Two open PhD positions
From the 1st October 2017 I will be at the Freie Universität in Berlin, which is where the PhD positions will be based. Please follow this link for details
Dr. Sophie Armitage
Research Foci
- Host parasite interactions
- The role of the Dscam (Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule) gene in insect immunity
- Host resistance and tolerance towards bacteria
CV
Academic Education
- PhD, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK
- BSc Zoology, 1st class (Hons), University of Sheffield, UK
Positions
- Junior group leader / Volkswagen Foundation Advanced Postdoc Fellowship, Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster
- Volkswagen Foundation Postdoc Fellowship, Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster
- Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship, Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Carlsberg Foundation Individual Postdoc grant, Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Postdoc, Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Projects
- SPP 1399 - Teilprojekt: Host Immune Strategies: Remembering, Resisting, Tolerating, and Being Specific ()
Subproject in DFG-Joint Project Hosted at the University of Münster: DFG - Schwerpunktprogramm | Project Number: AR 872/1-1 - The evolution of alternative splicing in Dscam: from genotype to immune phenotype (extension) ()
Individual Granted Project: VolkswagenStiftung | Project Number: 86 020
Articles
- Kurtz, J, and Armitage, SAO. . “Dissecting the dynamics of trans-generational immune priming.” Molecular Ecology 26 (15): 3857–3859. doi: 10.1111/mec.14190.
- Armitage, SAO, Kurtz, J, Brites, D, Dong, Y, Du, Pasquier L, and Wang, HC. . “Dscam1 in pancrustacean immunity: Current status and a look to the future.” Frontiers in immunology 8. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00662.
- Franke, F, Armitage, SAO, Kutzer, MAM, Kurtz, J, and Scharsack, JP. . “Environmental temperature variation influences fitness trade-offs and tolerance in a fish-tapeworm association.” Parasites & Vectors 10. doi: 10.1186/s13071-017-2192-7.
- Evison, SEF, Gallagher, JD, Thompson, JWJ, Siva-Jothy, MT, and Armitage, SAO. . “Cuticular colour reflects underlying architecture and is affected by a limiting resource.” Journal of Insect Physiology 98: 7–13. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2016.11.005.
- Futo, M, Armitage, SAO, and Kurtz, J. . “Microbiota plays a role in oral immune priming in Tribolium castaneum.” Frontiers in Microbiology 6. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01383.
- Armitage, SAO, Fernández-Marín, H, Boomsma, JJ, and Wcislo, WT. . “Slowing them down will make them lose: a role for attine ant crop fungus in defending pupae against infections?” Journal of Animal Ecology 85: 1210–1221.. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12543.
- Kutzer, MAM, and Armitage, SAO. . “Maximising fitness in the face of parasites: a review of host tolerance.” Zoology 119: 281–289. doi: 10.1016/j.zool.2016.05.011.
- Kutzer, MAM, and Armitage, SAO. . “The effect of diet and time after bacterial infection on fecundity, resistance, and tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster.” Ecology and Evolution 6: 4229–4242.. doi: 10.1002/ece3.2185.
- Armitage, SAO, and Brites, D. . “The immune-related roles and the evolutionary history of Dscam in arthropods.” in The evolution of the immune system: Conservation and diversification, edited by D Malagoli.
- Peuß, R, Wensing, KU, Woestmann, L, Eggert, H, Milutinović, B, Sroka, MGU, Scharsack, JP, Kurtz, J, and Armitage, SAO. . “Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule 1: testing for a role in insect immunity, behaviour and reproduction.” Royal Society Open Science 3 (4): 160138..
- Peuß, R, Eggert, H, Armitage, SAO, and Kurtz, J. . “Downregulation of the evolutionary capacitor Hsp90 is mediated by social cues.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2041.
- Armitage, SAO, Peuß, R, and Kurtz, J. . “Dscam and pancrustacean immune memory - A review of the evidence.” Developmental and Comparative Immunology 48. doi: 10.1016/j.dci.2014.03.004.
- Armitage, SAO, Sun, W, You, X, Kurtz, J, Schmucker, D, and Chen, W. . “Quantitative profiling of Drosophila melanogaster Dscam1 isoforms reveals no changes in splicing after bacterial exposure.” PloS one 9. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108660.
- Milutinovic, B, Stolpe, C, Peuß, R, Armitage, SAO, and Kurtz, J. . “The red flour beetle as a model for bacterial oral infections.” PloS one 8. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064638.
- Armitage, SAO, Fernández-Marín, H, Wcislo, WT, and Boomsma, JJ. . “An evaluation of the possible adaptive function of fungal brood covering by attine ants.” Evolution 66 (6): 1966–1975. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01568.x.
- Armitage, SAO, Freiburg, RY, Kurtz, J, and Bravo, IG. . “The evolution of Dscam genes across the arthropods.” BMC Evolutionary Biology 12: 53.. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-53.
- Boughton, RK, Joop, G, and Armitage, SAO. . “Outdoor immunology: methodological considerations for ecologists.” Functional Ecology 25 (1): 81–100. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2010.01817.x.
- Armitage, SAO, Broch, JF, Fernández-Marín, H, Nash, DR, and Boomsma, JJ. . “Immune defense in leaf-cutting ants: A cross-fostering approach.” Evolution 65. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01241.x.
- Armitage, SAO, Boomsma, JJ, and Baer, BC. . “Diploid male production in a leaf-cutting ant.” Ecological Entomology 35 (2): 175–182. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2311.2009.01167.x.
- Armitage, SAO, and Boomsma, JJ. . “The effects of age and social interactions on innate immunity in a leaf-cutting ant.” Journal of Insect Physiolog 56 (7): 780–787. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2010.01.009.
- Hughes, DP, Evans, HC, Hywel-Jones, N, Boomsma, JJ, and Armitage, SAO. . “Novel fungal disease in complex leaf-cutting societies.” Ecological Entomology 34 (2): 214–220. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2311.2008.01066.x.
- Cremer, Sylvia, Armitage, Sophie A. O., and Schmid-Hempel, Paul. . “Social immunity.” Current biology 17 (16): R693–R702.. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.06.008.
- Kurtz, J, and Armitage, SAO. . “Alternative adaptive immunity in invertebrates.” Trends in Immunology 27: 493–496. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2006.09.001.
- Baer, B, Armitage, SAO, and Boomsma, JJ. . “Sperm storage induces an immunity cost in ants.” Nature 441 (7095): 872–875. doi: 10.1038/nature04698.
- Rolff, J, Armitage, SAO, and Coltman, DW. . “Genetic constraints and sexual dimorphism in immune defense.” Evolution 59 (8): 1844–1850. doi: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb01831.x.
- Armitage, SAO, and Siva-Jothy, MT. . “Immune function responds to selection for cuticular colour in Tenebrio molitor.” Heredity 94 (6): 650–656. doi: 10.1038/sj.hdy.6800675.
- Armitage, SAO, Thompson, JJW, Rolff, J, and et, al. . “Examining costs of induced and constitutive immune investment in Tenebrio molitor.” Journal of Evolutionary Biology 16 (5): 1038–1044. doi: 10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00551.x.
- Thompson, JJW, Armitage, SAO, and Siva-Jothy, MT. . “Cuticular colour change after imaginal eclosion is time-constrained: blacker beetles darken faster.” Physiological Entomology 27 (2): 136–141. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-3032.2002.00278.x.
Supervised Theses
Supervised Doctoral Studies
- Länger, Zoe Marie: Evolution of epigenetic regulation in Coleoptera
- Supervisors
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Prohanska, Sonja
- Feldmeyer, Barbara
- Prohanska, Sonja
- Reviewers
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Prohanska, Sonja
- Feldmeyer, Barbara
- Prohanska, Sonja
- Bauhus, Marc: Genetic and phenotypic characterization of immunological niche conformance in cavefish
- Supervisors
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Rohner, Nicolas
- Liebau, Eva
- Rohner, Nicolas
- Reviewers
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Rohner, Nicolas
- Yilmaz Terzioglu, Yeliz (): Identification of bacterial traits involved in interference with horizontal gene transfer in Escherichia coli 2025
- Keizers, Marla (): Investigation of the role of pleiotropic regulatory systems on the evolution and adaptation of pathogenic and commensal Escherichia coli variants
- Dumevi, Rexford Mawunyo (): „Identifying Small Regulatory RNAs in Escherichia coli O104:H4 - Transcriptome Profile and Characterization of Pic-associated sRNAs“
- R, Reshma: The role of evolutionary capacitance for adaptability in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum
- Supervisors
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Müller, Caroline
- Gadau, Jürgen
- Müller, Caroline
- Reviewers
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Müller, Caroline
- Gadau, Jürgen
- Müller, Caroline
- Sahin, Özge: A Bulk Segregation Analysis for an HSP90-released reduced eye phenotype in Tribolium castaneum
- Supervisors
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Gadau, Jürgen
- Flatt, Thomas
- Gadau, Jürgen
- Reviewers
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Gadau, Jürgen
- Flatt, Thomas
- Gadau, Jürgen
- Klimek, Hanna (): Molecular interactions of probiotic and extraintestinal Escherichia coli isolates with human intestinal epithelial cells.
- Wami, Haleluya Tesfaye (): Characterization of adoptive strategies of E. coli during long term interaction with human host
- Chitto, Marco (): The genomic stability of the pathogenicity islands of uropathogenic Escherichia coli 536: the role of extrinsic and intrinsic factors
- Zaldastanishvili, Elisabed (): Investigation of interaction and adaptation strategies of Escherichia coli in the urinary bladder
- Supervisors
- Dobrindt, Ulrich
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Prüfer, Dirk
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Kästner, Niklas (): Of anxious males and angry females: how genes related to serotonergic neurotransmission, social experience, and the female reproductive cycle affect anxiety-like and social behaviour in mice
- Supervisors
- Sachser, Norbert
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Kaiser, Sylvia
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Schmidt, Alexander (): Behavioural and physiological trade-off in an invasive freshwater amphipod (Echinogammarus berilloni, CATTA)
- Supervisors
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Meyer, Elisabeth Irmgard
- Fischer, Josephine (): PU.1 dependent epigenetic control of neutrophil activation
- Franke, Frederik (): Parasite-host interaction in a cestode-fish system:
Schistocephalus solidus and its obligatory second intermediate host, the
three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
- Supervisors
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Scharsack, Jörn
- Liebau, Eva
- Scharsack, Jörn
- Karczewski, Karsten (): Impacts of agricultural used substances on the bacterial community structure in groundwater ecosystems
- Schüler, Andreas (): Evolution of Protein Domain Repeats in Metazoa
- Supervisors
- Bornberg-Bauer, Erich
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Peuß, Robert (): The molecular underpinnings of phenotypic plasticity in Tribolium castaneum immune responses
- Supervisors
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Liebau, Eva
- Kutzer, Megan (): Host immune strategies: remembering, resisting and tolerating
- Momir Futo (): The role of microbes as mediators of immune memory in insects
- Supervisors
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Schulenburg, Hinrich
- Lepennetier, Gildas (): Introns features and gene architecture in Eukaryotes.
- Supervisors
- Catania, Francesco
- Schmitz, Jürgen
- de Meaux, Juliette
- Schmitz, Jürgen
- Eggert, Hendrik (): Evolutionary Ecology of Trans-generational immune priming in Tribolium castaneum
- Milutinovic, Barbara (): Coevolution between the red flour beetle and Bacillus
thuringiensis bacteria
- Supervisors
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Bornberg-Bauer, Erich
- Dittmar, Janine (): Reciprocal adaptation of three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and the tapeworm Schistocephalus solidus in different environments
- Supervisors
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Scharsack, Jörn
- Reusch, Thorsten
- Scharsack, Jörn
- Pande, Amit (): Evolutionary Impact of Vertebrate Transposons
- Hiersche, Milan (): Multifaktorielle Assoziationsmuster con SNP/CNV Daten zu kardiovaskulären Phänotypen
- James Peter, Jessin Janice (): Evolution of U12-type intron and its role in gene expression regulation
- Sietmann, Anika (): Comparative genomics and genetic analysis of hypertensive end organ damage
- Supervisors
- Reusch, Thorsten
- Stoll, Monika
- Kurtz, Joachim
- Stoll, Monika
- Hammerschmidt, Katrin (): Host parasite interactions in a cestode with a complex life cycle, Schistocephalus solidus
- Supervisor
- Kurtz, Joachim