Insect Symbiosis Lab

We study termites and organisms living in symbiosis with termites to understand processes leading to convergent evolution. Our research methods span from field sampling and field observations to wet lab and in silico. We construct molecular phylogenies and perform comparative genomics and transcriptomics of selected species along phylogenies to infer trajectories of genome changes. We use X-ray microtomographic imaging to visualize the external and internal anatomy of insects and to infer the patterns of phenotypic evolution.
Our long-term research goal is to answer why evolutionary processes traversing the vast space of theoretically possible phenotypes visit some spots repeatedly.

News

Nov 11, 2024 New paper: collaboration on evolution of carbohydrate-active enzymes in termite gut bacteria.
Sep 09, 2024 Shivali (PhD) joins the team! :metal:
Aug 16, 2024 New paper: collaboration on revision of termite family- and subfamily-level classification.
Aug 15, 2024 Jordan (PhD) joins the team! :metal:
May 16, 2024 New paper: collaboration on convergent evolution of mitochondrial genome fragmentation in parasitic lice.
May 14, 2024 We went to Staphylinoidea meeting followed by fieldwork around Brno and Chomutov (with Pavel Krásenský) - see photos.
Apr 01, 2024 Olga (Lab Manager) joins the team! :metal:
Mar 27, 2024 New paper: termite defensive glands.
Mar 08, 2024 New paper: decoding of termite behavior preserved in Baltic amber.
Jan 01, 2024 Jana (Lab Manager) joins the team! :metal:
Nov 05, 2023 Oscar, Aleš, and Honza went for fieldwork in Cameroon - see photos.
Nov 05, 2023 Aleš and Oscar went for fieldwork in French Guiana - see photos.
Oct 02, 2023 Caroline (PhD) joins the team! :metal:
Aug 15, 2023 Oscar (postdoc) joins the team! :metal:
Jan 01, 2023 5-year (2023-2027) research grant JUNIOR STAR GAČR from Grant agency of Czech Republic was awarded to Aleš Buček for research of Trajectories of genome evolution in convergently evolving insect lineages. Read more on our Research page.