Alexis L Sperling

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Expansion of chromosome F heterochromatin in parthenogenetic Drosophila mercatorum biorxiv.org/content/10.110… #biorxiv_evobio

Excited to share our new study revealing the intricate dynamics of pregnancy & postpartum physiology! We analyzed 40M lab tests from 300K pregnancies and 160K women (cross-sectional), we mapped week-by-week changes starting from preconception to months-long postpartum recovery.

1/9 Glad to share the latest work from @VasadL. A collaborative effort to study the role of the electron transport chain in microglia during development. nature.com/articles/s4225… rdcu.be/dONoN @NatMetabolism @ibis_sevilla @unisevilla @CSIC #Microglia #Mitochondria

New paper! Our stick insects have weird chromosome segregation. The major centromere protein, CenH3, binds to the autosomes in a monocentric pattern, but in a holocentric pattern on the X. doi.org/10.1101/2024.0…

New paper! Dosage compensation in male reproductive tissues is present only in the early nymphal stages. This is likely due to the establishment of meiotic sex chromosome inactivation during development. doi.org/10.1101/2024.0…

Excited to share my first author postdoc paper in Developmental Cell cell.com/developmental-…

We have our very detailed protocol out that walks through the process of going from an intact fly to an annotated genome assembly. @DK_Fabian, @erikgarrison, and @LabGlover

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There can’t be a better time to present our recent review/perspective on Gastruloids — a minimalistic model to study complex developmental metabolism | Emerging Topics in Life Sciences | Portland Press portlandpress.com/emergtoplifesc…

!!!New paper alert with @AlexisLSperling !!! @PlantMethods Very nice new in situ protocol for plant-parasitic nematodes - un-ambiguous localisation of multiple transcripts within the same parasite. plantmethods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…

I have a new parthenogenesis paper with @LabGlover! We found that aneuploidy arises during development in natural Drosophila parthenogens and our genetically induced parthenogens @HeredityJournal doi.org/10.1038/s41437…

Interested in figuring out if an animal is secretly capable of facultative parthenogenesis? @LabGlover and I made our detailed method available It works in Drosophila and is worth a try in other animals!

For an excellent start to the week, why not delve into this excellent new preprint by @AlexisLSperling @Seb_EvdA at @CropSciCentre ? 🪱 'Whole mount multiplexed visualization of DNA, mRNA, and protein in plant-parasitic nematodes' biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Wrap your eyeballs around this! New in situ protocol by @AlexisLSperling Multiple mRNA, in the same animal, sub-cellular resolution 🥲. Here is DG + SvG effector at the same time. Preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.110… @plantsci @CropSciCentre

There is a great primer by Jonathon Thomalla and @WolfnerLab for my, @DK_Fabian, @erikgarrison, and @LabGlover's work on #Drosophila #parthenogenesis (doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.…) out in the last issue of @CurrentBiology! doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.…

@JullienFlynn @NeedhiBhalla @DK_Fabian @erikgarrison @LabGlover Thank you! I haven't come across any specific mutant that is associated with triploid or or tetraploid offspring. We never see it in the sexually reproducing offspring that have the same maternal genotype, so it is not the mutations themselves that cause it.

@AlexisLSperling @NeedhiBhalla @DK_Fabian @erikgarrison @LabGlover Really striking work, congrats! Have Triploid or tetraploid dmel ever been found spontaneously or associated with any other mutant? I’ve never seen it! I’m surprised they are at least partially viable as triploids. So cool!

I am excited to share the final version of our work on the genetic basis of virgin birth (parthenogenesis) in fruit flies! It was a joy working with @DK_Fabian @erikgarrison @LabGlover on this understudied phenomenon. cell.com/current-biolog…

@Hoosierflyman @joshdubnau @DK_Fabian @erikgarrison @LabGlover I know, right!? I went down the same rabbit hole and read much of the early genetics work done in Drosophila. We haven’t looked at the progeny in detail, yet.

@AlexisLSperling @joshdubnau @DK_Fabian @erikgarrison @LabGlover Oh wow this just led me down a rabbit hole to Bridges 1921 “Triploid intersexes of Drosophila melanogaster” where he first discovered the X:A ratio in sex determination. I stand corrected! Do you get intersex progeny from your triploids then!?

@Hoosierflyman @joshdubnau @DK_Fabian @erikgarrison @LabGlover There are a number of obligate parthenogenetic animals, in Diptera and beyond, that are triploid. We know that some of the triploid D. mel are fertile so perhaps what enables parthenogenesis also enables triploid meiosis.

@AlexisLSperling @joshdubnau @DK_Fabian @erikgarrison @LabGlover Triploid meioses rarely produce balanced gametes so they should be nearly infertile if they’re triploid. But with the small number of chromosomes in flies possible to get a few balanced gametes by chance.

@Hoosierflyman @joshdubnau @DK_Fabian @erikgarrison @LabGlover We haven’t studied that but it is an interesting question.

@AlexisLSperling @joshdubnau @DK_Fabian @erikgarrison @LabGlover Also, the triploid females are fertile? Must be very low fertility though?