TEAM

Holobiont Evolutionary Interactions Group

Biodiversity

The Holobiont Evolutionary Interactions Group specialises in the evolutionary history and interactions between a host and its associated community of microorganisms, including the viriome, bacteriome, mycobiome and metazoan parasites. Our main host models include birds and small mammals, with a special focus on the European house mouse hybrid zone. The group has three main lines of research: 1) the use of models of rodent hybrid zones to investigate the limit of pathogen/parasite specificity, the role of recombination in pathogen host jumps and the role of the microbiome in host speciation; 2) the worldwide distribution and ecological diversification of murid rodents, which allows us to search for the microbiomes functioning in host adaptations, including adaptation to a synanthropic life-style; and 3) studying the microbiome and metabolome of feathers and sebaceous glands, with a focus on the contribution of the integumentary microbiome in production of antimicrobial and chemosignalling compounds involved in olfactory communication and antimicrobial protection in birds.

group leader

+420 560590613, joellegouy@gmail.com, molecular epidemiology

full-time researcher

+420 568423194, cizkova@ivb.cz, molecular biology and genetics
+420 560590621, javurkova@ivb.cz, ekofyziologie ptáků

research assistant

+420 +420605464704, a.fornuskova@seznam.cz, host parasite co-evolution

post-doc

+420 221951803, schmiedova@ivb.cz, gastrointestinal microbiota in vertebrate

PhD student

petruzela@ivb.cz, molecular parasitology

Something more.