A5046103860- Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior
- Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies
- Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology
- Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Marine Biology and Ecology Research
- Protist diversity and phylogeny
- Genetics and Physical Performance
- Ecology, Conservation, and Geographical Studies
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Parasite Biology and Host Interactions
- Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Mollusks and Parasites Studies
- Fish Ecology and Management Studies
- Identification and Quantification in Food
- Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies
- GABA and Rice Research
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
- Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy
- Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Invertebrate Taxonomy and Ecology
- Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy
- Psychoanalysis and Social Critique
- Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
University of Duisburg-Essen
2016-2025
Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt/M
2023-2024
Helsana Group (Switzerland)
2016-2023
Ruhr University Bochum
2013
The field of molecular ecology is transitioning from the use small panels classical genetic markers such as microsatellites to much larger single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generated by approaches like RAD sequencing. However, few empirical studies have directly compared ability these methods resolve population structure. This could implications for understanding phenotypic plasticity, many previous natural populations may lacked power detect differences, especially over...
The actual connectivity between populations of freshwater organisms is largely determined by species biology, but also influenced many area- and site-specific factors, such as water pollution habitat fragmentation. Therefore, the prediction effective gene flow, even for well-studied organisms, difficult. amphipod crustacean Gammarus fossarum a key invertebrate in ecosystems contains cryptic species. One these broadly distributed G. clade 11 (type B). In this study, we tested factors driving...
Abstract Biodiversity hotspots are centers of biological diversity and particularly threatened by anthropogenic activities. Their true magnitude species endemism, however, is still largely unknown as traditionally assessed using morphological descriptions only, thereby ignoring cryptic species. This directly limits evidence-based monitoring management strategies. Here we used molecular delimitation methods to quantify the montane amphipods in Irano-Anatolian Caucasus biodiversity hotspots....
DNA sequence information has revealed many morphologically cryptic species worldwide. For animals, DNA-based assessments of diversity usually rely on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. However, a growing amount evidence indicate that markers alone can lead to misleading estimates due mito-nuclear discordance. Therefore, reports putative based solely should be verified by other methods, especially in cases where COI sequences are identical for different morphospecies...
In urban river systems, fragmentation of habitats and in-stream dispersal barriers play a major role in shaping the population genetic structure freshwater macroinvertebrate species. small, fragmented populations, effects drift inbreeding are enhanced, which can lead to increased differentiation diversity loss. One formerly strongly degraded stream system highly urbanised area is Emscher catchment North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Major restoration efforts have led an improvement water...
DNA barcoding utilizes short standardized sequences to identify species and is increasingly used in biodiversity assessments. The technique has unveiled an unforeseeably high number of morphologically cryptic species. However, if speciation occurred relatively recently rapidly, the use single gene markers, especially exclusive mitochondrial will presumably fail delimitating Therefore, true biological might be even higher. One mechanism that can result rapid hybridization different...
Genetic diversity is the most basal level of biodiversity and determines evolutionary capacity species to adapt changing environments, yet it typically neglected in routine biomonitoring stressor impact assessment. For a comprehensive analysis impacts on genetic diversity, necessary assess variants simultaneously many individuals species. Such an assessment not as straightforward usually limited one or few focal However, nowadays can be assessed by analysing thousands community with DNA...
Abstract An increasing number of phylogenetic studies have reported discordances among nuclear and mitochondrial markers. These discrepancies are highly relevant to widely used biodiversity assessment approaches, such as DNA barcoding, that rely almost exclusively on Although the theoretical causes mito‐nuclear well understood, it is often extremely challenging determine principal underlying factor in a given study system. In this study, we uncovered significant pair sibling caddisfly...
Abstract DNA metabarcoding is a powerful tool to assess arthropod diversity in environmental bulk samples such as Malaise trap, pitfall or hand net samples. While comparative performance tests for different extraction protocols, primers, and Taq polymerases have been made, the effect of PCR volumes on sample less explored. Although using small reduces overall costs, they may lead decreased taxon recovery higher replicate variability due increased pipetting imprecision, stochasticity (PCR...
Water flow in river networks is frequently regulated by man-made in-stream barriers. These obstacles can hinder dispersal of aquatic organisms and isolate populations leading to the loss genetic diversity. Although millions small barriers exist worldwide, their impact on macroinvertebrates remains unclear. Therefore, we, therefore, assessed effects such population structure effective five macroinvertebrate species with strictly life cycles: amphipod crustacean Gammarus fossarum (clade 11),...
Abstract Environmental DNA (eDNA) extracted from water is routinely used in river biodiversity research, and via metabarcoding eDNA can provide comprehensive taxa lists with little effort cost. However, eDNA‐based species detection streams rivers may be influenced by sampling season other key factors such as temperature discharge. Research linking these also informing on the potential of to detect shifts ecological signatures, phenology functional feeding groups across seasons, missing. To...
Abstract The Mediterranean region with its islands is among the top biodiversity hotspots. It houses numerous freshwater taxa a high rate of endemism, but heavily impacted by anthropogenic pressures and global climate change. To conserve biodiversity, reliable data on species genetic diversity are needed especially for scarcely known insular ecosystems. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding provides straight-forward opportunity to assess aquatic biodiversity. Therefore, we conducted first...
Abstract Background The emergence of DNA taxonomy sparked a paradigm shift in biodiversity assessments and revealed the existence many morphologically cryptic species all ecosystems worldwide. For animals, DNA-based diversity usually rely on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. However, an increasing number studies report patterns mito-nuclear discordance originating for example from shared ancestral polymorphisms or introgression, leading to over- underestimation true...
Newly approved therapies with high and uncertain budget impact pose challenges to public health care systems worldwide. One recent example is chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) for adults large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL). This study's primary objective examine the expenditures of Swiss payers before, during, after CAR-T therapy in patients LBCL aged ≥30 years. Its secondary analyse 24-month survival rates.This retrospective observational data analysis used administrative databases insurers...
Anthropogenic impacts like intensified land use and climate change are severe threats to freshwater biodiversity effective monitoring is therefore one of the most urgent tasks. This is, however, often hampered by lack knowledge regarding number ecology species. Molecular tools have shown many taxa comprise morphologically cryptic species, which occur in sympatry on a small geographic scale. Here, we studied snail Ancylus fluviatilis (Müller, 1774) species complex Iberian Montseny Mountains....
ABSTRACT Worldwide, humans have strongly altered river networks. Key changes resulted in modified hydromorphology, poor habitat quality and availability, migration barriers, pollution. Restoration measures aim at mitigating anthropogenic stressors restoring connectivity, but the biological success of these is not guaranteed. Analyzing genetic diversity metapopulation structure target species network with markers can help to understand recolonization processes identify persisting gene flow...
The larval stages of the central European sibling caddisfly species Sericostoma personatum (Spence in Kirby and Spence, 1826) S. flavicorne Schneider, 1845 are morphologically similar can only be distinguished by differences coloration late instars. Identification using mitochondrial barcoding gene, i.e., Cytochrome c Oxidase 1, is impossible, as both share same highly differentiated haplotypes due to introgression. Nuclear gene markers obtained through double digest restriction site...
Ecological stability under environmental change is determined by both interspecific and intraspecific processes. Particularly for planktonic microorganisms, it challenging to follow dynamics over space time. We propose a new method, microsatellite PoolSeq barcoding (MPB), tracing allele frequency changes in protist populations. successfully applied this method experimental community incubations field samples of the diatom Thalassiosira hyalina from Arctic, rapidly changing ecosystem....
Freshwaters are exposed to multiple anthropogenic stressors, leading habitat degradation and biodiversity decline. In particular, agricultural stressors known result in decreased abundances community shifts towards more tolerant taxa. However, the combined effects of difficult predict as they can interact complex ways, enhanced (synergistic) or (antagonistic) response patterns. Furthermore, stress responses may remain undetected if only abundance changes ecological experiments considered,...
High-throughput sequencing makes it possible to evaluate thousands of genetic markers across genomes and populations. Reduced-representation approaches, like double-digest restriction site-associated DNA (ddRADseq), are frequently applied screen for variation. In particular in nonmodel organisms where whole-genome is not yet feasible, ddRADseq has become popular as allows genomewide assessment variation patterns even the absence other genomic resources. However, while many tools available...
Worldwide, humans have strongly altered river networks. Key changes resulted in modified hydromorphology, poor habitat quality and availability, migration barriers, pollution. Restoration measures aim at mitigating anthropogenic stressors to restore connectivity, but the biological success of is not guaranteed. Analyzing genetic diversity population structure target species network with markers can help understanding recolonization processes identifying persisting gene flow barriers. Here,...