the Hoffman Lab
@thehoffmanlab.bsky.social
We are The Hoffman Lab based at Bielefeld University, Germany!
Our group aims to understand the genetic basis of fitness variation in and among natural populations. We work on pinnipeds 🦭, fungi 🍄 and birds 🐥.
https://thehoffmanlab.com/
Our group aims to understand the genetic basis of fitness variation in and among natural populations. We work on pinnipeds 🦭, fungi 🍄 and birds 🐥.
https://thehoffmanlab.com/
How can we make scientific events such as #conferences more #inclusive? Read about the study we conducted during #Behaviour2023 as a nice and concise summary in the press-release here 👉 aktuell.uni-bielefeld.de/2025/10/06/r...
October 10, 2025 at 7:55 AM
How can we make scientific events such as #conferences more #inclusive? Read about the study we conducted during #Behaviour2023 as a nice and concise summary in the press-release here 👉 aktuell.uni-bielefeld.de/2025/10/06/r...
Last week a very happy (and presumably very tired 😁) @ramonammm.bsky.social handed in her PhD thesis titled "Comparing Polar Ocean Soundscapes" 🥳🥳 🥳
Congratulations with this huge milestone! Looking forward to the defence and of course the celebrations afterwards!
Congratulations with this huge milestone! Looking forward to the defence and of course the celebrations afterwards!
October 8, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Last week a very happy (and presumably very tired 😁) @ramonammm.bsky.social handed in her PhD thesis titled "Comparing Polar Ocean Soundscapes" 🥳🥳 🥳
Congratulations with this huge milestone! Looking forward to the defence and of course the celebrations afterwards!
Congratulations with this huge milestone! Looking forward to the defence and of course the celebrations afterwards!
Do predicted deleterious mutations explain fitness variation in wild populations?
Our recent publication addresses exactly this question in black grouse, a lekking Galliform. 1/6
Our recent publication addresses exactly this question in black grouse, a lekking Galliform. 1/6
September 22, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Do predicted deleterious mutations explain fitness variation in wild populations?
Our recent publication addresses exactly this question in black grouse, a lekking Galliform. 1/6
Our recent publication addresses exactly this question in black grouse, a lekking Galliform. 1/6
We have a brand new genome for porcini mushroom! First chromosome-scale, haplotype-resolved reference genome for Boletus edulis. A great resource for fungal genetics, and the rest of Etienne's PhD!
The paper is now published in #G3journal !🧬🍄 you can learn more about this weird fungal genome here 👉 doi.org/10.1093/g3jo...
September 15, 2025 at 11:53 AM
We have a brand new genome for porcini mushroom! First chromosome-scale, haplotype-resolved reference genome for Boletus edulis. A great resource for fungal genetics, and the rest of Etienne's PhD!
DNA as street decoration? Of course! Our very own @k-hench.bsky.social made some beautiful pictures of the @eseb2025.bsky.social street decorations at the “Festes de Gràcia”.
Check out some of his pictures and read more about why we were there: thehoffmanlab.com/2025/09/05/e...
Check out some of his pictures and read more about why we were there: thehoffmanlab.com/2025/09/05/e...
ESEB 2025
Four of our lab members presented their work at the Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB 2025) in Barcelona in August. Beril presented a pilot study linked to her multi-p…
thehoffmanlab.com
September 5, 2025 at 12:27 PM
DNA as street decoration? Of course! Our very own @k-hench.bsky.social made some beautiful pictures of the @eseb2025.bsky.social street decorations at the “Festes de Gràcia”.
Check out some of his pictures and read more about why we were there: thehoffmanlab.com/2025/09/05/e...
Check out some of his pictures and read more about why we were there: thehoffmanlab.com/2025/09/05/e...
The genome and epigenome are not independent, so why analyse them separately? 🤔 Come and discuss our hypotheses on the interplay between deleterious mutations and epigenetic mechanisms today with @rebeccachen.bsky.social at #ESEB2025 poster number 85! 🧪🧬
August 21, 2025 at 8:33 AM
The genome and epigenome are not independent, so why analyse them separately? 🤔 Come and discuss our hypotheses on the interplay between deleterious mutations and epigenetic mechanisms today with @rebeccachen.bsky.social at #ESEB2025 poster number 85! 🧪🧬
Reposted by the Hoffman Lab
@annekep.bsky.social shows us a super impressive long term study in Antarctica fur seals to explore interactions between inbreeding and climate change 🦭
August 20, 2025 at 10:08 AM
@annekep.bsky.social shows us a super impressive long term study in Antarctica fur seals to explore interactions between inbreeding and climate change 🦭
Do inbred females suffer disproportionately from climate change induced changes in selection pressure? Come and find out in @annekep.bsky.social's talk today at the @eseb2025.bsky.social conference 12:00 PM - 12:15 PM in meeting room 115 #ESEB2025
August 20, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Do inbred females suffer disproportionately from climate change induced changes in selection pressure? Come and find out in @annekep.bsky.social's talk today at the @eseb2025.bsky.social conference 12:00 PM - 12:15 PM in meeting room 115 #ESEB2025
Interested in the temporal and spatial dynamics of mutation load? Come find @k-hench.bsky.social who is investigating this in Antarctic fur seals! Poster session 2, S44 355 5-7PM tonight @eseb2025.bsky.social #eseb2025
August 19, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Interested in the temporal and spatial dynamics of mutation load? Come find @k-hench.bsky.social who is investigating this in Antarctic fur seals! Poster session 2, S44 355 5-7PM tonight @eseb2025.bsky.social #eseb2025
How do deleterious mutations affect male black grouse fitness? Find out at @rebeccachen.bsky.social's presentation today at @eseb2025.bsky.social 2:00 PM-2:15 PM, meeting room 131 🧬
August 19, 2025 at 7:52 AM
How do deleterious mutations affect male black grouse fitness? Find out at @rebeccachen.bsky.social's presentation today at @eseb2025.bsky.social 2:00 PM-2:15 PM, meeting room 131 🧬
Interested in the genomic consequences of commercial sealing? Check out Beril's poster (number 266) tonight at #ESEB2025 where she presents her study on differences in genomic inbreeding levels, bottleneck strength, and genetic load in two populations of South American fur seals 🦭🧬🧪
August 18, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Interested in the genomic consequences of commercial sealing? Check out Beril's poster (number 266) tonight at #ESEB2025 where she presents her study on differences in genomic inbreeding levels, bottleneck strength, and genetic load in two populations of South American fur seals 🦭🧬🧪
Working on mutation load, inbreeding or bottlenecks and attending ESEB2025 Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology next week? Check out our lab's talks and posters 😁 Looking forward to chat with you!
August 14, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Working on mutation load, inbreeding or bottlenecks and attending ESEB2025 Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology next week? Check out our lab's talks and posters 😁 Looking forward to chat with you!
Our very own Ramona Mattmueller @ramonammm.bsky.social and her colleague Karolin Thomisch from AWI wrote an article for the Circle Stories of the WWF Global Arctic Program.
August 13, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Our very own Ramona Mattmueller @ramonammm.bsky.social and her colleague Karolin Thomisch from AWI wrote an article for the Circle Stories of the WWF Global Arctic Program.
Check out our new publication on mutation load dynamics in black grouse! Published today in Nature E&E 👇
The core chapter of my PhD has now been published in Nature E&E! 🧬🥳
In this paper, we investigate whether predicted deleterious mutations reduce fitness and if so, how? Do heterozygous mutations also contribute? And are non-coding mutations more deleterious?
Read all about it here: rdcu.be/eAcM5
In this paper, we investigate whether predicted deleterious mutations reduce fitness and if so, how? Do heterozygous mutations also contribute? And are non-coding mutations more deleterious?
Read all about it here: rdcu.be/eAcM5
Predicted deleterious mutations reveal the genetic architecture of male reproductive success in a lekking bird
Nature Ecology & Evolution - Analysis of whole genomes and life-history data of male black grouse shows that deleterious mutations, especially those in promotors, reduce lifetime reproductive...
rdcu.be
August 11, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Check out our new publication on mutation load dynamics in black grouse! Published today in Nature E&E 👇
Reposted by the Hoffman Lab
Do you work on mutation load? 🔬🧬 Check out our new manuscript where we show that early-life viability selection primarily targets exonic mutations, in contrast to sexual selection which acts on mutations in promoters! 🧑🔬
Pre-print is available now: dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn... 🧪 #evolution #popgen
Pre-print is available now: dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn... 🧪 #evolution #popgen
Early-Life Viability Selection Targets Deleterious Mutations in Exons
Understanding how deleterious mutations affect fitness is fundamental to both evolutionary and conservation biology. However, most empirical studies rely on inb
dx.doi.org
July 31, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Do you work on mutation load? 🔬🧬 Check out our new manuscript where we show that early-life viability selection primarily targets exonic mutations, in contrast to sexual selection which acts on mutations in promoters! 🧑🔬
Pre-print is available now: dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn... 🧪 #evolution #popgen
Pre-print is available now: dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn... 🧪 #evolution #popgen
A massive congratulations to dr Jonas Tebbe, for successfully defending his PhD on chemical phenotypes in the Antarctic fur seal!! 🥳🎓🦭 We wish all the very best to Jonas!
July 28, 2025 at 11:38 AM
A massive congratulations to dr Jonas Tebbe, for successfully defending his PhD on chemical phenotypes in the Antarctic fur seal!! 🥳🎓🦭 We wish all the very best to Jonas!
Reposted by the Hoffman Lab
There is still lots of time to sign up for our 2025 edition of the #EvoBioCC 🥳💚✨
It is a FREE, online course in Evolutionary Biology, made by students and for students! Please share widely and don't forget to register! 💚💚💚
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
It is a FREE, online course in Evolutionary Biology, made by students and for students! Please share widely and don't forget to register! 💚💚💚
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
EvoBio Crash Course 2025 | Registration Form
The fourth edition of the EvoBio Crash Course has opened registration and we are very happy to have you! We are focusing on delivering a rich course on the basics of evolutionary biology so that stude...
docs.google.com
June 15, 2025 at 1:46 AM
There is still lots of time to sign up for our 2025 edition of the #EvoBioCC 🥳💚✨
It is a FREE, online course in Evolutionary Biology, made by students and for students! Please share widely and don't forget to register! 💚💚💚
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
It is a FREE, online course in Evolutionary Biology, made by students and for students! Please share widely and don't forget to register! 💚💚💚
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
🧪 Lab plastic waste is a huge problem - but what can we do about it? 🥼
In our lab, we tested whether reusing and washing microtitre plates could help reduce waste.
In some cases, it works! ♻️ 🌍
Read more here: buff.ly/XOGSX0q
#greenlab #sustainability #openscience
In our lab, we tested whether reusing and washing microtitre plates could help reduce waste.
In some cases, it works! ♻️ 🌍
Read more here: buff.ly/XOGSX0q
#greenlab #sustainability #openscience
July 14, 2025 at 12:05 PM
🧪 Lab plastic waste is a huge problem - but what can we do about it? 🥼
In our lab, we tested whether reusing and washing microtitre plates could help reduce waste.
In some cases, it works! ♻️ 🌍
Read more here: buff.ly/XOGSX0q
#greenlab #sustainability #openscience
In our lab, we tested whether reusing and washing microtitre plates could help reduce waste.
In some cases, it works! ♻️ 🌍
Read more here: buff.ly/XOGSX0q
#greenlab #sustainability #openscience
Reposted by the Hoffman Lab
Publication alert! ✨ Our recent paper in Ecology & Evolution addresses how to make conferences more inclusive. We collected observational and experimental data during Q&A sessions at the Behaviour 2023 congress hosted by Bielefeld University, and circulated a survey among conference attendees [1/4]
July 14, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Publication alert! ✨ Our recent paper in Ecology & Evolution addresses how to make conferences more inclusive. We collected observational and experimental data during Q&A sessions at the Behaviour 2023 congress hosted by Bielefeld University, and circulated a survey among conference attendees [1/4]
Fresh publication alert 📃! Our paper about skin and gut microbial communities in Antarctic fur seals is now available in Frontiers in Microbiology. In this study, @ecopetridish.bsky.social and colleagues found that skin microbial communities were strongly influenced by the colony membership. 1/3
July 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Fresh publication alert 📃! Our paper about skin and gut microbial communities in Antarctic fur seals is now available in Frontiers in Microbiology. In this study, @ecopetridish.bsky.social and colleagues found that skin microbial communities were strongly influenced by the colony membership. 1/3
Last week our lab member @annekep.bsky.social successfully defended her PhD and was rewarded a magna cum laude for her work! Congratulations dr. Anneke! 🥳🎓 Luckily we don't have to say our farewells yet, as Anneke will continue working on her Antarctic fur seal project as a postdoc in the group 🦭
July 7, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Last week our lab member @annekep.bsky.social successfully defended her PhD and was rewarded a magna cum laude for her work! Congratulations dr. Anneke! 🥳🎓 Luckily we don't have to say our farewells yet, as Anneke will continue working on her Antarctic fur seal project as a postdoc in the group 🦭
Last week, the Hoffman Lab had its second lab retreat! Two full days of science, inspiring stories about field work, discussions about EDI in the lab and science communication, and a lot of team-bonding while enjoying the peace of the Teutoburg forest🍃
June 23, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Last week, the Hoffman Lab had its second lab retreat! Two full days of science, inspiring stories about field work, discussions about EDI in the lab and science communication, and a lot of team-bonding while enjoying the peace of the Teutoburg forest🍃
Reposted by the Hoffman Lab
Our preprint is out! We predicted deleterious mutations and reveal the genomic mechanisms underlying fitness variation in black grouse, a classic lekking bird. Check it out doi.org/10.21203/rs....
#genomics #popgen #genetics
#genomics #popgen #genetics
Predicted deleterious mutations reveal the genomic mechanisms underlying fitness variation in a lekking bird
Deleterious mutations are ubiquitous in natural populations and, when expressed, reduce fitness. However, the specific nature of these mutations and the mechanisms through which they impact fitness r...
doi.org
December 11, 2024 at 7:37 AM
Our preprint is out! We predicted deleterious mutations and reveal the genomic mechanisms underlying fitness variation in black grouse, a classic lekking bird. Check it out doi.org/10.21203/rs....
#genomics #popgen #genetics
#genomics #popgen #genetics