Ben Auxier
@benauxier.bsky.social
Fungal geneticist interested in how fungi recognize themselves, and each other. Asst. Professor at WUR
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Every year Bionieuws hosts a Darwin Café. This year, they invited philosopher Gerard Jagers op Akkerhuis. What a missed opportunity! His “theory” is philosophical handwaving with no empirical support, while there is so much real evolutionary research out there.
www.resource-online.nl/index.php/20...
www.resource-online.nl/index.php/20...
The next step in evolution - Resource online
Darwin Café considers the predictability of evolution
www.resource-online.nl
February 10, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Every year Bionieuws hosts a Darwin Café. This year, they invited philosopher Gerard Jagers op Akkerhuis. What a missed opportunity! His “theory” is philosophical handwaving with no empirical support, while there is so much real evolutionary research out there.
www.resource-online.nl/index.php/20...
www.resource-online.nl/index.php/20...
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!
Davis Summer Population Genomics Program
Want to learn population genetics? Please fill out this form to indicate your potential interest in a 2-week intensive online summer population genetics course taught by Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra and Graham...
docs.google.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!
Reposted by Ben Auxier
journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.... new findings in the ant fungus gardens 🐜🍄
Novel killer yeasts and toxins from the gardens of fungus-growing ants | Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Attine ants perform essential ecosystem services through the harvesting of substrates for fungiculture. The cultured fungi are a food source for attine ants. Characterizing antifungal toxin-producing yeasts (killer yeasts) is vital to understanding how they might protect gardens from invasion by unwanted fungal species. This study also describes a new toxin named Ksino from the yeast Candida sinolaborantium, a member of a new group of toxins found across many different species of fungi. This work supports the role of killer yeasts in the ecology of fungicultures and competition between fungi. The observed high prevalence of killer yeasts in fungal gardens also enables the discovery of novel antifungal molecules with the potential to be applied against disease-causing fungi.
journals.asm.org
February 5, 2026 at 9:22 PM
journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.... new findings in the ant fungus gardens 🐜🍄
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Take me down to the Parallax city where the far moves slow and the near moves quickly
February 1, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Take me down to the Parallax city where the far moves slow and the near moves quickly
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Reposted by Ben Auxier
A new extreme of meiotic evolution:
✔️ 𝗻𝗼 crossovers
✔️ 𝗻𝗼 gene conversion
✔️ 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 meiosis & fertility
Sex mimics clonality without becoming asexual, in the holocentric multicellular eukaryote 𝘙𝘩𝘺𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘴.
more about it:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
✔️ 𝗻𝗼 crossovers
✔️ 𝗻𝗼 gene conversion
✔️ 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 meiosis & fertility
Sex mimics clonality without becoming asexual, in the holocentric multicellular eukaryote 𝘙𝘩𝘺𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘴.
more about it:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 27, 2026 at 10:57 AM
A new extreme of meiotic evolution:
✔️ 𝗻𝗼 crossovers
✔️ 𝗻𝗼 gene conversion
✔️ 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 meiosis & fertility
Sex mimics clonality without becoming asexual, in the holocentric multicellular eukaryote 𝘙𝘩𝘺𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘴.
more about it:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
✔️ 𝗻𝗼 crossovers
✔️ 𝗻𝗼 gene conversion
✔️ 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 meiosis & fertility
Sex mimics clonality without becoming asexual, in the holocentric multicellular eukaryote 𝘙𝘩𝘺𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘴.
more about it:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Ben Auxier
In reviewing grants and papers lately, as an exp., I have been using LLMs *after* my reviews to see how they stack up.
And let me tell you - they're (all) *completely* off the mark. That makes sense if you understand the fundamentals of LLMs, but I'm worried many don't.
But, please, don't do this.
And let me tell you - they're (all) *completely* off the mark. That makes sense if you understand the fundamentals of LLMs, but I'm worried many don't.
But, please, don't do this.
January 23, 2026 at 9:13 PM
In reviewing grants and papers lately, as an exp., I have been using LLMs *after* my reviews to see how they stack up.
And let me tell you - they're (all) *completely* off the mark. That makes sense if you understand the fundamentals of LLMs, but I'm worried many don't.
But, please, don't do this.
And let me tell you - they're (all) *completely* off the mark. That makes sense if you understand the fundamentals of LLMs, but I'm worried many don't.
But, please, don't do this.
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below!
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
January 21, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below!
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
Reposted by Ben Auxier
OUT NOW! Parasex generates highly recombinant progeny in Candida albicans with increased virulence
By Robert Fillinger, Scott Filler, Anna Selmecki, Richard Bennett,
Matthew Anderson & colleagues.
#microsky @annaselmecki.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
By Robert Fillinger, Scott Filler, Anna Selmecki, Richard Bennett,
Matthew Anderson & colleagues.
#microsky @annaselmecki.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Parasex generates highly recombinant progeny in Candida albicans with increased virulence - Nature Microbiology
An alternative mating system, termed parasex, produces progeny with high levels of genotypic diversity and is able to fulfil the roles of meiosis when it is absent in the fungal pathobiont Candida alb...
www.nature.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:38 PM
OUT NOW! Parasex generates highly recombinant progeny in Candida albicans with increased virulence
By Robert Fillinger, Scott Filler, Anna Selmecki, Richard Bennett,
Matthew Anderson & colleagues.
#microsky @annaselmecki.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
By Robert Fillinger, Scott Filler, Anna Selmecki, Richard Bennett,
Matthew Anderson & colleagues.
#microsky @annaselmecki.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ben Auxier
🌟 New position announcement! 🍄
I’m happy to share that I’ve started a new position as a Postdoc at @naturalis.bsky.social, within the Understanding Evolution group. In this role, I will be working on the next volume of the Flora Agaricina Neerlandica, focusing on the genus Russula.
I’m happy to share that I’ve started a new position as a Postdoc at @naturalis.bsky.social, within the Understanding Evolution group. In this role, I will be working on the next volume of the Flora Agaricina Neerlandica, focusing on the genus Russula.
January 19, 2026 at 10:54 PM
🌟 New position announcement! 🍄
I’m happy to share that I’ve started a new position as a Postdoc at @naturalis.bsky.social, within the Understanding Evolution group. In this role, I will be working on the next volume of the Flora Agaricina Neerlandica, focusing on the genus Russula.
I’m happy to share that I’ve started a new position as a Postdoc at @naturalis.bsky.social, within the Understanding Evolution group. In this role, I will be working on the next volume of the Flora Agaricina Neerlandica, focusing on the genus Russula.
Reposted by Ben Auxier
⚡️Fully funded #PhD position in my lab at Stockholm University / SciLifeLab! If you’re interested in #lichens, #symbiosis, fungal biology, or meta-omics, please apply. Deadline Feb 1. Read more here: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
January 12, 2026 at 2:15 PM
⚡️Fully funded #PhD position in my lab at Stockholm University / SciLifeLab! If you’re interested in #lichens, #symbiosis, fungal biology, or meta-omics, please apply. Deadline Feb 1. Read more here: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Our eLetter github.com/caseywdunn/s... responding to a recent Science paper was just posted. The paper found more genes with consistent support for sponge-sister than ctenophore-sister. We found several technical issues that, when corrected, reverse the conclusions and recover ctenophore-sister.
January 9, 2026 at 11:44 AM
Our eLetter github.com/caseywdunn/s... responding to a recent Science paper was just posted. The paper found more genes with consistent support for sponge-sister than ctenophore-sister. We found several technical issues that, when corrected, reverse the conclusions and recover ctenophore-sister.
Reposted by Ben Auxier
A few years ago, through luck and vibes, I managed to produce this blue colored bean variety.
This was an early step in trying to answer the question, [paraphrased] "Why isn't blue as common as red in beans, even though they're both anthocyanins and the plant has the genes for both?"
This was an early step in trying to answer the question, [paraphrased] "Why isn't blue as common as red in beans, even though they're both anthocyanins and the plant has the genes for both?"
December 29, 2025 at 7:14 AM
A few years ago, through luck and vibes, I managed to produce this blue colored bean variety.
This was an early step in trying to answer the question, [paraphrased] "Why isn't blue as common as red in beans, even though they're both anthocyanins and the plant has the genes for both?"
This was an early step in trying to answer the question, [paraphrased] "Why isn't blue as common as red in beans, even though they're both anthocyanins and the plant has the genes for both?"
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Giving the gift of negative data 🥰
Since I joined @lsajournal.org I have handled several stellar manuscripts that report null results. These papers do very well and reviewers almost always appreciate them!
Thanks @rockefeller.edu news team for the article!
www.rockefeller.edu/news/38829-t...
Since I joined @lsajournal.org I have handled several stellar manuscripts that report null results. These papers do very well and reviewers almost always appreciate them!
Thanks @rockefeller.edu news team for the article!
www.rockefeller.edu/news/38829-t...
The value of publishing negative data - News
Scientific journals love news-worthy results. Editors want to publish studies with novel data that scientists will eagerly read and cite in their own work. Because of this desire for novelty, studies ...
www.rockefeller.edu
December 23, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Giving the gift of negative data 🥰
Since I joined @lsajournal.org I have handled several stellar manuscripts that report null results. These papers do very well and reviewers almost always appreciate them!
Thanks @rockefeller.edu news team for the article!
www.rockefeller.edu/news/38829-t...
Since I joined @lsajournal.org I have handled several stellar manuscripts that report null results. These papers do very well and reviewers almost always appreciate them!
Thanks @rockefeller.edu news team for the article!
www.rockefeller.edu/news/38829-t...
Reposted by Ben Auxier
UBC is hiring elite senior faculty for the generously funded Canada Impact+ Research Chairs Program. Requires recruitment from outside Canada, but welcomes Canadians abroad to come home. Expressions of interest due 15 January. research.ubc.ca/federal-rese...
UBC Recruitment for Canada Impact+ Research Chairs
Ad start date: December 15, 2025Ad closing date: June 15, 2026UBC’s Expression of Interest deadline for the program's March intake: January 15, 2026
research.ubc.ca
December 17, 2025 at 3:47 PM
UBC is hiring elite senior faculty for the generously funded Canada Impact+ Research Chairs Program. Requires recruitment from outside Canada, but welcomes Canadians abroad to come home. Expressions of interest due 15 January. research.ubc.ca/federal-rese...
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Just a few days left to apply to the PhD position in our group. It focuses on selfish genes in #fungi and how they might affect the spread of giant #TEs called Starships.
We're looking for a PhD student! If you're interested in #fungal #genomics & #TEs, meiotic drive, or pathogens, please consider applying. The project is about toxin/antidote genes in the human fungal pathogen A. fumigatus. uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
December 17, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Reposted by Ben Auxier
I wrote about the bizarre case of Herasight, the embryo selection company going all in on eugenics.
Embryo selection company Herasight goes all in on eugenics
...
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I wrote about the bizarre case of Herasight, the embryo selection company going all in on eugenics.
Reposted by Ben Auxier
I posted a long reply to Freddie deBoer's comment on my piece about intelligence with Dan Willingham @dtwuva.bsky.social. substack.com/profile/1707...
Eric Turkheimer (@ericturkheimer2)
Not sure if this is intended as a comment on my piece with @Daniel Willingham: https://www.aft.org/ae/winter2025-2026/turkheimer_willingham But I will go ahead and respond to it as if it is. Speaking ...
substack.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I posted a long reply to Freddie deBoer's comment on my piece about intelligence with Dan Willingham @dtwuva.bsky.social. substack.com/profile/1707...
Reposted by Ben Auxier
just say NO
to emails
to emails
December 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
just say NO
to emails
to emails
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Anyone looking for roommates for #Fungal26 in Asilomar?
I will participate and I am looking for someone to share a room for the week!
I'm a female PhD student, looking to share a room with another female. Please DM me if you'd like to team up with me 😄
Reposts appreciated!
I will participate and I am looking for someone to share a room for the week!
I'm a female PhD student, looking to share a room with another female. Please DM me if you'd like to team up with me 😄
Reposts appreciated!
December 4, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Anyone looking for roommates for #Fungal26 in Asilomar?
I will participate and I am looking for someone to share a room for the week!
I'm a female PhD student, looking to share a room with another female. Please DM me if you'd like to team up with me 😄
Reposts appreciated!
I will participate and I am looking for someone to share a room for the week!
I'm a female PhD student, looking to share a room with another female. Please DM me if you'd like to team up with me 😄
Reposts appreciated!
Happy to have played a part in this one! This method (air sampling + selective media) is very powerful, and can reveal a lot of fungal ecology.
Our paper with the results of Citizen Science project ‘Fungal Radar’ are now out! @evelinesnelders.bsky.social @benauxier.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
Land use drives drug resistance in an airborne human fungal pathogen
Abstract. Humans are exposed to the mold Aspergillus fumigatus via inhalation, and infections are increasingly resistant to triazole-class antifungals. Eco
academic.oup.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Happy to have played a part in this one! This method (air sampling + selective media) is very powerful, and can reveal a lot of fungal ecology.
Louse Glass presented some of this work a few years ago, great to see it out. I still don't completely understand how the barcoding enrichment works though. Might be a very powerful tool???
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Construction of a randomly barcoded insertional mutant library in the filamentous fungus Trichoderma atroviride
Filamentous fungi play key roles in ecosystems, agriculture, biotechnology, symbiosis, and disease, yet the large-scale characterization of gene function in these organisms remains limited by low tran...
www.biorxiv.org
December 3, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Louse Glass presented some of this work a few years ago, great to see it out. I still don't completely understand how the barcoding enrichment works though. Might be a very powerful tool???
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
My own institution (WUR) will also cut access to WoS this year. Hopefully a sign of good changes in the system!
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science, along with the Core Collection and Journal Citation Reports.
The CNRS is breaking free from the Web of Science
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics'
www.cnrs.fr
December 2, 2025 at 9:30 AM
My own institution (WUR) will also cut access to WoS this year. Hopefully a sign of good changes in the system!
Reposted by Ben Auxier
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science, along with the Core Collection and Journal Citation Reports.
The CNRS is breaking free from the Web of Science
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics'
www.cnrs.fr
December 1, 2025 at 11:04 AM
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science, along with the Core Collection and Journal Citation Reports.
Reposted by Ben Auxier
We are thrilled to announce the first official release (v0.1.8) of #𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗿, the successor to one of our flagship tool, #𝗯𝗲𝗱𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀! Based on ideas we conceived of long ago (!), this was achieved thanks to the dedication of Brent Pedersen.
1/n
1/n
Intro to Bedder – The Quinlan Lab
quinlanlab.org
December 2, 2025 at 2:28 AM