Evolutionary genomics PhD student at the Wellcome Sanger Institute/University of Cambridge. National recorder for springtails. Evolutionary biology, entomology, taxonomy, natural history...
https://www.sanger.ac.uk/person/mcculloch-james/
James McCulloch
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A big preprint from my group!
Muller Elements are considered to be conserved in flies. We tested it by reconstructing the ancestral dipteran karyotype using 340 chromosomal genomes and suprise suprise, they're not...
Led by @juliagries.bsky.social and Sam Ebdon. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🧵👇
Huge congratulations to @stuwest.bsky.social on his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society!
From fig wasps to Pseudomonas, he’s shown just how powerful behavioural ecology can be. I couldn't think of anyone more deserving.
www.biology.ox.ac.uk/article/prof...
No clue what a springtail is? Never fret. We've interviewed the UK's national springtail biological recorder and PhD student @jamesimcc.bsky.social .
Head to our blog to learn more ⤵️
https://sangerinstitute.blog/2026/03/26/studying-soils-unsung-heroes/
📸 Tim Jonas
#NameItToSaveIt
Want to start doing soil animal macrophotography? Or fancy a rare glimpse into mine and @mesofauna.bsky.social's minds?
An article has just dropped in @soilorganismsj.bsky.social, showcasing mine and Andy's love for documenting soil biodiversity! 🧪🪱
Open Access: soil-organisms.org/SO/article/v...
Is there anyone around Newcastle owning a patch of green where we could collect springtails this Tuesday by any chance? More about the project in @jamesimcc.bsky.social's blog post: sangerinstitute.blog/2026/03/26/s...
This #IWD2026 we’re shining a light on the incredible women who’ve been nominated, highly commended or won an NBN Award for Wildlife Recording since 2015💛 Huge thanks to all. Know an inspirational woman who records or verifies wildlife? Nominations for #NBNawards26 are open! bit.ly/NBNawards26n...
And this is my favourite figure, nicely illustrating diversity and turnover of oligocentromeric satelites. Look at Carol and Sandra - one invaded the other at least 2x, which I find particularly amusing.
Very proud of @jamesimcc.bsky.social to submit his first PhD paper about evolution of genomes and centromeres in taxa with oligocentromeric organisation. Lots of interesting discoveries including possibly the first reported re-evolution of monocentricity.
When I sat down with @jamesimcc.bsky.social to learn about all things springtails, I never imagined I'd leave our conversation so inspired about the future of natural science research.
I can't wait to see what the future has in store for James. I certainly look forward to following the journey! 😊
Chromosomes are often classified as either monocentric (single centromere per chr) or holocentric (centromeric activity spread across each chr).
In reality, there is a continuum in centromere organisation - and cyperids are a fascinating system to explore this in as James shows in this preprint! 🌱
In this blog, we hear from Wellcome Sanger Institute PhD student James McCulloch about his favourite invertebrates, the springtails, and their extraordinary cryptic diversity.
No clue what a springtail is? Never fret. We've interviewed the UK's national springtail biological recorder and PhD student @jamesimcc.bsky.social .
Head to our blog to learn more ⤵️
https://sangerinstitute.blog/2026/03/26/studying-soils-unsung-heroes/
📸 Tim Jonas
#NameItToSaveIt
We identified where the oligocentromeres were in each genome using CAP. There's a lot of turnover - across 35 species, we could classify candidate centromere-related satellite DNA into no fewer than 25 families (named after Superstore characters). 🧵4/12
Why do the chromosomes of cyperids (sedges & rushes) split and fuse so regularly on evolutionary timescales?
Is it because they have so many centromeres?
Our new preprint, the first major paper of my PhD, addresses this question. 🧵⬇️ 1/12
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Why do the chromosomes of cyperids (sedges & rushes) split and fuse so regularly on evolutionary timescales?
Is it because they have so many centromeres?
Our new preprint, the first major paper of my PhD, addresses this question. 🧵⬇️ 1/12
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
