COEVOL Multi-Scale Coevolution
Evolutionary Genetics of Interactions Group
Varaldi Julien
Maître de conférence universitaire
UCBL
My work focuses on the evolutionary genetics of insects. I am currently developing three main themes:
1. Organisms face many viral infections during their life. Although viruses are known for their pathogenic effects, a number of them, under studied, reveal more subtle effects, and are potentially heritable. We have discovered such a virus in a parasitoid wasp. Its main effect is to manipulate the wasp's egg-laying behavior, thus promoting its horizontal transmission. To improve our global understanding of insect-associated viral diversity we are conducting metagenomic programs in insect communities.
2. During evolution, sequences of these viruses have been able to integrate into the chromosomes of their hosts (whether or not the integration is part of their natural cycle). Some of these insertions have allowed major genetic innovations such as the "invention" of the placenta in mammals. In hymenopteran insects, which live as parasites of other insects, several clades have "domesticated" viruses, which allows them today to address virulence factors to their hosts. These endogenized viruses are currently necessary for the good development of parasitoids. The first documented cases concerned the superfamily Ichneumonoidea. Our recent work has revealed similar phenomena, although completely independent, in other superfamilies (Di Giovanni et al. 2020, thesis in progress B. Guinet). One of the challenges is to define the extent and evolutionary impact of these domestications in insects.
3. Bed bugs are a re-emerging pest. These hematophagous insects have experienced an extremely large population boom in recent years, probably related to the evolution of insecticide resistance. We are currently investigating the genetic determinants underlying the resistance phenotype (CIFRE thesis in progress Chloé Haberkorn).
Parasitoid depositing an egg (and its virus) in a Drosophila larva. (drawing credit : J. Martinez)
Publications
Display of 1 to 30 publications on 35 in total
Dating the origin of a viral domestication event in parasitoid wasps attacking Diptera
Preprint
see the publicationTranscriptomic Response to Pyrethroid Treatment in Closely Related Bed Bug Strains Varying in Resistance
Genome Biology and Evolution . 16 ( 8 ) : evae158
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae158
Journal article
see the publicationA novel and diverse family of filamentous DNA viruses associated with parasitic wasps
Virus Evolution . 10 ( 1 ) : veae022
DOI: 10.1093/ve/veae022
Journal article
see the publicationCommunity structure of heritable viruses in a Drosophila-parasitoids complex
Peer Community Journal . 4 : e16
Journal article
see the publicationA major 6 Mb superlocus is involved in pyrethroid resistance in the common bed bug Cimex lectularius
Evolutionary Applications . 16 ( 5 ) : 1012 - 1028
DOI: 10.1111/eva.13550
Journal article
see the publicationEndoparasitoid lifestyle promotes endogenization and domestication of dsDNA viruses
eLife . 12 : e85993
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.85993
Journal article
see the publicationRNA Viruses Are Prevalent and Active Tenants of the Predatory Mite Phytoseiulus persimilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae)
Microbial ecology .
Journal article
see the publicationGenomic characterization of viruses associated with the parasitoid Anagyrus vladimiri (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)
Journal of General Virology . 103 ( 12 )
DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.001810
Journal article
see the publicationDROP: Molecular voucher database for identification of Drosophila parasitoids
Molecular Ecology Resources .
Journal article
see the publicationA behavior-manipulating virus relative as a source of adaptive genes for Drosophila parasitoids
Molecular Biology and Evolution . 37 ( 10 ) : 2791-2807
Journal article
see the publicationA behavior-manipulating virus relative as a source of adaptive genes for parasitoid wasps
Preprint
see the publicationDeciphering the behaviour manipulation imposed by a virus on its parasitoid host: insights from a dual transcriptomic approach
Parasitology . 145 ( 14 ) : 1979-1989
Journal article
see the publicationGenome sequencing of the behaviour manipulating virus LbFV reveals a possible new virus family
Genome Biology and Evolution . 8 : 3718-3738
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evw277
Journal article
see the publicationAdditional heritable virus in the parasitic wasp Leptopilina boulardi: prevalence, transmission and phenotypic effects
Journal of General Virology . 97 : 523-535
DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.000360
Journal article
see the publicationCompetitive outcome of multiple infections in a behavior-manipulating virus/wasp interaction
Ecology and Evolution . 5 ( 24 ) : S934-S945
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1749
Journal article
see the publicationThe influence of male wing shape on mating success in Drosophila melanogaster
Animal Behaviour . 85 : 1217--1223
Journal article
see the publicationAn inherited virus influences the coexistence of parasitoid species through behaviour manipulation.
Ecology Letters . 15 ( 6 ) : 603-10
Journal article
see the publicationInfluence of the virus LbFV and of Wolbachia in a host-parasitoid interaction.
PLoS ONE . 7 ( 4 ) : 1-10
Journal article
see the publicationHeritable variation in an extended phenotype: the case of a parasitoid manipulated by a virus.
Journal of Evolutionary Biology . 25 ( 1 ) : 54-65
Journal article
see the publicationAn inherited Virus manipulating the behavior of its parasitoid host : epidemiology and evolutionary consequences
Parasitoid Viruses. Symbionts and Pathogens . 978-0-12-384858-1 : 203-214
Book chapter
see the publicationPrevalence of a virus inducing behavioural manipulation near species range border
Molecular Ecology . 19(14) : 2995-3007
Journal article
see the publicationEvolution and manipulation of parasitoid eggload
Evolution - International Journal of Organic Evolution . 63 ( 11 ) : 2974-2984
Journal article
see the publicationMolecular Detection Penetrance and Transmission of an Inherited Virus Responsible for Behavioral Manipulation of an Insect Parasitoid
Applied and Environmental Microbiology . 75 ( 3 ) : 703-710
DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01778-08
Journal article
see the publicationA Virus-Shaping Reproductive Strategy in a Drosophila Parasitoid
incollection . 70 : 334-359
Journal article
see the publicationBehavioural manipulation of insect parasitoids by a maternally inherited virus: ecological consequences and potential applications for biological control
Entomological Research . 37 : A11-A73
Journal article
see the publicationSuperparasitism evolution: adaptation or manipulation?
The American Naturalist . 167 ( 1 ) : E1-E22
DOI: 10.1086/498398
Journal article
see the publicationThe virus infecting the parasitoid Leptopilina boulardi exerts a specific action on superparasitism behaviour
Parasitology . 132 : 747-756
Journal article
see the publicationArtifical transfer and morphological description of virus particles associated with superparasitism behaviour in a parasitoid wasp.
Journal of Insect Physiology . 52 ( 11-12 ) : 1202-1212
Journal article
see the publicationA Newly Discovered Virus Manipulates Superparasitism Behavior in a Parasitoid Wasp
incollection . 2 : 119-139
Journal article
see the publicationSuperparasitism acceptance and patch-leaving mechanisms in parasitoids: A comparison between two sympatric wasps
Animal Behaviour . 69 : 1227-1234
Journal article
see the publication