Bailey Crowley
LightNews LightNews
banner
baileycrowley.bsky.social
Bailey Crowley
@baileycrowley.bsky.social
170 followers 120 following 13 posts
PhD Student supervised by Dr. Greg Hurst at the Uni of Liverpool | supported by a UKRI BBSRC studentship | insect symbioses | Arsenophonus | she/her
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
ironark.bsky.social
Happy to share a preprint—the last chapter of my dissertation with @mcsymbiont.bsky.social and Co—on what happens when bacterial endosymbionts accumulate huge numbers of pseudogenes during early genome reduction.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Diagram illustrating early genome erosion during the transition from a free-living Sodalis bacterium to two host-associated endosymbionts inside the long-tailed mealybug. Circular genomes show intact genes in blue and pseudogenes in red, highlighting increased pseudogene accumulation in symbiotic forms. Caption asks: “What are the downstream molecular consequences of early genome erosion?”
February 8, 2026 at 2:08 AM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
sachslab.bsky.social
NEW: Registration is now FREE for graduate students and postdocs for the 14th Annual Yosemite Symbiosis workshop. THANKS to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation! Space is limited. Learn more and REGISTER here: snri.ucmerced.edu/form/symbios...
February 8, 2026 at 5:29 PM
baileycrowley.bsky.social
Please join the @symbiosisalumni.bsky.social during our next Alumni Network seminar to learn about the origin and complexities of mealybug endosymbioses from @filiphusnik.bsky.social:

🗓️ February 25th
🕥 8am WET
📍on zoom (PM for link)

symbnet.bsky.social
moorefound.bsky.social
mblscience.bsky.social
February 5, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
symboevo.bsky.social
*correct link
Very excited to share a preprint from stellar lab postdoc, Dr. Younghwan Kwak.

“Intrahost mutational dynamics parallel long-term genome evolution in endosymbionts”

Cool, skillful work and a nifty story!
#symbiosis #insects #evolution

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
February 2, 2026 at 5:11 AM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
berasymbionts.bsky.social
Can plant pathogens boost vector fitness?

Together with @hassansalem.bsky.social, we review how phytopathogens can spread further by moonlighting as insect symbionts 🪲 More on this nifty lifestyle in @annualreviews.bsky.social!

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Plant Pathogens Moonlighting as Beneficial Insect Symbionts
Herbivorous insects can shape the epidemiology of disease in plants by vectoring numerous phytopathogens. While the consequences of infection are often well-characterized in the host plant, the extent...
www.annualreviews.org
February 2, 2026 at 7:48 AM
baileycrowley.bsky.social
Thanks for the opportunity to share a little bit about the start of my PhD journey! The Alumni Network has been a great way to meet others excited about symbioses. Looking forward to learning more about ongoing research in the community. Shout out to the #BBSRC for funding this upcoming work.
symbiosisalumni.bsky.social The Symbiosis Courses Alumni Network @symbiosisalumni.bsky.social · Dec 5
📣Alumni Voices Campaign

Today we’re featuring @baileycrowley.bsky.social who shares a great snapshot of her current journey. Thank you Bailey!

If you haven’t joined yet, we’d love to hear from you: a quick video, audio note, or image set is all it takes. Any language is welcome! 🚀
December 5, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
hassansalem.bsky.social
There’ll be several opportunities to join the group, starting w/ a PhD studentship via the BBSRC-NRP Doctoral Training Partnership.

Team up w/ us, @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social & @berasymbionts.bsky.social to answer how microbes shape insect behavior:
biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/mic...
Microbial determinants of behaviour in herbivorous beetles (SALEM_J26DTP) | Doctoral Training Partnership
Many animals rely on beneficial microbes for nutrition, defence, or reproduction. In this project, the student will explore an exciting new dimension of these relationships:
biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk
November 24, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
pengellab.bsky.social
🐝🦠 New paper: rdcu.be/eOf7A
Phages may drive microbial diversity, yet we often don’t even know how phages & bacteria correlate in nature. Our new study tackles this in the honeybee gut, thanks to the great work of PhD student @malickndiaye.bsky.social at @dmf-unil.bsky.social @fbm-unil.bsky.social
Phage diversity mirrors bacterial strain diversity in the honey bee gut microbiota - Nature Communications
Authors analyse paired viral and bacterial shotgun metagenomics data from individual honeybee guts, revealing modular, nested phage–bacteria networks, with viral diversity mirroring bacterial strain c...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
symbiosisalumni.bsky.social
Save the date! Our next Alumni Network seminar:
📅 Wednesday, October 29th
🕙 12pm EST (Massachusetts) / 12pm CLT (Chile) / 4pm WEST (Oeiras)
📍 over Zoom (PM for link)

@symbnet.bsky.social

@moorefound.bsky.social

@mblscience.bsky.social
@ECODIM
October 13, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
symbionticism.bsky.social
New accepted manuscript (preprint) on the evolution, phylogenetic types, expression, and fxns of a male-killing gene from a phage in a common endosymbiont of animals. Credit to many lab coauthors and led by Dr. Emilie Lefoulon. Lots of fun and insights in this one. academic.oup.com/gbe/advance-...
Evolutionary Diversification and Functions of the Candidate Male Killing Gene wmk
Abstract. Symbiont-mediated male killing (MK) is a mechanism that selectively eliminates male offspring, often by disrupting sex-specific developmental pro
academic.oup.com
September 21, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social
"Striking diversity of male-killing symbionts and their mechanisms"
by Hiroshi Arai (@haraipapilio.bsky.social), Daisuke Kageyama (@daisukekageyama.bsky.social) & co

"Why [and how] do maternally inherited endosymbionts kill male hosts?"

Find out here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Figure 1. Diversity of male-killing (MK) endosymbionts across arthropods.
September 11, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
symbiosisalumni.bsky.social
Looking forward to seeing you in our next Alumni Network seminar next week:
📅 Wednesday, August 27th
🕙 11am EST (Massachusetts) / 11am CLT (Chile) / 4pm WEST (Oeiras)
📍 over Zoom (PM for link)

@symbnet.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social @mblscience.bsky.social @ECODIM
August 21, 2025 at 11:31 AM
baileycrowley.bsky.social
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve accepted a PhD studentship Dr. @greghurst.bsky.social’s lab at the @liverpooluni.bsky.social supported by @ukri.org’s #BBSRC training program. With Drs. Alistair Darby and Michael Brockhurst, we seek to understand insect host’s response to symbiont evolution.
August 11, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
teralevin.bsky.social
I'm excited to announce our new biorxiv preprint, wherein we investigate the evolution of the weirdest genetic locus I've ever seen! Behold the tgr genes of the social amoeba, which mediate self/non-self discrimination during facultative multicellularity 🐅 🧵 1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Hypermutable hotspot enables the rapid evolution of self/non-self recognition genes in Dictyostelium
Cells require highly polymorphic receptors to perform accurate self/non-self recognition. In the amoeba Dicytostelium discoideum, polymorphic TgrB1 & TgrC1 proteins are used to bind sister cells and e...
www.biorxiv.org
August 5, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
nashturley.bsky.social
Our guide to bees of Pennsylvania is available for free now, you can order print copy (just have to pay shipping) and/or download PDF from Penn State Extension page: extension.psu.edu/bees-of-penn...

For every one of the 47 bee genera we have beautiful photo(s) and natural history facts
two pages from our been book, lots of of images and a bit of text for each bee genera cover of our Bees of Pennsylvania book with photo of green sweat bee
July 23, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
felipehst.bsky.social
I once visited Mayan ruins in Mexico and was told that is not known how they were able to make such bright blue colors. Also heard the same about bright red ones. It turns out, at least for the red color, a fungus is responsible! Read more here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
An endosymbiotic origin of the crimson pigment from the lac insect | PNAS
Symbioses with microorganisms expand the genetic and metabolic repertoire of many insects. The lac insect Kerria lacca (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha) ...
www.pnas.org
July 17, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
scottnichols.bsky.social
Please help get the word out - We are hiring at all levels (graduate students, technicians, and postdocs)! If you are interested in sponges, cell biology, evolution, immunity, and symbiosis, please don’t hesitate to contact me to learn more.
July 16, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
mmlopezu.bsky.social
🧬 Shift between specialized & generalized diets in #bees is associated with evolutionary changes in their sensory genes. Generalists lose odorant receptors (ORs) and gain gustatory receptors (GRs), while specialists diversify existing genes 🌸🐝 #genomics #pollinators
academic.oup.com/g3journal/ad...
Shifts in bee diet breadths are associated with gene gains and losses and positive selection across olfactory receptors
Abstract. Bees are palynivorous insects that vary widely in the number of plant families from which they collect pollen. Their evolutionary history has bee
academic.oup.com
July 11, 2025 at 5:55 PM
baileycrowley.bsky.social
The @symbiosisalumni.bsky.social is excited to welcome our next seminar speakers, Dr. Leslie Daille and PhD candidate Lindsey Markowitz, on June 25th at 4pm WEST via zoom.

Please reach out if you are interested in attending.
June 11, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
symbionticism.bsky.social
Free biotech labs, equipment, and training are all bundled into student-driven discoveries and teacher growth. Student publications? Yep. Industry partner? Naturally. This is a must watch highlight reel of Sarah Bordenstein digging into @wolbachiaproj.bsky.social.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAun...
The Wolbachia Project V3
YouTube video by Penn State Eberly College of Science
www.youtube.com
June 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
dna-heligrace.bsky.social
Come work with me (literally!! This role will be working with me directly!)

Cool unique role for someone interested in life sci, sci comm, and outreach/education!
May 29, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
symbiosisalumni.bsky.social
Our first seminar will be held next week, May27-28th, 2025. Please take note of the differences in dates for folks located in different time zones:

📆 May 27-28th, 2025
🕐 8pm on May 27th Lisbon time / 3pm on May 27th New York time/ 3pm on May 27th Santiago time / 7am on May 28th New Zealand time
May 22, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
fukamit.bsky.social
New paper where we suggest bacteria in the honeybee stomach may be more interesting to study than generally thought.

doi.org/10.1007/s002...
Bacteria in Honeybee Crops Are Decoupled from Those in Floral Nectar and Bee Mouths - Microbial Ecology
Bacteria in the honeybee gut are a well-recognized factor affecting bee health. However, the primary focus of this research has been the hindgut, while the crop, or honey stomach, is assumed to be dom...
doi.org
May 22, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Bailey Crowley
greghurst.bsky.social
New preprint ex @bolinabug.bsky.social (+ @daisukekageyama.bsky.social & @scottishwormboy.bsky.social) on the pronounced secondary expansion of Spiroplasma and Rickettsia genomes in lacewings doi.org/10.1101/2025... #symbiosky 1/2
Concerted genome expansion of heritable symbionts in an insect host
Maternally transmitted symbionts represent important components of arthropod biology, acting as both beneficial partners and as reproductive parasites. Their strict vertical transmission greatly reduc...
doi.org
May 12, 2025 at 8:14 AM