Publications

Blasi G, Schwolow K, Darras H, Foitzik S. (2026)
Cestode infection is linked to transcriptional shifts in neuropeptide signalling and caste-specific ageing pathways in a social insect BMC Genomics, 547

Bolder MF, Möllmann JS, Colgan TJ, Libbrecht R (2026)
Unmated Queens Show Worker-Like Behaviour and Gene Expression in Polygynous Colonies of the Ant Stigmatomma pallipes Mol. Ecol, 9:e70360

Darras H, Yu C, Kever M, Stoldt M, Feldmeyer B, Foitzik S (2026)
Sequential origin of an alternative colony founding strategy driven by two supergenes in Temnothorax ants Molecular Biology and Evolution, msag115

Blöcher J, Vallini L, Velte M, Eckel R, Guyon L, Winkelbach L, Thomas MG, Gharehbaghi N, Mitchell CT, Schümann J, Köhler S, Seyr E, Krichel K, Rau S, Hirsch J, Duras J, Cloarec-Pioffet P, Flüglistaler A, Klement K, Wilkenhöner M, Vetterdietz L, Gentilin F, Müller M, Mücke AL, Zedda N, Tawfik Y, Saal E, McGlynn G, Bramati B, Orschiedt J, Molitor R, Fliß B, Spazier I, Shankland D, Vetterling C, Karpf K, Planert V, Hölzl S, Codreanu-Windauer S, Quast D, Mikic I, Fiedler S, Päffgen B, Brami M, Richter T, Chaix R, Brather-Walter S, Steffens P, Marquart M, Becker T, Haberstroh J, Meier M, Schmidt-Hofner S, Brather S, Harbeck M, Patzold S (2026)
Demography and life histories across the Roman frontier in Germany 400–700 ce Nature

Lenhart A, Darras H, Foitzik S (2026)
Absence of supergene-linked determination of wing polymorphism and alternative reproductive strategies in the ant Hypoponera opacior Biol Lett, 22 (4): 20260070

Sistermans T, Libbrecht R, Foitzik S (2026)
Integrated co-expression analysis of host–parasite transcriptomes reveals mechanisms of host modulation in an ant–cestode system BMC Genomics

Blasi G, Darras H, Foitzik S (2026)
DNA methylation reflects tissue and caste identity but not parasitism-induced changes in a social insect Proc. R. Soc. B, 293:20252483

Macit MN, Collin E, Nieto-Blazquez ME, Kever M, Litto M, Jaitner E, Pfenninger M, Feldmeyer B, Foitzik S (2025)
Genomic Signatures of Selection Across Climate Gradients and a Geographic Mosaic of Coevolution in an Ant Social Parasite-Host System Molecular Biology & Evolution, 42:1-18

Collin E, Macit MN, Wittke M, Hörrmann C, Haase C, Heil L, Litto M, Menzel F, Feldmeyer B, Foitzik S (2025)
Climate and parasite pressure jointly shape traits mediating the coevolution between an ant social parasite and its host  Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 0:1-14

Zimmer F, Fox AM, Pan Q, Rühle F, Andersen P, Huylmans AK, Schwander T, Basilicata MF, Keller Valsecchi CI (2025)
Convergent evolution of H4K16ac-mediated dosage compensation in the ZW species Artemia franciscana PLoS Genetics, 21:e1011895

Ewerling-Haehnel A, Köhler I, Graebling I, Wierczeiko A, Kotzurek E, Gerber S, Foitzik S, Colgan TJ, May-Simera HL (2025)
Homology search confirms widespread presence of BBSome proteins in Hexapoda with implications for potential non-ciliary BBS protein functions in honey bees Sci Rep, 15(1):34312

Zug R, Foitzik S, Kokko H (2025)
Luck can explain the positive link between fecundity and longevity: The Matthew effect in social insects and beyond Journal of Evolutionary Biology, voaf094

Kalita AI, Marois E, Rühle F, Keller Valsecchi CI (2025)
Sex-specific transcriptome dynamics of Anopheles gambiae during embryonic development Genes & Development, 39:1-21

Sistermans T, Darras H, Rognet V, Beros S, Hartke J, Stoldt M, Libbrecht R, Kokko H, Foitzik S (2025)
Parasite prevalence in a social host has colony-wide impacts on transcriptional activity and survival Evolution, qpaf118

Kalita AI, Keller Valsecchi CI (2025)
Dosage compensation in non-model insects – progress and perspectives Trends In Genetics, 41(1):76-98

Lenhart A, Majoe M, Selvi S, Colgan TJ, Libbrecht R, Foitzik S (2025)
Worker Survival and Egg Production—But Not Transcriptional Activity—Respond to Queen Number in the Highly Polygynous, Invasive Ant Tapinoma magnum Molecular Ecology, 34(6), e17679

Stoldt M, Negroni MA, Feldmeyer B, Foitzik S (2025)
Molecular Adjustment to a Social Niche: Brain Transcriptomes Reveal Divergent Influence of Social Environment on the Two Queen Morphs of the Ant Temnothorax rugatulus Molecular Ecology, e17649

Chávez A, Schreyer A, Prüsener P, Schäfer M, Xu S, Huber M (2025)
Copper-Induced Transgenerational Plasticity in Plant Defence Boosts Aphid Fitness Plant, Cell & Environment, 48(6):3997-4010

Wilhelm L, Wang Y, Xu S (2025)
Gene expression atlas of the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) Scientific Data, 12:299

Poetzsch G, Jelacic L, Dammer L, Hellmann SL, Balling M, Andrade-Navarro M, Avivi A, Shams I, Bicker A, Hankeln T (2025)
Adaptation of the Spalax galili transcriptome to hypoxia may underlie the complex phenotype featuring longevity and cancer resistance npj Aging, 11:16

Ewerling A, May-Simera HL (2024)
Evolutionary trajectory for nuclear functions of ciliary transport complex proteins Microbiol Mol Biol, 88(3):e0000624

Cornean J, Molina-Obando S, Gür B, Bast A, Ramos-Traslosheros G, Chojetzki J, Lörsch L, Ioannidou M, Taneja R, Schnaitmann C, Silies M (2024)
Heterogeneity of synaptic connectivity in the fly visual system Nat Commun, 15:1570

Ho DV, Tormey D, Odell A, Newton AA, Schnittker RR, Baumann DP, Neaves WB, Schroeder MR, Sigauke RF, Barley AJ, Baumann P (2024)
Post-meiotic mechanism of facultative parthenogenesis in gonochoristic whiptail lizard species eLife, 13:e97035

Macit MN, Collin E, Pfenninger M, Foitzik S, Feldmeyer B (2024)
Genomic basis of adaptation to climate and parasite prevalence and the importance of odorant perception in the ant Temnothorax longispinosus Molecular Ecology, 33(13):e17417

Gibrán Fritz García JH, Keller Valsecchi CI, Basilicata MF (2024)
Sex as a biological variable in ageing: insights and perspectives on the molecular and cellular hallmarks Open Biology, 14:240177

Fraser R, Moraa R, Djolai A, Meisenheimer N, Laube S, Vicoso B, Huylmans AK (2024)
Evidence for a Novel X Chromosome in Termites Genome Biology and Evolution, 16(12):evae265.

Kokko H (2024)
Who is afraid of modelling time as a continuous variable? Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 15(10):1736-1756

Brenninger FA, Kovalov V, Kokko H (2024)
Sex-specific immunocompetence: resistance and tolerance can both be futile but not under the same circumstances  Evolution Letters, qrae066

McLean DJ, Herberstein ME, Kokko H (2024)
Asymmetric arms races between predators and prey: a tug of war between the life–dinner principle and the rare-enemy principle Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291:20241052

Brücker L, Becker SK, Maißl V, Harms G, Parsons M, May-Simera HL (2023)
The actin-bundling protein Fascin-1 modulates ciliary signalling Journal of Molecular Cell Biology, 15(4):mjad022

Caminer MA, Libbrecht R, Majoe M, Ho DV, Baumann P, Foitzik S (2023)
Task-specific odorant receptor expression in worker antennae indicates that sensory filters regulate division of labor in ants Communications Biology, 6:1004

Ceron-Noriega A, Almeida MV, Levin M, Butter F (2023)
Nematode gene annotation by machine-learning-assisted proteotranscriptomics enables proteome-wide evolutionary analysis Genome Research, 33(1):112-128

Ceron-Noriega A, Schoonenberg VAC, Butter F, Levin M (2023)
AlexandrusPS: A user-friendly pipeline for the automated detection of orthologous gene clusters and subsequent positive selection analysis Genome Biology & Evolution, 15(10): evad187

Cole CJ, Baumann DP, Taylor HL, Bobon N, Ho DV, Neaves WB, Baumann P (2023)
Reticulate phylogeny: a new tetraploid parthenogenetic whiptail lizard derived from hybridization among four bisexual ancestral species of Aspidoscelis (Repitilia: Squamata: Teiidae) Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 163(7):247-275

Ebersberger S, Hipp C, Mulorz MM*, Buchbender A, Hubrich D, Kang HS, Martínez-Lumbreras S, Kristofori P, Sutandy RFX, Llacsahuanga Allcca L, Schönfeld J, Bakisoglu C, Busch A, Hänel H, Tretow K, Welzel M, Di Liddo A, Möckel MM, Zarnack K, Ebersberger I, Legewie S, Luck K, Sattler M, König J (2023)
FUBP1 is a general splicing factor facilitating 3' splice site recognition and splicing of long introns Molecular Cell, 83(15):2653-2672.e15

Elzer D, Bremser M, Zischler H (2023)
Human sperm heads harbour modified YsRNA as transgenerationally inherited non-coding RNAs Frontiers in Genetics, 14:1294389

Ewerling A, Maißl V, Wickstead B, May-Simera HL (2023)
Neofunctionalisation of ciliary BBS proteins to nuclear roles is likely a frequent innovation across eukaryotes iScience, 26(4):106410

Hartke J, Foitzik S (2023)
Ameisen – ein Erfolgsmodell der Evolution: Die Rolle der Genregulation in der Plastizität von Verhalten und Lebenserwartung Biologie in unserer Zeit, 53(4):342–349

Hartke J, Ceron Noriega A, Stoldt M, Sistermans T, Kever M, Fuchs J, Butter F, Foitzik S (2023)
Long live the host! Proteomic analysis reveals possible strategies for parasitic manipulation of its social host Molecular Ecology, 32(21):5877-5889

Kalita AI, Marois E, Kozielska M, Weissing FJ, Jaouen E, Möckel MM, Rühle F, Butter F, Basilicata MF, Keller Valsecchi CI (2023)
The sex-specific factor SOA controls dosage compensation in Anopheles mosquitos Nature, 623:175–182

Kohlmeier P, Feldmeyer B, Foitzik S (2023)
Histone acetyltransferases and external demands influence task switching in Temnothorax ants Biology Letters, 19(7):20230176

Scheuren M, Möhner J, Zischler H (2023)
R-loop landscape in mature human sperm: Regulatory and evolutionary implications Frontiers in Genetics, 14:1069871

Seistrup AS, Choppin M, Govind S, Feldmeyer B, Kever M, Karaulanov E, Séguret A, Karunanithi S, Almeida MV, Ketting RF, Foitzik S (2023)
Age- and caste-independent piRNAs in the germline and miRNA profiles linked to caste and fecundity in the ant Temnothorax rugatulus Molecular Ecology, 32(22):6027-6043

Sistermans T, Hartke J, Stoldt M, Libbrecht R, Foitzik S (2023)
The influence of parasite load on transcriptional activity and morphology of a cestode and its ant intermediate host Molecular Ecology, 1-15

Stoldt M, Collin E, Macit MN, Foitzik S (2023)
Brain and antennal transcriptomes of host ants reveal potential links between behaviour and the functioning of socially parasitic colonies Molecular Ecology, 32(18):5170-5185

Zimmer F, Basilicata MF, Keller Valsecchi CI (2023)
Transcription and replication meet the silent X chromosome territory Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 30(8):1054-1056

Cortés-López M, Schulz L, Enculescu M, Paret C, Spiekermann B, Quesnel-Vallières M, Torres-Diz M, Unic S, Busch A, Orekhova A, Kuban M, Mesitov M, Mulorz MM, Shraim R, Kielisch F, Faber J, Barash Y, Thomas-Tikhonenko A, Zarnack K, König J (2022)
High-throughput mutagenesis identifies mutations and RNA-binding proteins controlling CD19 splicing and CART-19 therapy resistance Nature Communications, 13(1)

Dietz S, Almeida MV, Nischwitz E, Schreier J, Viceconte N, Fradera-Sola A, Renz C, Ceron-Noriega A, Ulrich H, Kappei D, Ketting RF, Butter F (2022)
The double-stranded DNA-binding proteins TEBP-1 and TEBP-2 form a telomeric complex with POT-1 Nature Communications, 12(1):1-20

Gräf JF, Mikicic I, Ping X, Scalera C, Mayr S, Stelzl LS, Beli P & Wagner SA (2022)
Substrate spectrum of PPM1D in the cellular response to DNA double strand breaks iScience, 25(9):104892

Levin M & Butter F (2022)
Proteotranscriptomics – A facilitator in omics research Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 20:3667-3675

Mier P, Fontaine JF, Stoldt M, Libbrecht R, Martelli C, Foitzik S, Andrade-Navarro MA (2022)
Annotation and Analysis of 3902 Odorant Receptor Protein Sequences from 21 Insect Species Provide Insights into the Evolution of Odorant Receptor Gene Families in Solitary and Social Insects Genes, 13(5):919

Mosler T, Baymaz HI, Gräf JF, Mikicic I, Blattner G, Bartlett E, Ostermaier M, Piccinno R, Yang J, Voigt A, Gatti M, Pellegrino S, Altmeyer M, Luck K, Ahel I, Roukos V, Beli P (2022)
PARP1 proximity proteomics reveals interaction partners at stressed replication forks Nucleic Acids Research, 50(20):11600-11618

Schreier J, Dietz S, Boermel M, Oorschot V, Seistrup AS, de Jesus Domingues AM, Bronkhorst AW, Nguyen DAH, Phillis S, Gleason EJ, L’Hernault SH, Phillips CM, Butter F & Ketting RF (2022)
Membrane-associated cytoplasmic granules carrying the Argonaute protein WAGO-3 enable paternal epigenetic inheritance in Caenorhabditis elegans Nature Cell Biology, 24:217–229

Stoldt M, Macit MN, Collin E and Foitzik S (2022)
Molecular (co)evolution of hymenopteran social parasites and their hosts Current Opinion in Insect Science, 50:100889

Basilicata MF, Keller Valsecchi CI (2021)
The good, the bad, and the ugly: Evolutionary and pathological aspects of gene dosage alterations PLOS Genetics, 17(12):e1009906

Psalti MN, Gohlke D, Libbrecht R (2021)
Experimental increase of worker diversity benefits brood production in ants BMC Ecology and Evolution, 21:1-10

Rosenkranz D, Zischler, H and Gebert D (2021)
piRNAclusterDB 2.0: update and expansion of the piRNA cluster database Nucleic Acids Research, D1:D259–D264

Scharf I, Stoldt M, Libbrecht R, Höpfner AL, Jongepier E, Kever M, Foitzik S (2021)
Social isolation causes downregulation of immune and stress response genes and behavioural changes in a social insect Molecular Ecology, 30(10):2378-2389

Stoldt M, Klein L, Beros S, Butter F, Jongepier E, Feldmeyer B and Foitzik S (2021)
Parasite presence induces gene expression changes in an ant host related to immunity and longevity Genes, 12(1):95

Libbrecht R, Nadrau D, Foitzik S (2020)
A Role of Histone Acetylation in the Regulation of Circadian Rhythm in Ants iScience, 23(2):100846

Wolf E and Kramer A (2020)
Circadian Regulation: From Molecules to Physiology J Mol Biol, 432:3423–3425