Welcome
We unravel the molecular-genetic mechanisms of key traits within the broader fields of herbivory, endosymbiosis, pesticide resistance, and reproductive isolation. We use interdisciplinary approaches to dissect the mechanistic basis of these complex traits. We leverage our love and fascination for arthropods to address these research questions. You can find us both in the field and in the molecular lab.
June 2026 Update
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- Written by: Nicky Wybouw
>> Our annual StickyFest with Steven Van Belleghem’s group (KUL) brought everyone together to present and discuss our latest research developments. The topics ranged from pesticide resistance to symbiosis and polygenic traits that underpin wing development. We ended the day with bowling and a couple of drinks!
>> Happy that Aurélie's paper on the local spread of Aegeritella fungi in a single study site of over 40 red wood ant colonies is published! With Thomas Parmentier, we focused on a 100 hectare site and assessed over 1,200 workers for infection. Aegeritella was exceptionally widespread and worker size strongly influenced the observed infection dynamics at the study site. Histology and scanning electron microscopy confirmed that Aegeritella do not penetrate the ant cuticle. This discovery-driven field study underscores the importance of high-resolution sampling in localized areas to fully uncover how insect-associated symbionts spread through social insect colonies. CLICK HERE FOR MORE!
April 2026 Update
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- Written by: Nicky Wybouw
>> Our study on complex cryptic co-infections of Spiroplasma in European Myrmica ants is now published : https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.70341 . The project officially began over beers in the garden of Thomas before covid-19 happened. Throughout the years, we sampled over 75 colonies of 7 Myrmica species. We developed an in-house protocol to generate and carefully analyze ONT amplicon read data. Together with Sanger and Illumina sequence data of experimental lab colonies, we show that Myrmica queens and workers are typified by a variety of Spiroplasma co-infections. We further uncover that infection heterogeneity is dependent on caste in Myrmica ruginodis, a common species in Europe. We also present evidence that one particular Spiroplasma variant may display stable maternal transmisision within Myrmica for the last 7 million years!
>> Earlier this year, I had the privilege of presenting our research at INRAe (Montpellier) and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (Jena). I also had a wonderful time at the EMBO workshop on Molecular mechanisms of selfish elements and strategies.
>> Jolien De Smet has recently joined our team! She is a research technologist and will contribute to our ongoing molecular-genetic experiments in mites and ants. Diego has recently started a new position - we wish him all the best!
September 2025 Update
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- Written by: Nicky Wybouw
>> Together with Felipe Kauai, we wanted to better understand how Wolbachia infection persists upon loss of CI in haplodiploid hosts. In our study, we focused on both CI loss through the evolution of host suppression and through the dysfunction of cif operons. Please go HERE for the article!
>> Ernesto Villacis‐Perez visited our lab and sampled several Tetranychus populations in the dunes of West Flanders.
>> Gerben Debruyn started his post-doc project in our lab! He will start to unravel how phasmid eggs interact with parasitoids and symbionts.
>> Margarita, Emma, and Siebe also gave their first presentations at ESEB2025!
