Monica M. Sheffer

Visiting Scholar 

Email | msheffer@berkeley.edu
Web | https://zoologie.uni-greifswald.de/en/organization/departments/general-and-systematic-zoology/staff/monica-m-sheffer/
Research area | Molecular Biology / Genomics / Environmental Physiology / Adaptation

Research Interests

I am interested in using and developing molecular techniques to answer questions about animals’ ecology, especially – but not exclusively – in the context of global climate change and adaptation to extreme and changing conditions. My current project integrates genomics, metabolomics, physiology and microbiology to investigate the success of the European wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi, in rapidly colonizing new habitats in northern Europe.

To learn more about my current project, please visit our website!

My prior work as an undergraduate researcher in the UC Berkeley EvoLab made use of Next Generation Sequencing paired with field observations to describe and quantify the dynamics of dietary and spatial niche partitioning in three web-sharing Hawaiian spider genera: Orsonwelles, Argyrodes, and Ariamnes.

Current Projects:

– Microbiome of Argiope bruennichi
– Population genomics and the role of introgression in local adaptation
– Physiological limits, energy use, and cold tolerance strategy of Argiope bruennichi

Publications

Sheffer, M.M.; Uhl, G.; Prost, S.; Lueders, T.; Urich, T.; Bengtsson, M.M. 2020. Tissue- and population-level microbiome analysis of the wasp spider Argiope bruennichi identified a novel dominant bacterial symbiont. Microorganisms 8: 8. DOI: doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8010008. PDF

Sheffer, M.M.; Hoppe, A.; Krehenwinkel, H.; Uhl, G.; Kuss, A.W.; Jensen, L.; Jensen, C.; Gillespie, R.G.; Hoff, K.* & Prost, S.* 2020. Chromosome-level reference genome of the European wasp spider Argiope bruennichi: a resource for studies on range expansion and evolutionary adaptation. bioRxiv. DOI: doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.21.103564

*indicates shared last authorship