Hiroshi Arai
@haraipapilio.bsky.social
I am a postdoctoral researcher studying insects and microorganisms
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
📣CALL FOR APPLICATIONS!!
The next deadline for the #GodfreyHewitt mobility award is 31st January 2026. Open to ECRS in support of research trips or lab visits.
For more information, eligibility and how to apply: eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
The next deadline for the #GodfreyHewitt mobility award is 31st January 2026. Open to ECRS in support of research trips or lab visits.
For more information, eligibility and how to apply: eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
November 13, 2025 at 12:30 PM
📣CALL FOR APPLICATIONS!!
The next deadline for the #GodfreyHewitt mobility award is 31st January 2026. Open to ECRS in support of research trips or lab visits.
For more information, eligibility and how to apply: eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
The next deadline for the #GodfreyHewitt mobility award is 31st January 2026. Open to ECRS in support of research trips or lab visits.
For more information, eligibility and how to apply: eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
My main PhD work @monteirolab.bsky.social is now in @natecoevo.nature.com! We found a Hox gene promoter that helps butterflies🦋adjust their wing eyespots in response to seasonal temperatures🍃🍂, shedding light on the evolutionary origin of phenotypic plasticity. 1/9 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 24, 2025 at 10:16 AM
My main PhD work @monteirolab.bsky.social is now in @natecoevo.nature.com! We found a Hox gene promoter that helps butterflies🦋adjust their wing eyespots in response to seasonal temperatures🍃🍂, shedding light on the evolutionary origin of phenotypic plasticity. 1/9 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
A single “sexy” gene can help combat one of the most destructive fruit pests. By deleting the gene that lets female moths produce their mating scent, researchers created an “unsexy” moth and showed a way to turn insect attraction into a powerful pest control tool.
theconversation.com/we-created-a...
theconversation.com/we-created-a...
We created an ‘unsexy’ moth that could be the key to greener pest control
Scientists have learned how to turn off moths’ sex signals – this could help farmers fight pests without pesticides.
theconversation.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:49 AM
A single “sexy” gene can help combat one of the most destructive fruit pests. By deleting the gene that lets female moths produce their mating scent, researchers created an “unsexy” moth and showed a way to turn insect attraction into a powerful pest control tool.
theconversation.com/we-created-a...
theconversation.com/we-created-a...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
Very cool paper from @rogervilalab.bsky.social on the Canary islands Hipparchia butterflies just came out! Each island has its own species, seems like no gene flow between the islands!
academic.oup.com/isd/article/...
academic.oup.com/isd/article/...
Colonization, diversification and speciation of the genus Hipparchia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in the Canary Islands
Abstract. The Canary Islands harbor numerous endemic species, showcasing a wide array of colonization and diversification patterns. Butterflies belonging t
academic.oup.com
October 17, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Very cool paper from @rogervilalab.bsky.social on the Canary islands Hipparchia butterflies just came out! Each island has its own species, seems like no gene flow between the islands!
academic.oup.com/isd/article/...
academic.oup.com/isd/article/...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
🚨 New pub alert! Check out our latest one that showcases how chemical and genetic innovations can recreate complex host–symbiotic interactions in the absence of the symbiont.
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
October 10, 2025 at 12:32 PM
🚨 New pub alert! Check out our latest one that showcases how chemical and genetic innovations can recreate complex host–symbiotic interactions in the absence of the symbiont.
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
#Wolbachia has puzzled scientists with its power to rewire insect reproduction. What if I tell you that we found one of the keys Wolbachia use to rewire its host AND a small molecule inhibitor uses this key to mimic what this microbe has mastered for millions of years.
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Beyond Wolbachia—Can a small molecule control insect reproduction?
Kaur et al. demonstrate reduced histone acetylation as a key mechanism underpinning
Wolbachia’s paternal-effect embryonic lethality trait in Drosophila melanogaster.
Recapitulation of this trait by in...
www.cell.com
October 3, 2025 at 12:58 PM
#Wolbachia has puzzled scientists with its power to rewire insect reproduction. What if I tell you that we found one of the keys Wolbachia use to rewire its host AND a small molecule inhibitor uses this key to mimic what this microbe has mastered for millions of years.
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
🌍🦋 Across 6 continents, 21 sites & 15,000 paper moths, we joined a worldwide experiment led by @wlallen.bsky.social & Iliana Medina, showing how ecological context shapes the evolution of animal colouration.
Proud to be part of this global team effort: doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Proud to be part of this global team effort: doi.org/10.1126/scie...
September 25, 2025 at 6:39 PM
🌍🦋 Across 6 continents, 21 sites & 15,000 paper moths, we joined a worldwide experiment led by @wlallen.bsky.social & Iliana Medina, showing how ecological context shapes the evolution of animal colouration.
Proud to be part of this global team effort: doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Proud to be part of this global team effort: doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
📢🦋 Our paper ‘Global selection on insect antipredator coloration’ is out and featured on the cover of @science.org
We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
September 25, 2025 at 6:26 PM
📢🦋 Our paper ‘Global selection on insect antipredator coloration’ is out and featured on the cover of @science.org
We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
Interested in #virulence? Not sure what it is - or how to explain it? Just curious? 🧐🦠🧬🦋
@kayla-king.bsky.social and I just wrote a Primer for @currentbiology.bsky.social on the ecology and evolution of virulence!
Check it below and share :)
#MicroSky #EvoSky #pathogens
@kayla-king.bsky.social and I just wrote a Primer for @currentbiology.bsky.social on the ecology and evolution of virulence!
Check it below and share :)
#MicroSky #EvoSky #pathogens
Ecology and evolution of virulence
Silva and King discuss the concept of virulence and the ecological and evolutionary
factors that shape it.
www.cell.com
September 22, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Interested in #virulence? Not sure what it is - or how to explain it? Just curious? 🧐🦠🧬🦋
@kayla-king.bsky.social and I just wrote a Primer for @currentbiology.bsky.social on the ecology and evolution of virulence!
Check it below and share :)
#MicroSky #EvoSky #pathogens
@kayla-king.bsky.social and I just wrote a Primer for @currentbiology.bsky.social on the ecology and evolution of virulence!
Check it below and share :)
#MicroSky #EvoSky #pathogens
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
New accepted manuscript (preprint) on the evolution, phylogenetic types, expression, and fxns of a male-killing gene from a phage in a common endosymbiont of animals. Credit to many lab coauthors and led by Dr. Emilie Lefoulon. Lots of fun and insights in this one. academic.oup.com/gbe/advance-...
Evolutionary Diversification and Functions of the Candidate Male Killing Gene wmk
Abstract. Symbiont-mediated male killing (MK) is a mechanism that selectively eliminates male offspring, often by disrupting sex-specific developmental pro
academic.oup.com
September 21, 2025 at 11:59 PM
New accepted manuscript (preprint) on the evolution, phylogenetic types, expression, and fxns of a male-killing gene from a phage in a common endosymbiont of animals. Credit to many lab coauthors and led by Dr. Emilie Lefoulon. Lots of fun and insights in this one. academic.oup.com/gbe/advance-...
Our new review paper with @daisukekageyama.bsky.social is out in Trends in Genetics (@cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social)!
We summarise the current knowledge on the diversity of male-killing microbes and their mechanisms.
Available here:
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We summarise the current knowledge on the diversity of male-killing microbes and their mechanisms.
Available here:
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Striking diversity of male-killing symbionts and their mechanisms
Symbiosis is a fundamental characteristic of eukaryotic biology. Arthropods, including insects, often harbor maternally inherited endosymbiotic microb…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 11, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Our new review paper with @daisukekageyama.bsky.social is out in Trends in Genetics (@cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social)!
We summarise the current knowledge on the diversity of male-killing microbes and their mechanisms.
Available here:
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We summarise the current knowledge on the diversity of male-killing microbes and their mechanisms.
Available here:
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
Check our latest paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social about the unique sex determination system in Nautilus ➡️ XX/XY chromosomes unlike other cephalopods (ZZ/Z0).
with @reef-combo.bsky.social and @anariesgo.bsky.social et al., and led by Hector Torrado.
Get it: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lbs~_LsQS...
with @reef-combo.bsky.social and @anariesgo.bsky.social et al., and led by Hector Torrado.
Get it: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lbs~_LsQS...
August 25, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Check our latest paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social about the unique sex determination system in Nautilus ➡️ XX/XY chromosomes unlike other cephalopods (ZZ/Z0).
with @reef-combo.bsky.social and @anariesgo.bsky.social et al., and led by Hector Torrado.
Get it: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lbs~_LsQS...
with @reef-combo.bsky.social and @anariesgo.bsky.social et al., and led by Hector Torrado.
Get it: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lbs~_LsQS...
I had the pleasure of presenting on MK microbes at #ESEB2025 (JMS lecture) — many thanks to everyone who attended! I also learnt a lot from inspiring studies — thanks to all the speakers. On the way, I was fortunate to come across a beautiful book: 흰 (The White Book, Han Kang)
August 24, 2025 at 9:13 AM
I had the pleasure of presenting on MK microbes at #ESEB2025 (JMS lecture) — many thanks to everyone who attended! I also learnt a lot from inspiring studies — thanks to all the speakers. On the way, I was fortunate to come across a beautiful book: 흰 (The White Book, Han Kang)
Recent achievements:
Our review paper on the striking diversity of male-killing (MK) symbionts and mechanisms has just been accepted in Trends in Genetics! I’m grateful to the reviewers for their thoughtful and valuable suggestions, and I look forward to sharing the article once it’s published
Our review paper on the striking diversity of male-killing (MK) symbionts and mechanisms has just been accepted in Trends in Genetics! I’m grateful to the reviewers for their thoughtful and valuable suggestions, and I look forward to sharing the article once it’s published
August 24, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Recent achievements:
Our review paper on the striking diversity of male-killing (MK) symbionts and mechanisms has just been accepted in Trends in Genetics! I’m grateful to the reviewers for their thoughtful and valuable suggestions, and I look forward to sharing the article once it’s published
Our review paper on the striking diversity of male-killing (MK) symbionts and mechanisms has just been accepted in Trends in Genetics! I’m grateful to the reviewers for their thoughtful and valuable suggestions, and I look forward to sharing the article once it’s published
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
Our New Paper is out! Great work by Mashaneh Ahrar and the team - thank you all, especially @makaefer.bsky.social and Greg Hurst (is he on Bsky???)! TBC :)
New publication ( @greghurst.bsky.social @ewachrostek.bsky.social ) out using one of the @cci-liv.bsky.social microscopes and image analysis expertise: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
@livuni-livsrf.bsky.social @livuniresearch.bsky.social @zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social
@livuni-livsrf.bsky.social @livuniresearch.bsky.social @zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social
Development of Antisense Tools to Study Bodo saltans and Its Intracellular Symbiont
Obligate symbioses present challenges for functional genetic analysis. This study shows that antisense inhibition cannot be used to investigate gene functions in the aquatic symbiosis between Bodo sa...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 30, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Our New Paper is out! Great work by Mashaneh Ahrar and the team - thank you all, especially @makaefer.bsky.social and Greg Hurst (is he on Bsky???)! TBC :)
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
Wolbachia bacteria hijack insect reproduction by killing off males, but it turns out they don’t use the same weapon in every species. New research uncovers species-specific genes with a license to kill.
A license to kill
Bacteria belonging to the Wolbachia family employ distinct genes to kill the male offspring of different insect species.
buff.ly
April 18, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Wolbachia bacteria hijack insect reproduction by killing off males, but it turns out they don’t use the same weapon in every species. New research uncovers species-specific genes with a license to kill.
Our final version of eLife paper (VOR) is now out! (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...). I investigated functions of wmk and Oscar homologs in a native host (moth) with @daisukekageyama.bsky.social and others:))
Prophage-encoded Hm-oscar gene recapitulates Wolbachia-induced male-killing in the tea tortrix moth Homona magnanima
Oscar homologs play a conserved role in Wolbachia-induced male-killing in Lepidoptera but not in other insects, highlighting the evolution of diverse male-killing mechanisms induced by Wolbachia.
doi.org
April 14, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Our final version of eLife paper (VOR) is now out! (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...). I investigated functions of wmk and Oscar homologs in a native host (moth) with @daisukekageyama.bsky.social and others:))
Very happy to receive two great news after the long flight : current biology (doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...) and JMS prize (eseb.org/prizes-fundi...)
Redirecting
doi.org
April 10, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Very happy to receive two great news after the long flight : current biology (doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...) and JMS prize (eseb.org/prizes-fundi...)
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
This year's Runner-Up for the JMS Prize is Kaleda Denton!
Her research was highly commended by the Prize Committee and you can read more about her work here:
eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
Her research was highly commended by the Prize Committee and you can read more about her work here:
eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
April 9, 2025 at 2:48 PM
This year's Runner-Up for the JMS Prize is Kaleda Denton!
Her research was highly commended by the Prize Committee and you can read more about her work here:
eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
Her research was highly commended by the Prize Committee and you can read more about her work here:
eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
⭐2025's John Maynard Smith Prize Winner is Hiroshi Arai⭐
Hiroshi will give the JMS Prize Lecture in Barcelona this August at #ESEB2025 @eseb2025.bsky.social
Read more about his prize-winning research here: eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
Hiroshi will give the JMS Prize Lecture in Barcelona this August at #ESEB2025 @eseb2025.bsky.social
Read more about his prize-winning research here: eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
April 9, 2025 at 2:44 PM
⭐2025's John Maynard Smith Prize Winner is Hiroshi Arai⭐
Hiroshi will give the JMS Prize Lecture in Barcelona this August at #ESEB2025 @eseb2025.bsky.social
Read more about his prize-winning research here: eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
Hiroshi will give the JMS Prize Lecture in Barcelona this August at #ESEB2025 @eseb2025.bsky.social
Read more about his prize-winning research here: eseb.org/prizes-fundi...
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
@haraipapilio.bsky.social paper on evolution of Wolbachia MK mechanism through prophage acquisition in molina butterflies - avoiding suppression by the host. Now out! #symbiosky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... With @daisukekageyama.bsky.social @bolinabug.bsky.social and others
Evolution of Wolbachia male-killing mechanism within a host species
Male-killing bacterial symbionts, prevalent in arthropods, skew population sex ratios by selectively killing male progeny, profoundly impacting ecolog…
www.sciencedirect.com
April 9, 2025 at 3:45 PM
@haraipapilio.bsky.social paper on evolution of Wolbachia MK mechanism through prophage acquisition in molina butterflies - avoiding suppression by the host. Now out! #symbiosky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... With @daisukekageyama.bsky.social @bolinabug.bsky.social and others
Reposted by Hiroshi Arai
New preprint from @haraipapilio.bsky.social with @bolinabug.bsky.social @daisukekageyama.bsky.social and others not on bluesky #symbiosky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Evolution of Wolbachia male-killing mechanism within a host species
Male-killing bacterial symbionts, prevalent in arthropods, skew population sex ratios by selectively killing male progeny, profoundly impacting ecology and evolution of their hosts. Male-killing is a ...
www.biorxiv.org
January 15, 2025 at 12:01 PM
New preprint from @haraipapilio.bsky.social with @bolinabug.bsky.social @daisukekageyama.bsky.social and others not on bluesky #symbiosky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...