Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
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arjunarajakumar.bsky.social
Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
@arjunarajakumar.bsky.social
EvoDevo biologist - Post Doc Lehmann lab Whitehead Institute
ants + flies germ cells, eusociality & endosymbisis
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
Hello World! The Social Fluids Lab as arrived.
☀️Come to the Socially Transferred Materials symposium at #ESEB2025 in August.
Read our preprints: 🦠 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
& 🪲 doi.org/10.1101/2024...
OR recent papers: 🐜 🍼 doi.org/10.1073/pnas... & 🐜🌱 doi.org/10.1038/s420...
A stochastic ratchet during genome streamlining can commit insect endosymbionts to a parasitic or mutualistic fate
Many arthropods, including insects, harbor endosymbiotic bacteria. As bacteria transitioned to live inside host cells, free-living bacterial ancestors of endosymbionts reduced their genomes in a proce...
doi.org
May 7, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
Please don’t stop sharing and posting your science because of the current attack on it, it is still valuable and reminds us what the fight is for
February 17, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
Incredibly excited to rejuvenate my scientific social network on Bluesky! Current and past research interests include germline immortality, protein folding and organelle remodeling during development. Looking forward to what lies ahead!
February 3, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
Single-molecule mitochondrial DNA imaging reveals heteroplasmy dynamics shaped by developmental bottlenecks and selection in different organs in vivo https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.24.634671v1
January 26, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
Just joined Bluesky and I'm DELIGHTED that so many of my past twitter-life ento friends are already here! I MISSED YOU GUYS!!! #entomology 🐝
December 5, 2024 at 12:42 AM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
For my first post here, I am happy to share that our latest paper is out at #NAR. Thanks for the smooth and constructive reviewing process and the highlight #RNAbiology #TEsky #smallRNAs (1/8)
doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
The PIWI-interacting protein Gtsf1 controls the selective degradation of small RNAs in Paramecium
Abstract. Ciliates undergo developmentally programmed genome elimination, in which small RNAs direct the removal of transposable elements (TEs) during the
doi.org
November 25, 2024 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
The Rise of Polyploids During Environmental Catastrophes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.22.624806v1
The Rise of Polyploids During Environmental Catastrophes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.22.624806v1
Polyploidy, or whole-genome duplication (WGD), both a strong evolutionary and ecological force and a
www.biorxiv.org
November 23, 2024 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
About Traction Force Microscopy
bsky.app/profile/epim...
Cells are strong & generate forces while interacting with their environment.

Traction Force Microscopy has been instrumental in measuring these forces, revealing the underlying mechanics. Let's explore pioneering papers in this 🧵by @onenimesa.bsky.social & @juliaeckert.bsky.social
November 21, 2024 at 10:41 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
NEW ISSUE ALERT!!! Check out the new Research, Outlook and Review Articles online now at Genes & Development.
Click on the link for more:
➡️ genesdev.cshlp.org/content/curr...
November 20, 2024 at 6:28 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
Absolutely gorgeous story out from @eposfai.bsky.social's team. Check it out for the story, and oogle over the images 🤩
A tug-of-war between germ cell motility and intercellular bridges controls germline cyst formation in mice
Gametes in many species develop in cysts—clusters of germ cells formed by incomplete cytokinesis—that remain connected through intercellular bridges (…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 20, 2024 at 3:46 AM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
Want to be amazed by how a symbiont can be located at the center of a cell while still being an epibiont! Please read and be amazed by the symbiosis between Anaerameoba and sulfate-reducing bacteria!

Now out in Nature Communications (open access)! rdcu.be/dZGNe
(1/11)
A unique symbiosome in an anaerobic single-celled eukaryote
Nature Communications - Symbiont-housing structures are well-studied in multicellular eukaryotes but rarely in unicellular protists. This study shows that low-oxygen-adapted Anaeramoebae have...
rdcu.be
November 11, 2024 at 10:47 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
Shamelessly taking advantage of the bluesky migration to share again some of my favorite echinoderm pics 😀🤩

🔽 Acetylated tubulin (nerves and cilia) and phalloidin (muscles) stains in a juvenile sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) just after metamorphosis ⭐
November 17, 2024 at 6:40 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
My first #FluorescenceFriday on the new sky!
The emergence of the neural progenitor cells (magenta) in the #zebrafish embryos #brain 🔬
November 15, 2024 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
Symbiosis nerds! Some of you might have seen a smattering of recent posts about papers in PLoS Biology, but it's worth looking at the entire special issue, called Symbiosis Across the Tree of Life (edited by Richards and Moran). There are so many interesting reviews, comments, etc. type things here!
Symbiosis across the tree of life
The aim of this collection is to showcase symbiotic relationships across the tree of life, exploring their evolutionary basis and underlying mechanisms.
collections.plos.org
April 22, 2024 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
A dragon is born every time a reviewer responds that they cannot review the paper, but by the way, from the abstract this looks completely flawed.
A fairy is born ever time a reviewer accepts a request to review a paper.
November 15, 2024 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
It’s been a few months since I have started using this colorful to-do-list to stay on top of the many tasks of a starting PI. I think much of my relative remained sanity is due to this organization of the seemingly never ending list of tasks. And I’ve been able to cross so many tasks of the list!
November 28, 2023 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
I got the cover!! #zebrafish
August 9, 2024 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
Our paper, identifying all the cell types in the Drosophila melanogaster female reproductive tract (uterus, female-limited glands, sperm storage organs) is out today! We used single-nuclei RNA sequencing and a lot of in situ cross-validation www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409850121 🪰 🧬🧪 1/n
October 25, 2024 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
🥳Our paper on the interplay between mechanical and long range chemical signals in #nervous system #development is now available as a #preprint! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#mechanobiology #chemicalsignalling #piezo1 #axonguidance #xenopus.
Long-range chemical signalling in vivo is regulated by mechanical signals
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
www.biorxiv.org
February 16, 2024 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
RNA Polymerase II-mediated transcription is required for repair of ribosomal DNA breaks in nucleolar caps, guarding against genomic instability

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 23, 2023 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Arjuna Rajakumar PhD
More Than a Powerhouse: How Mitochondria Help to Build an Embryo

In this new post, Alexandra MacColl Garfinkel tells the story behind the paper "Mitochondrial leak metabolism induces the Spemann-Mangold Organizer via Hif-1α in Xenopus"🐸:

thenode.biologists.com/more-than-a-...
October 18, 2023 at 1:15 PM