In our latest publication, we explore genetic diversity and microbial associations in a genus of spittlebugs - Philaenus - while demonstrating some of the new insights provided by the lab's innovative methods.

Michał led the efforts to demonstrate the diversity of symbioses across multiple populations of the spittlebug Philaenus spumarius. When doing this, he showed the new applications of the lab's innovative method, multi-target amplicon sequencing. Specifically, sequencing cytochrome oxidase (I) amplicons alongside bacterial 16S rRNA amplicons allows us to understand relationships among the studied populations, detect any mis-identifications, and find parasitoid infections that explain some of the microbiome patterns!

The paper is available, in Open Access mode, at Environmental Microbiology website:

Kolasa M., Kajtoch Ł., Michalik A., Maryańska-Nadachowska A., Łukasik P. (2023): Till evolution do us part: The diversity of symbiotic associations across populations of Philaenus spittlebugs. Environmental Microbiology
https://ami-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1462-2920.16473



Added: 1st August 2023