Megan Barkdull

@meganbarkdull.bsky.social

Asst. Curator of Entomology @nhm.org | evolution, genomes, museums | @cornelluniversity.bsky.social & New College of Florida alumna | she/her. | views are my own.

mbarkdull.github.io

@stairwaytokevin.bsky.socialReposted by @meganbarkdull.bsky.social

New work to share! Pangenome studies treat gene presence/absence independently, but genes work together in pathways. By focusing on the covariance of gene loss, we show the Arabidopsis dispensable genome has modular co-evolutionary structure reflecting the biological organization of the plant 1/

@sarahmackattack.bsky.socialReposted by @meganbarkdull.bsky.social

Calling all PA (esp. PGH!!) artists!

The Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology & SaS are inviting 6 artists to join us for the annual SICB meeting Jan. 3-7 in Pittsburgh!

We want to bridge a connection btw scientists & artists & have some of our science illustrated.

Deets: bit.ly/sicb-art

A bright yellow, spiky as fuck assassin bug with the following words overlaid "Call for Artists! Learn about the latest animal research and create art inspired by the science at the SICB meeting in Pittsburgh PA. Apply at bit.ly/sicb-art Deadline to apply Nov 20 Project dates Jan 3-7, Stipend $1000
@meganbarkdull.bsky.social

In it, we explore what our field has learned about the genomic causes and consequences of sociality across insects, dig in to prominent past hypotheses, and make specific recommendations for future work on these topics. I hope you’ll give it a read and let us know what you think!

Fig. 3 from the paper. Genome features underlying gene regulation that have been implicated in social insect phenotypic plasticity. Social insects can exhibit several forms of phenotypic plasticity, including a) reproductive division of labor between reproductive and less- or non-reproductive morphs; b) age-based polyethism, in which workers progress through distinct behavioral states with age; and c) worker polyphenism, in which multiple, morphologically distinct worker morphs are produced. Multiple pre- and post-transcriptional gene regulatory mechanisms have been associated with these forms of plasticity, including cis-regulatory elements, histone modifications, DNA methylation, noncoding RNAs, and alternative splicing. These mechanisms are not mutually exclusive: multiple mechanisms may act to generate plastic phenotypes.Fig. 4 from the paper. Social traits which may influence patterns of genome evolution. a) Reproductive division of labor is expected to reduce effective population size. Given equivalent census sizes, solitary species (top of panel a), in which all individuals may reproduce, will have larger effective population sizes than social species (bottom of panel a), in which only some individuals reproduce, while others are nonreproductive. In this example, both species have a census size of 21 individuals, with 21 reproductive individuals in the solitary species (top of panel a, light blue) compared to one reproductive individual (bottom of panel a, dark green) and 20 nonreproductive individuals (bottom of panel a, light green) in the social species. b) Larger colony sizes should lead to smaller effective population sizes, if carrying capacities are the same. In this example, at a carrying capacity of 15 individuals, the species with smaller colonies have three reproductive individuals (top of panel b, dark green), while the species with larger colonies has only one reproductive individual (bottom of panel b, dark green). c) Two opposing predictions relate longer generation times to patterns of genome evolution. If per-year mutation rates are equivalent across taxa (panel c, top), then social species (lower portion of top panel, dark green) will accumulate a greater number of mutations than solitary species (upper portion of top panel, light blue). If, however, species with longer generation times have lower per-year mutation rates (panel c, bottom), then social species (lower portion of bottom panel, dark green) will accumulate fewer mutations than solitary species (upper portion of bottom panel, light blue).
@jacquelyngill.bsky.socialReposted by @meganbarkdull.bsky.social

Are you a postdoc or new faculty member who would benefit from an invited talk? My department is looking to bring someone for spring. Due to budgetary reasons, you must be either: 1. In driving distance to Orono, ME OR 2. Working on alpine or Arctic plants

@colesci.bsky.socialReposted by @meganbarkdull.bsky.social

Not enough people take seriously "funding delays"/"bureaucratic nonsense can kill people" but here it is right here. If I was mad when a patient died because it took a few extra months for lawyers to try to look for a legal basis for an international data transfer, I'm incandescent, now.

@inquirer.comReposted by @meganbarkdull.bsky.social

“You close museums, you close minds,” said Suzanne Ryan, a retired teacher and grandmother who has volunteered at the Academy of Natural Sciences since June.

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