Evolutionary Genomics of Sex

Stacks Image 113
Stacks Image 54

Wen-Juan Ma

Principal Investigator


Wen-Juan is Assistant Professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Wen-Juan is interested in how sex chromosomes evolve and differentiate, genetics and evolution of sex determination, how endosymbionts manipulate host reproduction and the evolutionary consequences, as well as genetics of selfish genetic element and the effects on sex chromosome evolution.
CV
Google Scholar
ORCID
Email: wen-juan.ma[@]vub.be
Twitter: @WenJuanMa84
Stacks Image 58

Paris Veltsos

Senior scientist


Paris is interested in the interplay between sexually antagonistic selection, sex chromosome evolution and environmental adaptation. For more information see his website.

Stacks Image 129

Sagar Shinde

Postdoc fellow


Sagar did his PhD thesis on devolution at different timescales on gene, genome and pan-genome levels. He is overall interested in evolutionary genomics, comparative genomics, molecular evolution on genomes, sex chromosomes as well as single gene levels.
Stacks Image 272

Barbora Augstenová

Postdoc fellow


Barbora has been mainly trying to unravel the mystery of evolution of sex chromosomes and their differentiation in reptiles primarily with cytogenetic methods. She was especially interested in sex chromosomes evolution in snakes, which were inspiration for the canonical model of sex chromosome differentiation (Ohno 1967).
Currently, she shifted her focused towards frogs to investigate the genetic and possible epigenetic mechanisms underlying the sex determination in frogs.

Email: barbora.augstenova[@]vub.be
ORCID:
Google Scholar:
Stacks Image 243

Fantin Carpentier

Postdoc fellow


During his PhD thesis, Fantin studied non-recombining regions on mating-type chromosomes in the anther amut fungal genus Microbotryum. He has two years break from academic research and he has been dedicated to his family and to his work in an informatics company, he decided to take up the challenge to come back into research. He is still interested in evolutionary genomics and sex chromosomes. Besides his work, he is a music lover. He also enjoys sport, yoga and reading.

Email: fantin.carpentier[@]vub.be
Stacks Image 159

Ezgi Unal

PhD student


Ezgi has passion for evolutionary studies and molecular biology research. Her PhD research is investigating the mechanisms of extreme heterochiasmy, the exaggerated sexual dimorphism in the recombination landscape in frogs. During her master studies at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, she developed a heavy metal detecting E.coli whole-cell biosensor in collaboration with several research institutions. She is particularly enthusiastic about interdisciplinary approaches and collaborations.
Stacks Image 262

Ricard Fontsere

PhD student


Ricard is overall very interested in the origin and evolution of sex chromosomes, eco-evolutionary dynamics and phenotypic plasticity. His PhD is investigating the evolutionary and genetic drivers of sex chromosome turnover in various frog lineages. During his free time he is an avid chess player.
Stacks Image 76

Ramses Moortgat

PhD student


Ramses is a dedicated naturalist and enthusiastic insect lover with a deep passion for nature, biodiversity, and fieldwork. His primary interest lies in the fascinating world of invertebrate biodiversity and how evolutionary processes shape it. Currently, as part of his PhD research, Ramses is investigating how bacterial infections, particularly from Wolbachia, influence insect sexual reproduction, sex determination and even impact the evolution of sex chromosomes. In his free time, Ramses enjoys immersing himself in nature, carefully observing and documenting the richness of life around him. He also enjoys breading native plants. You can explore his nature observations and insights through his documented findings here.
Stacks Image 94

Marzieh Sadat Bagheri

Master student


Marzieh is the third year Master student in Cellular and Molecular Life Science. She is highly interested in molecular genetics, sexual reproduction, and immunology. She is fascinated by the complexity in organisms between genotypes and phenotypes. She investigated in sex chromosome differentiation in the common frog. Currently, for her Master thesis, she is working on pollination networks in agroecological and conventional rural farming in Central Tanzania, in collaboration with Dr. Massimiliano Virgilio from the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Brussels, Belgium.
Stacks Image 170

Benjamin Aime Allaer

Bachelor thesis student



Benjamin is fascinated by the molecular aspect of biology in particular genetics and microbiology. He finds the functioning of bacteria, viruses and fungi and the way we can use this information to make antibiotics, vaccines and many more very interesting. He likes to play tennis and jogging in his spare time. Currently he is working on unraveling possible sex-specific splicing variants of key candidate sex determining gene(s) in frogs his bachelor thesis.

Email: benjamin.aime.allaer[@]vub.be
Stacks Image 284

Luca Silvio Pignatti

Bachelor thesis student



Luca is a third year bachelor student in Biology. He is interested in evolution and speciation. Currently he is working on salt preference in Caenorhabditis elegans, C. remanei and C. brenneri, with a focus on differences between the sexes.

Email: Luca.Silvio.Pignatti[@]vub.be
Stacks Image 310

Rafaël Kana

Bachelor thesis student



Rafaël is a third-year Bachelor student in Biology with a strong passion for life sciences. He is deeply interested in understanding the intricate processes within organisms and how these insights can be applied to address societal challenges. His academic interests lie primarily in genetics and epigenetics. Beyond academics, Rafaël enjoys staying active through sports and values connecting with people to learn about their perspectives and interests. For his Bachelor thesis, he is investigating differential gene expression during meiosis in the brown frogs Rana temporaria. His research aims to shed light on the mechanisms underlying the extreme sexual dimorphism in the recombination landscape.

Email: rafael.kana[@]vub.be

Lab alumni


Postdoc fellow, Meriç Erdolu
Bachelor thesis student: Gabriel Orlando Bidó Féliz, currently student exchange program at University of Palacky, Czech Republic
Bachelor thesis student: Tristan Cornelis, currently Master program at VUB, Belgium
Bachelor thesis student: Ezel Bahar Balci, currently Master program at VUB, Belgium
Bachelor thesis student: Marie Cecile M. Aerts, currently Master program at VUB, Belgium