Ania Michalik recently received funding for her new OPUS project "The patterns, processes, and drivers of insect microbiome variability". The research is funded by National Science Centre, Poland.

The project will focus on symbionts of Auchenorhyncha - a very important group of Hemiptera, which includes cicadas and other hoppers. Using microscopy and NGS methods the project aims to investigate factors affecting the composition of the insect microbiome i.e., geographic isolation and host-insect food preferences.

The planned research allows understanding the microbiome composition of examined auchenorrhynchan species and detailed characteristics of symbionts, including the role of symbionts in the host-insect biology, their localization in the insect’s body, and mode of inheritance. The results obtained will contribute to a better understanding of the evolution of symbiosis in Auchenorrhyncha and will allow us to address many questions about the causes of variability of insect microbiome.

 

We are very excited about this new research opportunity!

 

A bit more about the project you can find here: https://ncn.gov.pl/sites/default/files/listy-rankingowe/2021-03-15bhga1/streszczenia/516590-en.pdf