iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Bram van Dijk @bramvandijk.bsky.social (@utrechtuniversity.bsky.social): How mobile genes reshape the microbial arms race #NIME2025

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Aileen Berasategui @berasymbionts.bsky.social (VU) on Origin and evolution of a defensive symbiosis in tortoise beetle Chelymorpha alternans beetle => today, focusing on pupation see their @currentbiology.bsky.social paper (with @hassansalem.bsky.social) www.cell.com/current-biol... #NIME2025

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

IFBC_2025 @ifbc-2025.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

🎤 Meet the speakers of 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟯: Fungal Crosstalk with Hosts & Predatory Interactions at #IFBC2025! 🍄🌱🪱🧬 ⏳ The registration & abstract submission deadline is fast approaching! 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀: 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟱 📍 Chania, Greece | 📅 Sept 27–30 🔗 ifbc2025.maich.gr #fungalbiology #Conference #Greece

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Nick Talbot @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Great sessions at #IFBC25 on fungal manipulation of ant behaviour (Charissa de Bekker) and nematode behaviour (@fungi_worms and Reinhard Fischer) -highlighting the complex cellular eukaryotic processes that fungal effectors can perturb -remarkable insights from effector biology

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

On my way back from the International Fungal Biology 🍄🍄‍🟫Conference in Chania, Crete. I’m exhausted. But what an amazing 4 days of science, friends, and Greek hospitality it was. And in such a beautiful conference venue too! Wish all conferences could be in Crete 🤩☀️🌴🐈🐈‍⬛

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Which fungal 🍄 molecules cause zombie 🧟‍♀️ ant 🐜 behaviors? @williamycete.bsky.social has begun to answer this question! He found a peptide that binds to scramblase and affects important odor-dependent behaviors in ants. Spoiler: worms 🪱 played a key role in this research 🧐 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

doi.org

The First of Us: Ophiocordyceps use a novel scramblase-binding peptide to manipulate zombie ants

Parasite-adaptive manipulation of behavior is a widespread natural phenomenon. While Ophiocordyceps zombie fungi are well-known for hijacking ant behavior to increase their fitness, functionally chara...

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Vicencio Oostra @climate-adaptation.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Goodbye #eseb2025 @eseb2025.bsky.social see you next time! Perhaps what stuck most was powerful talk on resilience and survival by Palestinian researcher, play director, and ESEB EUEA awardee May Shehady. Let's not forget, let's not look away. 🇵🇸

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Phew! What a rush presenting for the big, scientifically diverse #ESEB2025 crowd this morning. Thankful for this amazing opportunity to show off the interdisciplinary work my research team and our collaborators have been doing to better understand parasite manipulation of behavior. #zombieants 🧟‍♀️ 🐜 🍄

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Brilliant plenary today from Carrisa de Bekker @zombieantdoc.bsky.social at @eseb.bsky.social conference. On her work funded by @erc.europa.eu CoG. Great example of inter-disciplinary collaboration to solve a mystery..

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

katja heuer @k4tj4.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Fantastic keynote by @zombieantdoc.bsky.social at #ESEB2025 taking us on a journey through zombie-making strategies of Ophiocordyceps fungi to hijack ant behaviour, with lots of amazing new data, behaviour, functional genetic essays.. @ebablab.bsky.social @alealisousa.bsky.social @r3rt0.bsky.social

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Amanda Bretman @amandabretman.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

How do fungi manipulate ant behaviour? A beautiful story unfolding through multiple elegant approaches from @zombieantdoc.bsky.social in today’s plenary #eseb2025

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Olaya Rendueles @olayarendueles.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

#ESEB2025 Excellent Keynote by @zombieantdoc.bsky.social on how parasites affect host behavior using fungus- 🐜 as a model. Nice combination of multi-omic approaches with functional genetic assays and quantitative behavioral assays to pinpoint host pathways that are affected during fungal infection

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Ben Auxier @benauxier.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

@zombieantdoc.bsky.social spreading the biology of zombie ant fungus in the ESEB plenary. Showing mechanisms of how fungi hijack ant behaviour to help their own dispersal.

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Flo Débarre @flodebarre.eurosky.social · 14/08/2025

Folks going to #ESEB2025 : To help people connect on Bluesky, I've started making starter packs. Here is a first one with the names that were available when I started. Ping me if you want to be included in the next one!

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Parasites 🦠🪱🍄‍🟫 that hijack insects 🐜🪰🐛and induce “zombie behaviors” 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️ often affect the host’s daily rhythms. But how do they do it? In this npj bts publication @joanadopp.bsky.social and I propose that they co-opt host circadian plasticity 🧠⌚️ We hope you’ll enjoy the read! rdcu.be/eyPz0

rdcu.be

Insect circadian plasticity as a proposed target for the expression of parasite extended phenotypes

npj Biological Timing and Sleep - Insect circadian plasticity as a proposed target for the expression of parasite extended phenotypes

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Excited to have joined the Editorial Board of @plosbiology.org a few months ago, the #PLOS flagship journal in the Life Sciences. As an editor, I aim to contribute to their support of equitable #OpenScience and reaching global audiences to help advance science faster.

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Only a couple of weeks till the @eseb2025.bsky.social conference! I’m so honored to be one of the keynote speakers, and incredibly excited about the amazing scientific program and the opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones! #eseb2025

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Pilzfestspiele 2025 @pilzfestspiele.at · 24/06/2025

Willkommen im Reich der Pilze.

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

It was a pleasure presenting our #ZombieAnt research at the #LeidenBiology symposium this afternoon. Thanks for the invite and the great discussion!

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

IUCN SSC Fungal Conservation Committee @iucnfungi.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

BREAKING NEWS: the number of #fungi species on the IUCN Red List has surpassed 1000!! 🥳🥳 Today's update confirmed that #deforestation, agricultural expansion and urban development are driving fungi to decline worldwide. It's the top story on the press release — iucn.org/press-releas...

iucn.org

First 1,000 fungi on IUCN Red List reveal growing threats - IUCN Red List

Gland, Switzerland, 27 March 2025 (IUCN) – The number of fungi species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ has surpassed 1,000, confirming that deforestation, agricultural expansion and urban ...

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

My friends at @terzijdehorde.bsky.social are supporting those who fight the good fight. And so could you by buying one of their shirts! Trans rights are human rights. ✊🏳️‍⚧️

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) @spun.earth · 26/02/2025

Our newest research on plant-fungal trade published today in @nature.com. The work, led by scientists from Vrije Universiteit, Princeton University, SPUN & AMOLF combines robotics, mycology & biophysics to reveal underground supply-chain dynamics. Open access: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Such a great opportunity to present our research at #CMINorwich2025 in front of a room filled with microbiologists with such diverse and exciting research interests.

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

This is a room where we turn very modest salaries and budgets (and lots of coffee) into new knowledge, life-saving innovations, and technology that feeds business growth. It's literally the loom that spins hay into gold but these numpties are suddenly worried about the cost of hay.

A research lab from Northwestern, chosen because it's generic and sort of zoomed out. Three scientists are visible in lab coats, and there are benches and shelving, with glass along one wall showing another high-rise building nearby. Overhead fluorescents provide light.

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

The Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute @westerdijkinst.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

🎙️ New Interview Alert The Scientist sat down with @fhagen.bsky.social from the Westerdijk Institute to discuss a global health challenge: the silent pandemic of antifungal resistance. Read here: www.the-scientist.com/the-silent-p...

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Looking for conversation material for the holidays? Look no further! Here’s some fun zombie fungi facts to share with unexpecting family members and friends. I mean, who wouldn’t want to chat about fungus-infused, out of their mind ants, flies and cicadas? www.the-scientist.com/zombie-fungi...

the-scientist.com

Zombie Fungi Hijack Hosts’ Brains

Mind-controlling fungi are changing the ways that scientists understand host-parasite relationships.

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Reposted by Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her)

Dr. Sydney Glassman @sydneyglassman.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

My department is hiring a fungal biologist! aprecruit.ucr.edu/JPF01990

aprecruit.ucr.edu

Assistant Professor in Fungal Biology

University of California, Riverside is hiring. Apply now!

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

For Fungus Friday, here are some of the first dissection scope pictures taken by one of my grad students for their current MS project. These are hyper parasites of the zombie-making fungus Ophiocordyceps. Yes, indeed that’s parasites parasitizing on parasites! 🧟‍♀️🐜🍄🍄‍🟫

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Latest zombie ant pub by former grad student Sophia Vermeulen who investigated if fungal infections affect ant gut microbiomes TLDR: zombie-making Ophio changes ant microbiome during host manipulation while the non-manipulating Beauveria fungus does not! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Consequences of “zombie-making” and generalist fungal pathogens on carpenter ant microbiota

The bacterial microbiome of the ant Camponotus floridanus has been well characterized across body regions and maturation levels. However, potential ef…

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Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Loved old science Twitter, left the garbage pile it is now a few months ago. Finally found the energy to start anew on here. So, where are you science community? Did you make the migration as well? Cute dog pic to stop you from scrolling ✌️

Dog lying down with the front paws crossed

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