Kaiser Lab
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clocksevolution.bsky.social
Kaiser Lab
@clocksevolution.bsky.social
We explore how evolution, ecology and biological clocks interact,
with a focus on lunar rhythms in development and reproduction
of the marine insect Clunio.

+ Genomics | Biodiversity | Behaviour | NeuroBio | MolBio | SciCom

bit.ly/KaiserLab
Our current follow-up #modelling study with @gokhalecs.bsky.social, former colleague @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social, suggests that larval competition for space can actually drive the evolution of divergent reproductive timing, aka #allochrony, which results in spatial separation and reduced competition.
September 17, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Previous work with @kokkonut.bsky.social (tinyurl.com/28hxwree) showed that #sympatric Clunio strains reproduce AT full #moon or BEFORE new moon. During these times low tide levels differ, placing the eggs & larvae at different elevations. This spatial separation allows #coexistence of the strains:
September 17, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Curious how the #moon is perceived, controls #development, and may drive #speciation in a #marine #insect?

Check our posters at #EBRS2025:

> P107 (Tue) @juleneumann.bsky.social
> P135 (Tue)
> P196 (Thu) @kokkonut.bsky.social @gokhalecs.bsky.social

#chronobiology #circalunar #evolution #ecology
August 22, 2025 at 7:44 AM
One week to go until #EBRS2025 in #Lübeck!
We are very much looking forward to exciting #chronobiology!

#circatidal #circadian #circalunar #circannual

Sessions on:
-> #Evolution
-> Short and long #clocks
-> Clocks in the #wild
-> #Seasonality

... and many more:
ebrs-online.org/index.php/ev...
August 18, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Happy to share that we just published two papers from an exciting and fruitful collaboration with Hanna Kokko, involving Runa Ekrem, Alec Jacobsen and Lotte de Vries!

@kokkonut.bsky.social @lottedevries.bsky.social

#Evobio #MarineEcology #Ecology #Modelling #Chronobiology

Picture by Solvin Zankl
July 21, 2025 at 9:00 AM
If you want to know more about #circalunar #clocks, the following might also be interesting:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

#lunar #moon #tides #chronobiology
July 5, 2025 at 8:08 AM
(5/5) #Research
Our group studies these timing adaptations with #genomic and #molecular tools, aiming to decode the unknown lunar clockwork. We also explore the role of #biological #clocks in #ecology, #evolution and #conservation.
@juleneumann.bsky.social@cperalta.bsky.social
June 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
(4/5) #LocalAdaptation
But the tides differ along the coastline. Therefore, the lunar clock of Clunio populations from different places needs specific adaptations to the local tides.
June 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
(3/5) #Lunar #Rhythm
… and then time these hours to the lowest low tides. These tides always occur at full and new #moon. Clunio has an internal timer, a so-called #circalunar #clock. It enables the midges to predict #moon phases and allows adults to only emerge at the right #time.
June 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
(2/5) #LifeCycle
Clunio’s long-lived larvae prefer to be submerged and therefore settle in the lower parts of the intertidal zone. However, the adults need these regions to be exposed for egg-laying. The solution was to reduce adult lifespan – and thereby mating and egg-laying – to a few hours …
June 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
#Moonstruck #Midges: Introducing Clunio marinus
#Clunio is a midge and a truly #marine #insect. You can find it on the #European #Atlantic #coast in the #intertidal zone. This is the region between the low #tide and high tide, alternating between marine and terrestrial conditions.
(1/5)
June 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM