria in planthoppers, broadening the host spectrum of nonpathogenic Bartonellaceae.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf216
#genome #evolution
Please consider signing a petition to increase the spending on science in Poland / List otwarty w sprawie finansowania nauki, w tym @ncn.gov.pl www.petycjeonline.com/list_otwarty...
Based on feedback from applicants, reviewers and broader research community, the ERC Scientific Council decided to make changes in the 2026–27 calls for proposal for research funding.
More details from the ERC President 👉 europa.eu/!hP3WWF
What’s your take on this? Tell us! 👇
🚨 Save the date! Thrilled to be co-organizing the next iteration of the @embl.org Symposium on the Cellular Mechanics of Symbiosis (📅 March 17-20), w/ @floravincent.bsky.social, @hassansalem.bsky.social & Tom Richards.
www.embl.org/about/info/c...
#EESSymbiosis #Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky 🦠
Last Wednesday, my first Ph.D. Student, Junchen Deng, defended his thesis! So proud!
Check some of the underlying papers - on planthopper phylogenomics doi.org/10.1111/syen..., origins of Auchenorrhynchan symbionts doi.org/10.1093/gbe/..., and planthopper symbiont evolution doi.org/10.1101/2025... !
The newly assembled planthopper-Bartonellaceae genomes range in size from <2 Mb to 158 kb. The one most reduced lacks any essential amino acid biosynthesis genes, contrasting with all other insect-associated bacteria with ultra-reduced genomes, or other genes with obvious importance to hosts! 2/2
New preprint from our lab! We show that #Bartonellaceae bacteria, mostly known as mammalian #pathogens, also colonizes #planthoppers. The planthopper #symbionts typically resemble related ant symbionts in nutritional functions, but show a much greater breadth of #genome sizes and functions. 1/2
Reference: Płoszka Z., Nowak K.H., Tischer M., Michalik A., Kolasa M.R., Łukasik P. (2025): Dissecting multitrophic interactions: The relationships among Entomophthora, their dipteran hosts, and associated bacteria. J Invertebrate Pathology 213: 108425 doi.org/10.1016/j.ji...
Congrats all!
Highlights:
• Molecular records for Entomophthora’s new host clades from an unexplored bioregion - Greenland
• Confirmed high host-specificity of the pathogens;
• Provided the first records of bacteria seemingly associating with pathogen-killed flies;
• Validated multi-target sequencing approach
A new paper by our team @ioes-ju.bsky.social just published in J Invert Pathol @jinvertpathol.bsky.social!
In Diptera-#Entomophthora system, we show how simultaneously #sequencing #insect, #fungal #pathogen, and bacterial marker genes can aid biodiversity and biological interaction discovery.
Lead author Auke-Florian Hiemstra holds the oldest known caddisfly casing containing microplastic, dating to 1971. Photo: Liselotte Rambonnet.
A caddisfly casing with pieces of blue microplastic, dating 1986. Photo: Auke-Florian Hiemstra
NEW PAPER, JUST OUT! 👀
Insects from the '70s and '80s were already collecting microplastic, decades before the term microplastic even existed. 🤯
A thread on the surprising history of this pollutant and the incredible insect larvae that helped us uncover it. 🐛
Let's dive in! 🧵👇 1/x
New preprint by our team @ioes-ju.bsky.social! Using custom multi-target amplicon sequencing on diverse pathogen-killed dipterans from Greenland, we find multiple #Entomophthora genotypes with notable host specificity, and reconstruct bacterial communities associated with the killed insects.
A convincing demonstration of a unique transmission strategy of a widespread #insect #endosymbiont
--- check out the recent publication in @currentbiology.bsky.social @kaltenpoth-lab.bsky.social et al. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Thank you, @einsteinberlin.bsky.social, for recognizing the importance of raising concerns about scientific papers. Often, science sleuths face professional, personal, and legal threats.
Awards like these are vital to acknowledging the significance of our work.
