Joanito Liberti
@joanitoliberti.bsky.social
Assistant Professor @ University of Geneva | studying the interactions between gut microbes and animal neurophysiology and behaviour 🔍🧫🧬🐝
Shout out to the beekeepers who are kindly giving us access to their apiaries, and enabling these experiments. A PhD position is currently available in my lab (application deadline May 25th) but stay tuned for more openings in the near future.
May 21, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Shout out to the beekeepers who are kindly giving us access to their apiaries, and enabling these experiments. A PhD position is currently available in my lab (application deadline May 25th) but stay tuned for more openings in the near future.
7/7 I take this opportunity to thank all co-authors for their help and insights; this was a huge amount of collective effort! Erik T. Frank, Tomas Kay, Lucie Kesner, Maverick Monié--Ibanes, Andrew Quinn (@andrewhq9.bsky.social), Thomas Schmitt, Laurent Keller, Philipp Engel (@pengellab.bsky.social)
January 15, 2024 at 2:25 PM
7/7 I take this opportunity to thank all co-authors for their help and insights; this was a huge amount of collective effort! Erik T. Frank, Tomas Kay, Lucie Kesner, Maverick Monié--Ibanes, Andrew Quinn (@andrewhq9.bsky.social), Thomas Schmitt, Laurent Keller, Philipp Engel (@pengellab.bsky.social)
6/7 Our findings impact the growing field of research on honeybee gut microbiota. They clarify that the gut microbiota has no influence on host weight or CHC profile, and stress the need for carefully controlled experimental designs when studying microbiomes in social organisms.
January 15, 2024 at 2:18 PM
6/7 Our findings impact the growing field of research on honeybee gut microbiota. They clarify that the gut microbiota has no influence on host weight or CHC profile, and stress the need for carefully controlled experimental designs when studying microbiomes in social organisms.
5/7 Why the differences? The rearing environment matters. Co-housed bees tend to converge in behavior and physiology and so spurious associations can emerge if rearing environments are not replicated sufficiently or accounted for analytically.
January 15, 2024 at 2:18 PM
5/7 Why the differences? The rearing environment matters. Co-housed bees tend to converge in behavior and physiology and so spurious associations can emerge if rearing environments are not replicated sufficiently or accounted for analytically.
4/7 We also investigated gut microbiota effects on several physiological hallmarks of behavioral maturation and found no effects on any of the measured variables. Surprisingly, and in contrast to previous results, this included weight gain and CHC profile.
January 15, 2024 at 2:18 PM
4/7 We also investigated gut microbiota effects on several physiological hallmarks of behavioral maturation and found no effects on any of the measured variables. Surprisingly, and in contrast to previous results, this included weight gain and CHC profile.
3/7 Using automated behavioral tracking, we discovered that the gut microbiota only subtly affects maturation. It accelerates the onset of foraging (the time at which bees first visit a foraging arena) without affecting the overall proportion of foragers, or their average output.
January 15, 2024 at 2:17 PM
3/7 Using automated behavioral tracking, we discovered that the gut microbiota only subtly affects maturation. It accelerates the onset of foraging (the time at which bees first visit a foraging arena) without affecting the overall proportion of foragers, or their average output.
2/7 Previous studies reported microbiota effects on multiple bee phenotypes, all of which change during behavioral maturation - when worker bees transition from nursing to foraging. So we hypothesized these effects may be mediated by gut microbes affecting behavioral maturation.
January 15, 2024 at 2:17 PM
2/7 Previous studies reported microbiota effects on multiple bee phenotypes, all of which change during behavioral maturation - when worker bees transition from nursing to foraging. So we hypothesized these effects may be mediated by gut microbes affecting behavioral maturation.
1/7 Recent research highlighted the impact of the gut microbiota on cognition and behavior. 🐝 Honeybees have an experimentally manipulable microbiota, providing a great opportunity to investigate how these effects relate to division of labor.
January 15, 2024 at 2:16 PM
1/7 Recent research highlighted the impact of the gut microbiota on cognition and behavior. 🐝 Honeybees have an experimentally manipulable microbiota, providing a great opportunity to investigate how these effects relate to division of labor.