iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Thanks Megan! It was a super fun collaboration. 😃

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Excited to see our work out in @pnas.org! We asked how mobile genetic elements generate functional diversity in symbionts and found a plasmid that protects aphids from lethal pathogens, helping to explain variation in defence across natural aphid populations. See @ben-parker.bsky.social thread👇

pnas.org

Phenotypic divergence is driven by mobile genetic elements in a heritable insect symbiont | PNAS

Heritable microbes profoundly influence insect biology, yet the traits they confer often evolve rapidly and differ among closely related symbiont s...

03610

Reposted by Lee Henry

Jolyon Troscianko @jtroscianko.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

🦋 Butterfly wing patterns create motion illusions that protect them from predators! Our new study (8 years in the making) is out in Nature today doi.org/10.1038/s415... @grahancock.bsky.social @esbriolat.bsky.social @scienceanna.bsky.social @lauraakelley.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social

12265129

Reposted by Lee Henry

Craig MacLean @craigmaclean.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Postdoc position available in my group to work on ERC funded project on evolutionary biology of antibiotic resistance. Looking for someone with expertise in bacterial genetics, AMR, and evolutionary biology. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSZ416/p...

jobs.ac.uk

Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Oxford

Explore an exciting academic career as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.

24678

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

This may help explain how ancient nutritional symbioses can remain evolutionarily flexible. A fun collaboration led by Phoebe Cunningham, with @chemamd.bsky.social, Jan Oettler, Eva Schultner, Rayko Halitschke, @tcsengl.bsky.social & @kaltenpoth-lab.bsky.social Happy to finally see it out! 🐜🦠

062

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Without Westeberhardia, the ants instead increase their capacity to make tyrosine from dietary phenylalanine. So rather than being metabolically locked into an ancient symbiosis, Cardiocondyla can switch between symbiont- and environmentally-derived nutrients depending on its symbiotic state.

122

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The really exciting part came when we looked at metabolism. With Westeberhardia, host + symbiont work together to make tyrosine: the bacterium produces a precursor through the shikimate pathway and the ant completes the pathway. But remove the symbiont and the ant switches metabolic strategy. 🔄

110

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

We found that Westeberhardia becomes particularly valuable when protein is scarce. Under complete protein starvation, adult emergence dramatically dropped without the symbiont, compared to symbiotic colonies. And the ants respond to nutritional stress by increasing symbiont density. 🐜🦠 3/6

100

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Many insects depend on bacterial symbionts for essential nutrients. But Cardiocondyla ants are unusual. Their intracellular symbiont, Westeberhardia, is ancient and vertically transmitted—yet disappear from populations in nature. So what is it doing, and how can the ants survive without it? 2/6

100

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

🧵 New paper out in Nature Communications! 🐜🦠 How can an ancient nutritional symbiosis persist for millions of years, yet still be lost without killing its host? In Cardiocondyla ants, the answer appears to be remarkable metabolic flexibility. Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s414... 1/6

doi.org

Metabolic plasticity supports a flexible nutritional symbiosis in Cardiocondyla ants - Nature Communications

Ancient symbioses may enable ants to thrive in diverse niches, but how these relationships are regulated remains unclear. This study reveals that some ants can dynamically regulate symbiont-derived be...

1177

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

⭐Postdoc position available⭐ How do symbionts evolve new beneficial functions? Join the Henry Lab to investigate how horizontal gene transfer drives host–microbe symbioses. 🦠 Apply below Enquiries: l.henry@qmul.ac.uk Please share! #Postdoc #EvolutionaryBiology #Symbiosis henry-lab.co.uk

qmul-jobs.tal.net

Postdoctoral Research Associate in Evolution of Host–Microbe Symbioses - QMUL Jobs

ID: 10612. Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Evolution of Host–Microbe Symbioses. Application Deadline:

02736

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

New paper out in @gigascience.bsky.social investigating horizontal gene transfer in 163 ant genomes! Well done @jannelrinke.bsky.social, and everyone involved. Thanks for inviting us along! 👏🐜

060

Reposted by Lee Henry

Noah Whiteman @nkwhiteman.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

So excited to announce our search for 4 postdocs (funded by the Simons Foundation) who will use genomics to "test how ecological interactions, natural selection, natural enemies, hybridization & environmental gradients shape...tropical tree communities" in Panama: stri.si.edu/story/bci-ev... ...1

stri.si.edu

211193

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

5M year old whale graveyard that’s still being used?! Bonkers.

000

Reposted by Lee Henry

Greg Owens @gregowens.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

UVic is hiring a Terrestrial Plant Ecologist Assistant Professor! Come join our department! We're nice and Victoria is awesome. www.uvic.ca/science/biol...

uvic.ca

Faculty Position in Terrestrial Plant Ecology - University of Victoria

Department: Biology                 &am...

04165

Reposted by Lee Henry

Britt Koskella @bkoskella.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Please share widely! Abstract submissions open for the 2026 Jacques Monod conference: Ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions in a changing world! Held in beautiful Roscoff France from November 2- 6, 2026. Abstracts submission deadline : June 6 cjm.sb-roscoff.fr/en/conferenc...

cjm.sb-roscoff.fr

Ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions in a changing world | CNRS - Conférences Jacques Monod (CJM)

05851

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Great question! Maintaining defensive symbionts as mobile elements makes sense as it allows hosts to gain and lose them with pressures from enemies. Inserting toxins into genomes is likely costly but may be mitigate through evolved regulation of HGT elements. Different routes to improved immunity?

110

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

One of the biggest surprises was finding multiple cointegrated APSE phages with different toxins in a single genomic locus. Rather than evolving defenses sequentially, symbionts may rapidly expand their arsenal by combining phage-encoded toxins—a previously unrecognized route to enhanced defense.

120

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

We also discovered several toxin classes not previously reported in insect defensive symbionts, including: • MAC/perforin domain proteins • leucine-rich repeat (LRR) proteins This expands the known molecular toolkit underlying insect defense.

120

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

New paper out in @molbioevol.bsky.social 🧬🦠 We show phage toxin diversity in protective symbionts isn’t random—toxin families are linked to defense against different parasitoid species. This suggests toxin diversification is a major force shaping the functional evolution of these microbes.

2136

Reposted by Lee Henry

Molecular Biology and Evolution @molbioevol.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Panossian, @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social et al. analyzed Hamiltonella genomes and their toxin-encoding bacteriophages, highlighting how mobile genetic elements influence the ecological roles and diversification of protective symbionts. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag079 #evobio #molbio

032

Reposted by Lee Henry

Asher Leeks @asherleeks.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

We're recruiting! We're looking for two graduate students to join us at UBC in Vancouver. Fully funded and open to global applicants, with flexible start-date. Topics include theory, bioinformatics, and microbiology. More details: asherleeks.com/apply #socialviruses #evosky #virosky 🧪

Leeks Lab is recruiting. We study social evolution in viruses. We're recruiting for two fully funded PhD or MSc positions, starting from September 2026. Evolutionary theory / experimental microbiology / viral bioinformatics. Experience optional / enthusiasm essential. asherleeks.com/apply

26889

Reposted by Lee Henry

Animal Ecology Uppsala @animecol-uu.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

We have a new exiting PhD position in our program on the skin microbiome of amphibians, supervised by @cortazar-chinarro.bsky.social! Follow the link to read more and apply: www.uu.se/en/about-uu/.... Deadline the 8th of May.

uu.se

PhD in Evolutionary Ecology and genomics - Uppsala University

PhD in Evolutionary Ecology and genomics, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University

0613

Reposted by Lee Henry

Mark Mandel @markjmandel.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Check out this squid-vibrio postdoc position at Penn State with my colleague Tim Miyashiro, especially if you have a background in proteomics/metabolomics. psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic...

psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Postdoctoral Position - BMB

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, a...

01218

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Hi @homerej.bsky.social. The position will most likely involve a large scale comparative genomics analysis of 300 symbiont strains to understand how host ecology shapes their genomes. Predictions will be validated in the wet lab. Email me your CV at l.henry@qmul.ac.uk and I can explain more!

000

Reposted by Lee Henry

Dr Simon Goodman @phoca-sapiens.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Come join us! We're recruiting 3 new academic posts in the School of Biology, University of Leeds, closing 23/04/26. Assoc Prof Plant Science tinyurl.com/4x48jc78 Assoc Prof Animal Biology tinyurl.com/2s4sk85s Lecturer in Ecology, Zoology, Biodiversity or Ecosystem Management: tinyurl.com/39dwp47j

01840

Reposted by Lee Henry

Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

May 5th: if you are around London, please join the London #EvoDevo symposium at QMUL / Charterhouse campus, as usual we will have selected talks and post-event 🍻. A warm up for #EED2026 in Glasgow. Registration £0, more info here: londonevodevo.co.uk

Reposted by Lee Henry

Royal Entomological Society @royentsoc.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Registration and abstract submission are open for our annual conference, #Ento26 🦋 Join the entomological community this September, with opportunities to present your work, meet new contacts and build collaborations. ✨ Find out #WhatsOn at #Ento26 🔽

buff.ly

Ento26

Call for Abstracts and Earlybird Registration Now Open

033

Reposted by Lee Henry

Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Pleased to finally share this fun collab that began at #Ento23 @cedricaumont.bsky.social presented & I had seen NCBI annotated some cockroach genomes as "contaminated." Turns out NCBI & I were wrong (much more fun). Horizontal transfer of an #AntimicrobialPeptide across insects bit.ly/DrsHGT 1/🧵

A phylogenetic tree of insects is shown annotating the presence or absence of a an antimicrobial peptide gene across winged insects

Various phylogenetic secondary loss events are mapped to a tree of insects to explain the parsimony calculations necessary to explain the diversity of insect Drosomycin antimicrobial peptide genes

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are key defence molecules of the innate immune system of plants and animals. Understanding the evolutionary origins of AMPs can help to explain how immune systems acquire novelty and vary in their defensive capabilities. However, AMPs evolve rapidly, and so the origins of similar AMPs across organisms is often unclear. Furthermore, false negatives due to low search sensitivity are common and can hinder confident annotations about true absences. Due to these difficulties, understanding whether similar AMP genes found in diverse organisms represent ancestral molecules or evolutionary novelties has been challenging. In this report, we present evidence of
horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of the antifungal peptide gene Drosomycin across insects. We show that in Diptera, the presence of Drosomycin is restricted to the Melanogaster group and additionally the
distant relative Drosophila busckii. We go on to recover Drosomycin genes in cockroaches (Blattodea), mantises (Mantodea), one katydid (Orthoptera), various beetles (Coleoptera), and a recently acquired
pseudogenized Drosomycin locus in Liposcelis booklice (Psocodea), but no other insects. Explaining this diversity through shared ancestry requires at least 50 independent loss events, or just seven HGT
events. Previous studies have suggested that similar AMPs found across divergent species reflect conservation from a common ancestor, or due to their small size, that they arose via convergent evolution resulting from pathogen-imposed selection. Our findings suggest horizontal gene transfer can be responsible for the presence of some AMP genes found scattered across the tree of life. By presenting a mechanism through which immune systems can acquire novelty, our study also suggests a possible explanation for certain lineage-specific competencies for defence against infectious disease. While loss of AMP genes is common in certain lineages, here we suggest gain of AMPs can occur just as suddenly.

37930

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Amazing opportunity to join the @hassansalem.bsky.social lab studying symbiosis of leaf beetles!

130

Reposted by Lee Henry

Hassan Salem @hassansalem.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Join @berasymbionts.bsky.social , @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social and us for a postdoc on the remarkable developmental biology of symbiosis! Applications are due March 25th 🪲🦠 @johninnescentre.bsky.social @thesainsburylab.bsky.social

03744

Reposted by Lee Henry

Andy Radford @andyradford.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

🚨JOB alert🚨 We have three (yes, THREE) 🌟lectureships🌟 advertised in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol. Broad remit, including #AnimalBehaviour & #GlobalChangeBiology ⏱️Deadline: 8th March 2026 🙏Please circulate widely 😊Come join us! Full #job details: tinyurl.com/y3us95rc

bristol.ac.uk

Details | Working at Bristol | University of Bristol

06497

Reposted by Lee Henry

Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

How to study adaptation in organisms that we can’t see, living in environments that we can’t visit? Some thoughts in our perspective piece out today in @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @biology.ox.ac.uk @stuwest.bsky.social

pnas.org

Studying adaptation at the invisible scale | PNAS

In order to understand adaptation by natural selection, it is necessary to observe organisms in their natural habitat. For this reason, the field o...

12110

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Awesome work Piotr and team! 👏

010

Reposted by Lee Henry

Piotr Lukasik @sympiotr.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

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...

The visualization of two bacterial genomes, of 50 and 52kb, representing independent instances of extreme genomic reduction in ancient heritable endosymbionts of planthoppers.

58531

Reposted by Lee Henry

Hassan Salem @hassansalem.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

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! 1/n www.nature.com/articles/s41...

311970

Lee Henry @henrylabsymbio.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Awesome work Ines and Hassan! 🙌🏼

030

Reposted by Lee Henry

Anna Dewar @annadewar.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

We understand a great deal about how and why cooperation evolves, but what about its long-term consequences? Great to see our new review on this out now in @asn-amnat.bsky.social!

03112

Reposted by Lee Henry

Stu West @stuwest.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Comparative analysis across 5,678 insect species shows that, when you control for phylogenetic bias, eusociality has not evolved at a faster rate in haplodiploid species. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Eusociality has independently evolved in multiple arthropod lineages

03120

Reposted by Lee Henry

Joel Sachs @sachslab.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

NEW: Registration is now FREE for graduate students and postdocs for the 14th Annual Yosemite Symbiosis workshop. THANKS to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation! Space is limited. Learn more and REGISTER here: snri.ucmerced.edu/form/symbios...

01613