Melissah Rowe
@melissahrowe.bsky.social
410 followers 270 following 42 posts
Group leader @ NIOO studying evolution, reproductive microbiomes, sperm, behaviour, and sparrows. Mum of 2. she/her.
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melissahrowe.bsky.social
Let’s talk about sperm. Almost all passerine birds have filiform sperm with corkscrew-shaped heads. Not the red-browed finch. This species has highly atypical sperm morphology. Check it out!
Reposted by Melissah Rowe
niooknaw.bsky.social
New publication: Host–#Microbiome Interactions as Moderators of Host Quality and #Biodiversity–#Disease Relationships, by @melissahrowe.bsky.social and others.
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
Figure 1 in Rosamond et al. (2025): "Overview of the pathway proposed in this paper. Changes in the host microbiome can drive changes in host quality (arrow A), which in turn can impact biodiversity–disease relationships (arrow B); this pathway can be influenced by host-extrinsic (here, anthropogenic) factors (arrow C). (A) Changes to host microbiome composition can either increase or decrease any of the four components of host quality (parasite exposure, establishment, growth, and infectivity). These increases or decreases can be moderated, either directly or indirectly, by various host-associated factors (dashed box). (B) Changes in host quality can subsequently affect biodiversity–disease relationships in numerous hypothetical ways. A figure from Rohr et al. (2020) illustrates potential relationships between biodiversity and disease. (C) Extrinsic factors can influence host microbiomes, triggering cascading effects that ultimately influence biodiversity–disease relationships (i.e., via A and B). The structure and sequence of this pathway, depicted through boxes and arrows, are mirrored in the main sections of the accompanying text."
Reposted by Melissah Rowe
niooknaw.bsky.social
New publication: Simulated bacterial infection induces different changes in #DNAmethylation between introduced and native #housesparrows, by @melissahrowe.bsky.social and others. #passerdomesticus #stressresponse #epigenetics
doi.org/10.1002/jav....
Stock photo house sparrow
melissahrowe.bsky.social
Woohoo! Well done STN leads!
amandabretman.bsky.social
Perfectly timed to coincide with our Thermal Fertility Limit Special Topic Network meeting we’ve received a further 2 years of funding, thank you @eseb.bsky.social! And great work fellow leads @rhondasnook.bsky.social, @liamdougherty.bsky.social and Claudia Fricke.
Reposted by Melissah Rowe
animalecol-nioo.bsky.social
Finally we have @dd10mz.bsky.social presenting his work on the colonization of the gut microbiome in offspring during development. He will show the influence of the nest microbial environment on this process. #EOU2025 (3/3)
melissahrowe.bsky.social
See you soon. Looking forward
To your talk!
melissahrowe.bsky.social
TODAY!!!!!
melissahrowe.bsky.social
Interested in host-associated microbiomes? Attending @eseb2025.bsky.social? Then come check out Symposium S07 on Monday August 18th and hear all about how microbiomes contribute to adaptation. Gut microbiomes, climate change, thermal physiology, behaviour, invasion biology, blood-feeding, and more!
melissahrowe.bsky.social
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at the symposium!
Reposted by Melissah Rowe
bweek.bsky.social
hai eseb people ! come to my talk introducing the quantitative genetics of microbiome mediated traits :) 2:30-2:45 at S07.02

btw our ppr just got accepted at evolution ! amazing and challenging reviews ::)) revised pre-print here

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Quantitative Genetics of Microbiome Mediated Traits
Multicellular organisms host a rich assemblage of associated microorganisms, collectively known as their “microbiomes”. Microbiomes have the capacity to influence their hosts’ fitnesses, but the condi...
www.biorxiv.org
Reposted by Melissah Rowe
markravinet.bsky.social
Also, I'm talking at #eseb2025 on the evolutionary history of a commensal species at 2 pm on Monday in S51-02. Come along to hear about how cool house sparrows are and all the exciting work from the sparrow team @melissahrowe.bsky.social @eriksroeed.bsky.social @ruthfawthrop.bsky.social
melissahrowe.bsky.social
Interested in host-associated microbiomes? Attending @eseb2025.bsky.social? Then come check out Symposium S07 on Monday August 18th and hear all about how microbiomes contribute to adaptation. Gut microbiomes, climate change, thermal physiology, behaviour, invasion biology, blood-feeding, and more!
melissahrowe.bsky.social
Excited to share my recent paper on the evolution of atypical sperm morphology in a passerine bird (the red-browed finch) in @jevbio.bsky.social with @danielmhooper.bsky.social and others. Check out their weird #sperm!

academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...
melissahrowe.bsky.social
Hi Pamela. Happy to be added to the wild animal microbiome starter pack. Thanks!
melissahrowe.bsky.social
Getting excited for our symposium on host-associated microbiomes next week (Monday 18 August) @eseb2025.bsky.social. We have a great line up of talks covering plants, mice, honeybees, squirrels, nematodes, mites, Drosophila, leeches, muskox, cockroaches, birds, bats, butterflies, beetles, and bears!
Reposted by Melissah Rowe
awfuldodger.bsky.social
Come and join us at the Groningen Microbiome Hub! We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic PhD student with a focus on computational biology, bioinformatics, and microbiome analysis to join a fully funded project on the role of the gut microbiome in cancer and cancer immunotherapy.
bit.ly/4fBt38H
PhD position - bioinformatica / microbioom - Werkenbijumcg.nl - UMCG DXP
We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic PhD student with a focus on computational biology, bioinformatics, and microbiome analysis to join a fully funded project on the role of the gut microbiome in cancer and cancer immunotherapy.
bit.ly
melissahrowe.bsky.social
Congrats! Looks great. I will add it to my reading list
melissahrowe.bsky.social
Congratulations! Well deserved
Reposted by Melissah Rowe
jevbio.bsky.social
Interested in publishing a Review or Target Review @jevbio.bsky.social?

Find out more here and submit to your #societyjournal:

academic.oup.com/jeb/pages/re...
Reposted by Melissah Rowe
asab.org
ASAB @asab.org · Jul 4
We are seeking a full-time Managing Editor for our journal Animal Behaviour. This editor will be involved in all stages of the publication process & must have a general understanding of the topics covered. Position starts Oct 1, application deadline July 31.

More details:
www.asab.org/opportunities
Opportunities — ASAB
www.asab.org