Research Foci
- Evolutionary Physiology
- Eco-Immunology
Doctoral AbstractThesis
The molecular underpinnings of phenotypic plasticity in Tribolium castaneum immune responses
- Supervisors
- Doctoral Subject
- Biologie
- Doctoral Degree
- Dr. rer. nat.
- Awarded by
- Department 13 – Biology
CV
Academic Education
Positions
Projects
In Process
- CRC 1748: Principles of Reproduction – Unravelling the Molecular Mechanisms of Male Infertility ()
Main DFG-Project Hosted at the University of Münster: DFG - Sonderforschungsbereich | Project Number: SFB 1748/1 - CRC 1748 - B05: The role of the MHC for fertilisation and infertility from a fish perspective ()
Subproject in DFG-Joint Project Hosted at the University of Münster: DFG - Sonderforschungsbereich | Project Number: SFB 1748/1, B05 - SPP 2349: Die genomischen Grundlagen evolutionärer Innovationen – GEvol ()
Main DFG-Project Hosted at the University of Münster: DFG - Schwerpunktprogramm - SPP 2349 - Teilprojekt: GEvol-Defense - Evolution of novel cellular defences via horizontal gene transfer in leaf beetles ()
Subproject in DFG-Joint Project Hosted at the University of Münster: DFG - Schwerpunktprogramm | Project Number: PE 2807/5-1 - The influence of parasite diversity on the evolution and function of the immune system of the Mexcian Cavefish, Astyanax mexicanus ()
Own Resources Project
Finished
- CRC TRR 212 - B06: Genetic and phenotypic characterisation of immunological niche conformance in cavefish ()
Subproject in DFG-Joint Project Hosted outside the University of Münster: DFG - Sonderforschungsbereich | Project Number: TRR 212/2 B06 - Reproduction – from Genes to Molecules and Function ()
Internally at the University of Münster Funded Project: Universität Münster-interne Förderung - Topical Programmes - SPP 1399 - Work package: Coevulution between Tribolium castaneum and Bacillus thuringiensis: On the evolutionary significance of genetic specificity and specific immunity. ()
Subproject in DFG-Joint Project Hosted at the University of Münster: DFG - Schwerpunktprogramm | Project Number: KU 1929/4-1:1
Publications
- Krüger, O, Anaya-Rojas, J, Back, M, Caspers, B, Chakarov, N, Dammhahn, M, Elliott-Graves, A, Fricke, C, Gadau, J, Hoffman, JI, Kaiser, MI, Kaiser, S, Korsten, P, Krohs, U, Kurtz, J, Langrock, R, Müller, C, Peuß, R, Reinhold, K, Richter, H, Sachser, N, Schielzeth, H, Schmoll, T, Stanewsky, R, Szekely, T, Weissing, FJ, Wittmann, M, and Xu, S. . “Individualised niches: an integrative conceptual framework across behaviour, ecology, and evolution.” Preprint. Biological reviews. doi: 10.1002/brv.70147.
- Bauhus, Marc B., Wander, Luise, Boy, David, Santacruz, Ana, Maldonado, Ernesto, Kurtz, Joachim, Kaiser, Sylvia, and Peuß, Robert. . “Environmental dynamics influence scale cortisol levels in Mexican cavefish.” Preprint. bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2025.03.09.642216.
- Kurtz, Joachim, Andino, Raul, Boraschi, Diana, Contreras-Garduño, Jorge, Kachroo, Aardra, Khan, Imroze, Lanz Mendoza, Humberto, Mukherjee, Krishnendu, Peuß, Robert, and Ton, Jurriaan. . “Trained immunity and immune priming in plants and invertebrates.” eLife 14. doi: 10.7554/eLife.106597.
- Sayed, R, Şahin, Ö, Errbii, M, R, R, Peuß, R, Prüser, T, Schrader, L, Schulz, NKE, and Kurtz, J. . “HSP90 as an evolutionary capacitor drives adaptive eye size reduction via atonal.” Nature Communications 16 (1): 9277–9277. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-65027-0.
- Kaiser, Charlotte Sophia, Lubisch, Milena, Schröder, Emma, Ressmann, Luka, Nicolaus, Maria, Leusder, Dustin, Moyzio, Sven, Peuss, Robert, Miranda-Vizute, Antonio, and Liebau, Eva. . “Unraveling the functional dynamics of Caenorhabditis elegans stress-responsive omega class GST-44.” The FEBS Journal 2025. doi: 10.1111/febs.70088.
- Rapp, Tim Maximilian, Lautwein, Tobias, Peuß, Robert, Kurtz, Joachim, Krüger, Oliver, and Chakarov, Nayden. . “Host-parasite interactions of an avian blood parasite elucidated by single-cell transcriptomics.” Preprint. bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2025.03.14.643032.
- Baur, Moritz, Schulz, Nora KE, Greune, Lilo, Länger, Zoe M, Eirich, Jürgen, Finkemeier, Iris, Peuss, Robert, Dersch, Petra, and Kurtz, Joachim. . “Immune priming in the insect gut: a dynamic response revealed by ultrastructural and transcriptomic changes.” BMC Biology 23. doi: 10.1186/s12915-025-02334-4.
- Bauhus, Marc B., Mews, Sina, Kurtz, Joachim, Brinker, Alexander, Peuß, Robert, and Anaya-Rojas, Jaime M. . “Tapeworm infection affects sleep-like behaviour in three-spined sticklebacks.” Scientific Reports 14 23395. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-73992-7.
- Riddle, Misty R, Nguyen, Nguyen K, Nave, Maeve, Peuß, Robert, Maldonado, Ernesto, Rohner, Nicolas, and Tabin, Clifford J. . “Host evolution shapes gut microbiome composition in Astyanax mexicanus.” Ecology and Evolution 14 (4). doi: 10.1002/ece3.11192.
- Olsen, Luke, Levy, Michaella, Medley, Kyle J, Hassan, Huzaifa, Miller, Brandon, Alexander, Richard, Wilcock, Emma, Yi, Kexi, Florens, Laurence, Weaver, Kyle, McKinney, Sean A, Peuß, Robert, Persons, Jenna, Kenzior, Alexander, Maldonado, Ernesto, Delventhal, Kym, Gluesenkamp, Andrew, Mager, Edward, Coughlin, David, and Rohner, Nicolas. . “Metabolic reprogramming underlies cavefish muscular endurance despite loss of muscle mass and contractility.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 120 (5). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2204427120.
- Schulz, Nora K. E., Mohamed, Fakry F., Lo, KaLai, Peuß, Robert, de Buhr, Maike F., and Kurtz, Joachim. . “Paternal knockdown of tRNA (cytosine‐5‐)‐methyltransferase (Dnmt2) increases offspring susceptibility to infection in red flour beetles.” Insect Molecular Biology 31 (6): 711–721. doi: 10.1111/imb.12798.
- Krishnan, Jaya, Wang, Yan, Kenzior, Olga, Hassan, Huzaifa, Olsen, Luke, Tsuchiya, Dai, Kenzior, Alexander, Peuß, Robert, Xiong, Shaolei, Wang, Yongfu, Zhao, Chongbei, and Rohner, Nicolas. . “Liver-derived cell lines from cavefish Astyanax mexicanus as an in vitro model for studying metabolic adaptation.” Scientific Reports 12 (10115). doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14507-0.
- Medley, Kyle J, Persons, Jenna, Biswas, Tathagata, Olsen, Luke, Peuß, Robert, Krishnan, Jaya, Xiong, Shaolei, and Rohner, Nicolas. . “The metabolome of Mexican cavefish shows a convergent signature highlighting sugar, antioxidant, and Ageing-Related metabolites.” eLife 11 (e74539). doi: 10.7554/eLife.74539.
- Krishnan, Jaya, Seidel, Chris W., Zhang, Ning, Singh, Narendra P., VanCampen, Jake, Peuß, Robert, Xiong, Shaolei, Kenzior, Alexander, Li, Hua, Conaway, Joan W., and Rohner, Nicolas. . “Genome-wide analysis of cis-regulatory changes underlying metabolic adaptation of cavefish.” Nature Genetics 54: 684–693. doi: 10.1038/s41588-022-01049-4.
- Xiong, S, Wang, W, Kenzior, A, Olsen, L, Krishnan, J, Persons, J, Medley, K, Peuß, R, Wang, Y, Chen, S, Zhang, N, Thomas, N, Miles, JM, Alvarado, AS, and Rohner, N. . “Enhanced lipogenesis through Pparγ helps cavefish adapt to food scarcity.” Current biology. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.038.
- Accorsi, A, Box, AC, Peuß, R, Wood, C, Sánchez, Alvarado A, and Rohner, N. . “Image3C, a multimodal image-based and label-independent integrative method for single-cell analysis.” eLife 10: e65372C1 - eLife 2021;10:e65372DO - 10.7554/eLife.65372. doi: 10.7554/eLife.65372.
- Warren, WC, Boggs, TE, Borowsky, R, Carlson, BM, Ferrufino, E, Gross, JB, Hillier, L, Hu, Z, Keene, AC, Kenzior, A, Kowalko, JE, Tomlinson, C, Kremitzki, M, Lemieux, ME, Graves-Lindsay, T, McGaugh, SE, Miller, JT, Mommersteeg, MTM, Moran, RL, Peuß, R, Rice, ES, Riddle, MR, Sifuentes-Romero, I, Stanhope, BA, Tabin, CJ, Thakur, S, Yamamoto, Y, and Rohner, N. . “A chromosome-level genome of Astyanax mexicanus surface fish for comparing population-specific genetic differences contributing to trait evolution.” Nature Communications 12 (1): 1447. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21733-zDO-10.1038/s41467-021-21733-z.
- Peuß, R, Box, AC, Chen, S, Wang, Y, Tsuchiya, D, Persons, JL, Kenzior, A, Maldonado, E, Krishnan, J, Scharsack, JP, Slaughter, BD, and Rohner, N. . “Adaptation to low parasite abundance affects immune investment and immunopathological responses of cavefish.” Nature Ecology and Evolution 2020. doi: 10.1038/s41559-020-1234-2.
- Krishnan, J, Persons, JL, Peuß, R, Hassan, H, Kenzior, A, Xiong, S, Olsen, L, Maldonado, E, Kowalko, JE, and Rohner, N. . “Comparative transcriptome analysis of wild and lab populations of Astyanax mexicanus uncovers differential effects of environment and morphotype on gene expression.” Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 1-10. doi: 10.1002/jez.b.22933.
- Ferro, K, Peuß, R, Yang, W, Rosenstiel, P, Schulenburg, H, and Kurtz, J. . “Experimental evolution of immunological specificity.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1904828116.
- Loomis, C, Peuß, R, Jaggard, JB, Wang, Y, McKinney, SA, Raftopoulos, SC, Raftopoulos, A, Whu, D, Green, M, McGaugh, SE, Rohner, N, Keene, AC, and Duboue, ER. . “An Adult Brain Atlas Reveals Broad Neuroanatomical Changes in Independently Evolved Populations of Mexican Cavefish.” Frontiers in Neuroanatomy 13: 88. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2019.00088.
- Peuß, R, Zakibe, Z, Krishnan, J, Merryman, MS, Baumann, DP, and Rohner, N. . “Gamete Collection and In Vitro Fertilization of Astyanax mexicanus.” Journal of Visualized Experiments 2019 (147): e59334..
- Stahl, BA, Peuß, R, McDole, B, Kenzior, A, Jaggard, JB, Gaudenz, K, Krishnan, J, McGaugh, SE, Duboue, ER, and Keene, AC. . “Stable transgenesis in Astyanax mexicanus using the Tol2 transposase system.” Developmental Dynamics 248 (8): 679–687. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.32.
- Xiong, S, Krishnan, J, Peuß, R, and Rohner, N. . “Early adipogenesis contributes to excess fat accumulation in cave populations of Astyanax mexicanus.” Developmental Biology 441 (2): 297–304. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2018.06.003.
- Riddle, MR, Aspiras, AC, Gaudenz, K, Peuß, R, Sung, JY, Martineau, B, Peavey, M, Box, AC, Tabin, JA, and McGaugh, S. . “Insulin resistance in cavefish as an adaptation to a nutrient-limited environment.” Nature 555 (7698): 647–651. doi: 10.1038/nature26136.
- Greenwood, JM, Milutinović, B, Peuß, R, Behrens, S, Esser, D, Rosenstiel, P, Schulenburg, H, and Kurtz, J. . “Oral immune priming with Bacillus thuringiensis induces a shift in the gene expression of Tribolium castaneum larvae.” BMC Genomics 18 (1): 329.
- Milutinovic, B, Peuß, R, Ferro, K, and Kurtz, J. . “Immune priming in arthropods: an update focusing on the red flour beetle.” Zoology 119. doi: 10.1016/j.zool.2016.03.006.
- 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.
- Behrens, S, Peuß, R, Milutinović, B, Eggert, H, Esser, D, Rosenstiel, P, Schulenburg, H, Bornberg-Bauer, E, and Kurtz, J. . “Infection routes matter in population-specific responses of the red flour beetle to the entomopathogen Bacillus thuringiensis.” BMC Genomics 16 (1): 445.
- 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.