HittingerLab

It's been awhile since we posted here, but we have an opening for postdoctoral training! Please apply by 15th August 2025 for full consideration. Here is the ad: hittinger.genetics.wisc.edu/People/Join/po…

For more information and to see our previous winners, see our website evolution.wisc.edu/seminars/early… @UWEvolution

UW-Madison Evolution Seminar Series' Early Career Award is open for applications until November 30th, 2024. This is a great opportunity to showcase your work at our seminar! 🦡⚗️ Postdocs and grad students in evolutionary biology are encouraged to apply: forms.gle/uyftSGQbV8LGZ8…

🥐 John Crandall, a postdoc in the @HittingerLab, works with yeasts both in and outside of the @UWEnergy lab as a home brewer and baker. Find out what makes a yeast boring or interesting in his colorful spotlight: buff.ly/4fJSlQP #postdoc #microbiology #uwmadison

🍺Q: What makes a yeast variety suitable for lager beer rather than ales? 🍻A: Yeast that ferments best at cool temperatures. Industrial lager brewers favor S. pastorianus. 🧬Learn about research from the @HittingerLab for more on the genetics of #beer: ow.ly/f4sq50U0Wiz.

See the full paper here: academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-ar… Led by Dr. John Crandall (former @uwgenetics PhD student and current @GLBioenergy postdoc) with Dr. Xiaofan Zhou and @RokasLab

Zooming out to look at the Major Facilitator Superfamily across diverse yeasts, we find that these specialized alpha-glucoside transporters likely evolved from a generalist ancestral transporter.

How can a yeast sugar transporter find a new function? In our new paper out now in @MolBioEvol we look at a recent evolutionary innovation in an alpha-glucoside transporter in S. eubayanus and find that multiple simultaneous mutations are required for this new function!

Happy Halloween from the Wisconsin Energy Institute!

This work was a great collaborative effort led by @MarieClaireHar2 with @DOpulente @shenxingxing1 @MarizethGroene1 @RokasLab @Lab_LaBella

See our new article in which we developed an Ontology of Yeast Environments.🌱This hierarchical framework allows for new systematic analyses and insights into the evolution, ecology, and diversity of yeasts!💡onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ye…

This is based on genome-informed higher ranked classifications led by @MarizethGroene1 as part of the y1000plus.org project ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

Check out @NCBI Insights blog on updating the yeast taxonomy: ncbiinsights.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2024/08/29/ncb…

Machine learning uncovers gene families impacting oxidative stress resistance across yeasts biorxiv.org/cgi/content/sh… #biorxiv_micrbio

How can yeast fermentation workflows be optimized in biorefineries for isobutanol production? See our @GLBioenergy collaborative work on using gamma-valerolactone (a renewable green solvent) in biomass pretreatment to achieve high titers of isobutanol #fn2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">pubs.rsc.org/en/content/art…

Very excited to share this preprint of our work to identify the genetic bases of ROS resistance across the yeast subphylum. @biorxiv_micrbio biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Huge thanks to our @GLBioenergy and @RokasLab collaborators!

The most predictive gene families included reductases and were enriched for cell wall-related genes. After interrogating the model to make specific hypotheses about how manipulating gene families would impact ROS resistance, we also validated their impact using two yeast species.

How do yeasts resist oxidative stress? We used machine learning to identify gene families that are predictive of ROS resistance across the yeast subphylum. Check out the preprint led by @UWBiochem undergrad Kat Aranguiz and postdoc @Linder_surprise biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Huge thanks to our @GLBioenergy and @RokasLab collaborators!

The most predictive gene families included reductases and were enriched for cell wall-related genes. After interrogating the model to make specific hypotheses about how manipulating gene families would impact ROS resistance, we also validated their impact using two yeast species.