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
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! 🌱
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...
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...
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...
🧵👇
www.biology.ox.ac.uk
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
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...
KamilSJaron.bsky.social
KamilSJaron.bsky.social
KamilSJaron.bsky.social
KamilSJaron.bsky.social
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...
Wellcome Sanger Institute
Carmen Denman Hume
Laurie Belcher
NBN Trust: National Biodiversity Network Trust
Frank Ashwood
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...
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