Videvall lab

Wildlife microbiomes

Scandinavian wolverine, photo by Jonathan Othén.

We are fascinated by microbiomes in wild animals, how these microbial communities are formed and how they affect their hosts.

Our research questions include for example: which symbiotic microbes live in association with wild animals and how does microbial variation look like among individuals? How are microbiomes inherited from parents to offspring? And to what extent are they shaped by the local environment versus the animals' own genomes? How much does diet influence the microbiome? And how does captivity and feralization affect their diversity and composition? Finally, how does the microbiome in turn impact animal health, fitness, and the phenotype, including behavior.

We use DNA sequencing methods of different wild mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians to investigate these questions.

For more information, please see our external website

Group members

Research leader: Elin Videvall

Group members: Charlotte Enkvist, Madeleine Van Well Bergström, Matteo Resca, Catarina Cunha

Publications

Molecular ecology of microbiomes in the wild: Common pitfalls, methodological advances and future directions

Fountain‐Jones, Nicholas M.; Giraud, Tatiana; Zinger, Lucie; Bik, Holly et al.

Part of Molecular Ecology, 2024
- DOI for Molecular ecology of microbiomes in the wild: Common pitfalls, methodological advances and future directions
Impact of ionizing radiation on the environmental microbiomes of Chornobyl wetlands

Videvall, Elin; Burraco, Pablo; Orizaola, German

Part of Environmental Pollution, 2023
- DOI for Impact of ionizing radiation on the environmental microbiomes of Chornobyl wetlands
Coprophagy rapidly matures juvenile gut microbiota in a precocial bird

Videvall, Elin; Bensch, Hanna M.; Engelbrecht, Anel; Cloete, Schalk et al.

Part of Evolution Letters, p. 240-251, 2023
- DOI for Coprophagy rapidly matures juvenile gut microbiota in a precocial bird
- Download full text (pdf) of Coprophagy rapidly matures juvenile gut microbiota in a precocial bird
Gene expression reveals immune response strategies of naïve Hawaiian honeycreepers experimentally infected with introduced avian malaria

Paxton, Kristina L; Cassin-Sackett, Loren; Atkinson, Carter T; Videvall, Elin et al.

Part of Journal of Heredity, p. 326-340, 2023
- DOI for Gene expression reveals immune response strategies of naïve Hawaiian honeycreepers experimentally infected with introduced avian malaria
Microbiomes associated with avian malaria survival differ between susceptible Hawaiian honeycreepers and sympatric malaria‐resistant introduced birds

Navine, Amanda K.; Paxton, Kristina L.; Paxton, Eben H.; Hart, Patrick J. et al.

Part of Molecular Ecology, p. 6659-6670, 2022
- DOI for Microbiomes associated with avian malaria survival differ between susceptible Hawaiian honeycreepers and sympatric malaria‐resistant introduced birds
Transcriptional response of individual Hawaiian Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes to the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum

Ferreira, Francisco C.; Videvall, Elin; Seidl, Christa M.; Wagner, Nicole E. et al.

Part of Malaria Journal, 2022
- DOI for Transcriptional response of individual Hawaiian Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes to the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum
- Download full text (pdf) of Transcriptional response of individual Hawaiian Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes to the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum
Natural experiments and long-term monitoring are critical to understand and predict marine host–microbe ecology and evolution

Leray, Matthieu; Wilkins, Laetitia G. E.; Apprill, Amy; Bik, Holly M. et al.

Part of PLoS biology, 2021
- DOI for Natural experiments and long-term monitoring are critical to understand and predict marine host–microbe ecology and evolution
The uropygial gland microbiome of house sparrows with malaria infection

Videvall, Elin; Marzal, Alfonso; Magallanes, Sergio; Fleischer, Robert C. et al.

Part of Journal of Avian Biology, 2021
- DOI for The uropygial gland microbiome of house sparrows with malaria infection
Transcriptome assembly and differential gene expression of the invasive avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum in Hawaiʻi

Videvall, Elin; Paxton, Kristina L.; Campana, Michael G.; Cassin‐Sackett, Loren et al.

Part of Ecology and Evolution, p. 4935-4944, 2021
- DOI for Transcriptome assembly and differential gene expression of the invasive avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum in Hawaiʻi
Host Transcriptional Responses to High- and Low-Virulent Avian Malaria Parasites

Videvall, Elin; Palinauskas, Vaidas; Valkiūnas, Gediminas; Hellgren, Olof

Part of American Naturalist, p. 1070-1084, 2020
- DOI for Host Transcriptional Responses to High- and Low-Virulent Avian Malaria Parasites

Research areas

Animal Ecology