Evolution of blood feeding
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Feeding on blood is a unique adaptation present in some species, but it is unclear what allows these species to persist on such a narrow, nutrient poor diet. I am examining the phylogenetic and functional changes in the midgut microbiome community that allow some arthropods to specialize on blood and become vectors of disease. By understanding microbial enablers of blood feeding and vector competence in arthropods, we can better understand mechanisms that promote disease transmission in arthropod-vectored pathogens.
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Museum microbiomics
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Natural history collections are the storehouses of our collective biodiversity knowledge. The use of specimens is continually reimagined beyond the original intent with which they were collected (e.g., via DNA sequencing and CT scanning). Recently, natural history specimens have been used to examine change in host-associated microbial communities through time in response to environmental change. This indicates that natural history museums can be used to test novel hypotheses about speciation and extinction in assemblages of coevolving species. Insects are the most diverse animals on the planet and their success is, in part, due to their symbiotic bacteria. Using historical specimens of blood-feeding flies, I examine the role of host and environment in driving evolution of symbiotic bacteria and assembly of the broader microbial community.
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Hierarchical communities in a changing world
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As habitat fragmentation and loss increases, so does human interaction with wildlife, which creates opportunities for disease spillover. Habitat change also impacts the microbiome (i.e., the microorganisms associated with a host or site). In arthropod parasites, the microbiome influences immune response and the ability of an arthropod to transmit disease. I use next-generation sequencing to examine the role of geographic, temporal, and environmental variation in driving microbial diversity in arthropod parasite of bats. Using community ecology statistics, I examine how the resulting microbial community change correlates with prevalence of pathogens in bats.
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Credit: Ricardo Sanchez
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Dispersal of island bats
Credit: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
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Dispersal influences the evolution and adaptation of organisms, but can be difficult to detect. Host-specific parasites provide information about the dispersal of their hosts and may be valuable for examining host dispersal that does not result in gene flow or low signals of gene flow. Parasites provide independent information about their hosts and can be used to test hypotheses of host dispersal that may be difficult to assess using host genetics alone.
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