Italy

Across the diurnal cycle, all animals, birds and fish make frequent behavioural decisions (e.g. to forage or rest) which are influenced by the current environment (e.g. food availability and predation risk) and by the individual’s own internal states (e.g. energy reserves). I will talk about using stochastic dynamic programming as an approach to combine ecology and physiology to evaluate optimal decisions in animals across seasons, latitudes and climate change projections. My focus is on heterotherms using thermoregulation strategies such as torpor and hibernation, but this cost-benefit approach can be used in any system where individuals consider both physiological requirements and environmental conditions in their decision-making. If you consider your own study species – what are the internal states that can affect a decision between foraging or resting? Or between allocating resources into reproducing or growing? What are the environmental conditions that could influence the same choice?

SEB Conference 2026

Combining ecology and physiology in simulation models to evaluate a species&#39; sensitivity to climate change.

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SEB’s Annual Conference is celebrated for creating the perfect composition of research, new discoveries and collaborative connections. Be creative and innovative by exchanging ideas and knowledge with masters of biology from all over the world. 

Combining ecology and physiology in simulation models to evaluate a species' sensitivity to climate change.

Climate change threatens biodiversity by constraining animals’ ability to balance energy and water budgets, shaping behaviour, distribution, survival and fitness. However, predicting how species respond to climate change remains challenging due to intra- and interspecific variation in thermal tolerances, behavioural flexibility and the structure of surrounding landscapes. Biophysical models offer a unique opportunity to understand these variations by mechanistically linking physiology, behaviour and microclimates. Using two model systems, we demonstrate the how biophysical models integrate physiology and behaviour to predict animal responses to climate change. First, we show the importance of behavioural and microclimate parameterisation for predicting patterns of thermoregulation (i.e. evaporative water loss, body temperature) in free-ranging birds. We found that oversimplified or assumed behaviours can lead to substantial errors in estimates of energy expenditure, evaporative water loss, and thermal exposure. Second, we show that when detailed physiological response data are available, biophysical models can successfully predict fine-scale thermoregulatory behaviours, including habitat use. We provide a framework that highlights how behavioural data refine physiological predictions of acute thermal responses, while physiological data also generate testable hypotheses about animal behaviour in the face of changing climates. Most importantly, accurate parameterisation is essential for improving mechanistic forecasts of climate vulnerability and for translating model outputs into robust, biologically informed conservation strategies.

From behaviour to biophysics and back: understanding and predicting animal thermoregulation in the heat

The freshwater zooplankters Daphnia serve as a textbook example for inducible phenotypic plasticity, as they react to the presence of predators with specified defensive morphological adaptations. While the effectiveness of their defences has been proven, possible disadvantages that are associated with defence expression have received limited attention. A well-established predator-prey-system is the Australian species Daphnia longicephala that protects itself against the heteropteran backswimmers Notonecta and Anisops by growing a large crest at its cephalic ridge. The crest doubles the body surface and therefore increases animal drag during locomotion. However, hydrodynamic differences might not only be revealed in the animals themselves but also in the water flow surrounding them. We used Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to examine differences in the water flow between undefended and defended Daphnia longicephala. PIV computes the water flow surrounding the animals from the movement of reflecting tracer particles that were added to the water. To be able to statistically compare the water flow around both morphs, we recorded multiple locomotory movements and expanded the established PIV workflow with synchronisation and alignment computations. We detected an altered water flow around defended animals: head and body decelerate the water stronger, and the propulsive jet created by their second antennae is larger, compared to undefended animals. These differences in water flow might be associated with disadvantages, for example in the context of locomotory costs.

Water flow analysis reveals hydrodynamic differences between ecological morphs of Daphnia

Mustelids like ferrets, minks, and otters, provide an exciting opportunity to study locomotor transitions, particularly the evolution of aquatic adaptations. This clade spans a broad range of aquatic dependence, from primarily terrestrial species to highly aquatic otters. Water is a denser and more viscous medium than air; animals swimming with drag-based paddling must generate propulsion by pushing against a resistant medium. This typically results in slower, but more forceful limb strokes compared to terrestrial stride cycles. Osteological studies seem to support this, linking an increased robustness of the long bones of the legs to aquatic specialisation. In this study, we hypothesise an increase in force-generating potential for muscles linked to either propulsion during the swimming power stroke or the recovery stroke, and longer fascicle lengths for muscles contributing to increasing the stroke amplitude. To test these hypotheses, we performed detailed manual dissections of the forelimbs across five mustelid species that represent different levels of aquatic specialisation. We quantified the muscle architecture, including physiological cross-sectional area and fascicle length, which serve as proxies for force-generating potential, and excursion potential, respectively. Results suggest that general patterns are in line with our hypotheses. Ongoing analyses of the data will help to pinpoint the specific muscles that contribute most to these patterns of variation.

Muscle architecture of mustelid forelimbs and patterns of muscular adaptations for aquatic locomotion

Daphnia are well known for their ability to protect themselves against predators through the development of inducible morphological, behavioural, and life-history defences. The interplay of body size and behavioural defences, however, has rarely been investigated, although it may be a decisive trait for the evolution of defensive strategies. Therefore, we investigated the behavioural response of the relatively small species D. barbata and the two relatively large species D. longicephala and D. magna in the presence of the heteropteran backswimmer Notonecta, an ambush predator, and the tadpole shrimp Triops, a cruising predator. We hypothesised that, in addition to prey body size, predator hunting strategy is a relevant factor for the evolution of defensive traits. We found that the small species D. barbata responded with distinct behavioural alterations in depth selection, swimming velocity and swarming behaviour to Triops and Notonecta presence, whereas the large species D. longicephala adjusted only swimming velocity and depth selection. Large D. magna showed no behavioural response at all. In general, daphniids appeared to demonstrate a more pronounced response in the presence of the ambush predator Notonecta compared to the cruising predator Triops. Based on these observations, we identified an interplay pattern between prey body size, predator hunting type, and resulting behavioural response, which may also apply to other species.

Interplay of body size, behaviour and predation strategy in Daphnia inducible defences

Ocean warming facilitates the poleward expansion of invasive species. However, successful establishment in colder environments depends on their ability to tolerate low temperatures. Therefore, it is critical we understand the molecular mechanisms underlying cold tolerance for predicting invasion dynamics. However, the physiological and biochemical pathways underlying thermal responses can be sex specific, which is often overlooked. Such gaps can compromise management strategies aimed at predicting invasive species’ trajectories, fecundity, and recruitment rates. The European green crab Carcinus maenas is an invasive species worldwide, and its competition and predation threaten biodiversity, marine ecosystem functioning, and economically important species such as bivalves and lobster. The invasion capacity of the green crab is facilitated by its high tolerance to environmental variation. In this study, we investigate the cellular mechanisms that enable C. maenas to tolerate cold conditions and colonise new habitats in the Northwestern Atlantic Ocean, while considering sex differences. Using stress biomarkers, we assessed the cellular stress response of C. maenas experimentally exposed to temperatures in the lower range of its thermal niche to evaluate how these mechanisms shape cold tolerance. Preliminary results indicate that females display enhanced cellular stress responses compared to males. However, stress biomarkers remain consistent across temperatures (2, 6, 10 °C), suggesting green crabs are tolerant to temperatures as low as 2 °C. Our results support the use of molecular tools to monitor and better predict the potential for polewards expansion of green crabs and help design better strategies to limit its ecological and economic impacts.

Sex-specific molecular mechanisms underlying cold tolerance in the invasive green crab Carcinus maenas

Men and women differ in many ways, but the magnitudes of these sex differences vary between populations and epochs, adding to the contentious nature of this topic. However, our framework based on evolutionary theory provides an explanation for fluctuations in sex differences and predicts that (1) variation in mean sex differences and (2) the amount of variation within each sex, will correlate with general health. We are exploring these hypotheses for a diversity of human traits including morphological, physiological and cognitive characteristics, and will present all our findings to date at the conference. The patterns arising so far suggest that traits exaggerated in one sex can be excellent biomarkers of health, making them a canary in the coalmine signalling deteriorating, or improving, societal conditions.

The sexy and frail human body: how sexually selected traits differ within and between men and women is dependent on environmental conditions

Plants participate in intricate interactions with a multitude of microorganisms, many of which also influence each other. This holobiont is situated in a chemical soil environment that is defined, in parts, by the specialised metabolite legacy of proximal and preceding organisms, including other plants. Here, we investigated the influence of external plant-derived specialised metabolites on the interactions among root-associated bacterial strains, and between these strains and a plant host. Using benzoxazinoids and their derivatives as a model in both simplified pairwise experiments and more complex multi-organism analyses, we show that these chemicals can modulate bacteria-bacteria, as well as bacteria-plant interactions. While the chemical environment alone had little effect on the plant at the molecular level, it differentially affected plant chemical defences, immunity, and sugar transport when combined with single-isolate or micro-community inoculums. Our study underlines the importance of the chemical environment in modulating organismic interactions and illustrates the value of combining reduced-complexity, bottom-up reconstruction approaches with top-down holobiont profiling.

Plant specialised metabolites modulate the molecular signatures of host-bacteria and bacteria-bacteria interactions

Studying the behavior of intracellular components such as actin microfilaments often requires quantification of their dynamical properties and subsequent statistical analysis. Time series from confocal laser scanning microscopy can be used to quantify the dynamics by comparing stacks of frames and calculating Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient (PCC) to describe them in a time dependent manner. Specifically, PCC is a statistical method that compares two images pixel by pixel and returns a value corresponding to their difference. Should a researcher conduct these kinds of experiments, specialized software will be valuable to provide all the measurements, statistics and graphs. Up until now, there were no available online programs dedicated to these procedures. Here, a new online available, stand-alone software called Cell-Corr is proposed, programed in python 3.12 and converted to an executable (.exe). Cell-Corr can be accessedviaa simple Graphical User Interface and is designed to eliminate the need for coding experience, as it can integrate .avi videos directly. To showcase Cell-Corr’s capabilities, two examples are presented: (1) the dynamics of actin microfilament, inArabidopsis thalianaplants expressing the LifeAct-eGFP marker, treated with SMIFH2 and CK666, two inhibitors for Formins and ARP2/3 complex, respectively, and (2) the dynamics of endoplasmic reticulum in HDEL-GFP transgenic line under the influence of an actin depolymerizing chemical, latrunculin B.

Cell-Corr: Fast and coding-free quantification of intracellular dynamics in confocal microscopy time series

2A peptides enable expression of multiple proteins from a single transcript, allowing for compact co-expression cassettes crucial for applications like gene therapy and plant genome engineering. However, most well-characterized 2A sequences are derived from pathogens like foot-and-mouth disease virus and porcine teschovirus-1, which may present regulatory or public acceptance challenges in translational contexts. We investigated a non-viral alternative derived from the algaChlorella variabilis, named CV2A. Although previously identified in silico and validated in vitro, CV2A had yet to be tested in vivo. To assess CV2A’s functionality, we replaced the viral-derived 2A sequences used in the RUBY visual reporter with CV2A. Each enzyme was epitope-tagged to quantify cleavage efficiency. This work evaluates the potential of an algal-derived 2A peptide as a compact, non-pathogen derived tool for coordinated multi-gene expression. Use of non-viral 2A sequences such as CV2A rather than previously used viral 2A sequences may improve consumer or patient acceptance of biotech solutions.

Testing a short, algal-derived 2A sequence for expression of multiple proteins under a single promoter

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), belonging to the Asteraceae family, is a self-pollinating, semi-arid crop known for its high-quality seed oil. Plant pathogens, such as Fusarium, pose a major constraint on safflower production, causing symptoms including wilting, stunted growth, yellowing, and root or stem decay. The Fusarium genus comprises a variety of species known to infect a wide range of plants. The Fusarium genome is divided into core and accessory chromosomes or lineage-specific (LS) region, where the core region is known to be conserved, and the accessory region tends to vary among species or even amongformae speciales.In the study, two Fusarium species are considered: Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.carthami and Fusarium proliferatum, to understand the molecular mechanisms of pathogenicity among the species.The genomes of both species were sequenced using PacBio HiFi technology. Raw data were further processed, and assembly was performed using Hifiasm. Repeat sequences were characterised, and protein-coding genes were functionally annotated, including pathogenicity-related genes. Through a comparative genomics approach, variation in core chromosomes, genomic diversity, and species-specific features, along with effector prediction, was studied. The study will facilitate the development of better approaches for effective management and prevention of wilt by the two pathogens.

Investigating pathogenicity of safflower pathogens:Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. carthami and Fusarium proliferatum through comparative genomic analysis and effector repertoires.

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From behaviour to biophysics and back: understanding and predicting animal thermoregulation in the heat

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