Piotr Łukasik

Global homeostatic forces shape the composition of a hyperdiverse tropical insect fauna

The paper estimates Madagascar's insect fauna contains at least 250,000 species, most unrecorded, and finds global homeostatic forces, not lineage composition, shape its ecological similarity to temperate forests.

Biotic and abiotic drivers of ecosystem functioning differ between a temperate and a tropical region

This study compares biotic and abiotic drivers of ecosystem functioning in temperate and tropical regions, finding differing patterns and drivers between the two zones.

Selection for high metabolic rate reduces gut microbiota responsiveness to dietary restriction in bank voles

This study shows that bank voles with high metabolic rates have gut microbiota less responsive to dietary restriction compared to control lines.

Accuracy of occurrence and abundance estimates from insect metabarcoding

This study evaluates how lysis methods, spike-ins, and sample processing affect the accuracy of insect metabarcoding for species occurrence and abundance.

Insect COI barcoding data as an untapped resource for surveying Wolbachia symbioses

This study shows that insect COI barcoding data can reliably detect Wolbachia presence, provide phylogenetic insights, and guide metagenomic sampling.

Whole forest in a pouch? Methods converge in uncovering wood ants fungal and bacterial microbiota

The paper characterizes fungal and bacterial communities in the infrabuccal pockets of Formica polyctena ants using multiple methods, finding diverse fungal genera and stable bacterial communities.

Contrasting genomic trajectories of Bartonellaceae symbionts of planthoppers

This paper identifies Bartonellaceae bacteria in planthoppers, showing diverse genomic sizes and functions, including one ultra-reduced genome lacking amino acid biosynthesis.

HAPP: High-Accuracy Pipeline for Processing deep metabarcoding data

HAPP improves deep metabarcoding data processing by enhancing signal-to-noise ratio through four steps, showing significant performance improvements over existing methods.

Symbiotic solutions for colony nutrition: conserved nitrogen recycling within the bacterial pouch of Tetraponera ants

This study examines nitrogen recycling in Tetraponera ants via their bacterial pouch symbionts, showing that symbiont-assimilated nitrogen supports colony fitness and larval growth.

Dissecting multitrophic interactions: the relationships among Entomophthora, their dipteran hosts, and associated bacteria

The paper uses multi-target amplicon sequencing to study interactions between Entomophthora fungi, their dipteran hosts, and associated bacteria in South Greenland, revealing host-specificity patterns and bacterial community differences.

What lurks in the dark? - An innovative framework for studying diverse wild insect microbiota

This study uses a novel multi-target amplicon sequencing approach to analyze microbiota in wild scuttle flies, revealing significant variation in bacterial abundance and composition across host species and genotypes.

Data of the Insect Biome Atlas: a metabarcoding survey of the terrestrial arthropods of Sweden and Madagascar

The paper presents comprehensive DNA metabarcoding data from Sweden and Madagascar, characterizing terrestrial arthropod faunas and providing insights into community composition and dynamics.

The tiniest genomes shrink much further: extreme reductive evolution in planthopper symbionts

The paper presents the smallest bacterial genomes known and evaluates patterns of reductive evolution in planthopper symbionts.

High-throughput biodiversity surveying sheds new light on the brightest of insect taxa

One year of COI metabarcoding of 197 Malaise traps across Sweden detected 1,535 of 2,990 known Lepidoptera species, plus specimen-validated new country records, range extensions and putative undescribed species.

Phylogenomics resolves the relationship and the evolutionary history of planthoppers (Insecta: Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha)

This study uses genome-level data to resolve the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of planthoppers, identifying new taxonomic placements and dating the origin of the group to the Permian period.

Implementing high-throughput insect barcoding in microbiome studies: impact of non-destructive DNA extraction on microbiome reconstruction

This study evaluates the impact of non-destructive DNA extraction using HotSHOT on microbiome reconstruction in insect specimens, finding it suitable for community composition but less reliable for abundance estimates.

Cold and lonely: low microbial abundance and no core microbiota in mosquito populations across Greenland

The paper analyzes microbial communities in Greenland mosquitoes, finding low abundance and no core microbiota, with high diversity and sex-specific associations.

A new tool in a toolbox: Addressing challenges in high-throughput microbiota surveys across diverse wild insects

The paper introduces a high-throughput quantitative multi-target amplicon sequencing workflow to improve microbial community profiling in wild insects, addressing contamination and identification issues.

Genome comparison reveals inversions and alternative evolutionary history of nutritional endosymbionts in planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha)

The paper sequenced and analyzed the genomes of two endosymbiotic bacteria in planthoppers, revealing independent evolutionary origins and genomic rearrangements that challenge previous assumptions about their shared ancestry.