Jigyasa Arora

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology | OIST · Ecology and Evolution Unit

Termites host diverse communities of gut microbes, including many bacterial lineages only found in this habitat. The bacteria endemic to termite guts are transmitted via two routes: a vertical route from parent colonies to daughter colonies and a horizontal route between colonies sometimes belonging to different termite species. The relative import...

Madagascar is home to many endemic plant and animal species owing to its ancient isolation from other landmasses. This unique fauna includes several lineages of termites, a group of insects known for their key role in organic matter decomposition in many terrestrial ecosystems. How and when termites colonised Madagascar remains unknown. In this stu...

Background Termites primarily feed on lignocellulose or soil in association with specific gut microbes. The functioning of the termite gut microbiota is partly understood in a handful of wood-feeding pest species but remains largely unknown in other taxa. We intend to fill this gap and provide a global understanding of the functional evolution of t...

Termites are social cockroaches distributed throughout warm temperate and tropical ecosystems. The ancestor of modern termites roamed the earth during the early Cretaceous, suggesting that both vicariance and overseas dispersal may have shaped the distribution of early diverging termites. We investigate the historical biogeography of three early di...

Madagascar is home to many endemic plant and animal species owing to its ancient isolation from other landmasses. This unique fauna includes several lineages of termites, a group of insects known for their key role in organic matter decomposition in many terrestrial ecosystems. How and when termites colonised Madagascar remains unknown. In this stu...

Termites primarily feed on lignocellulose or soil in association with specific gut microbes. The functioning of the termite gut microbiota is partly understood in a handful of wood-feeding pest species, but remains largely unknown in other taxa. We intend to feel this gap and provide a global understanding of the functional evolution of termite gut...

Termites are social cockroaches distributed throughout warm temperate and tropical ecosystems. The ancestor of modern termites (crown-Isoptera) occurred during the earliest Cretaceous, approximately 140 million years ago, suggesting that both vicariance through continental drift and overseas dispersal may have shaped the distribution of early diver...

Microbes ubiquitously inhabit animals and plants, often affecting their host’s phenotype. As a result, even in a constant genetic background, the host’s phenotype may evolve through indirect selection on the microbiome. ‘Microbiome engineering’ offers a promising novel approach for attaining desired host traits but has been attempted only a few tim...

Microbes ubiquitously inhabit animals and plants, often affecting their host's phenotype. As a result, even in a constant genetic background, the host's phenotype may evolve through indirect selection on the microbiome. 'Microbiome engineering' offers a promising novel approach for attaining desired host traits but has been attempted only a few tim...

Venoms are among the most biologically active secretions known, and are commonly believed to evolve under extreme positive selection. Many venom gene families, however, have undergone duplication, and are often deployed in doses vastly exceeding the LD50 for most prey species, which should reduce the strength of positive selection. Here we contrast...

Advances in sequencing technology have exponentially increased data-generating capabilities, and data analysis has now become the major hurdle in many research programs. As sequencing tools become more accessible and automated, experimental design and data analysis skills become the key factors in determining the success of a study. However, proper...

Advances in sequencing technology have exponentially increased data-generating capabilities, and data analysis has now become the major hurdle in many research programs. As sequencing tools become more accessible and automated, experimental design and data analysis skills become the key factors in determining the success of a study. However, proper...

The induction of programmed cell death (apoptosis) in tumour cells is an essential cellular and molecular process in response to cancer treatment, and important for its success. Resistance to such therapies can occur at different molecular levels. One essential step in apoptosis signalling is the release of several factors from mitochondria into th...