Dr Vicencio Oostra
Future Leaders Fellow & Senior Lecturer
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London
Research
tropical butterflies, evolutionary adaptation, phenotypic plasticity, gene regulation, population and comparative genomics, biodiversity
Interests
The research in our lab aims to understand how the processes of phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary adaptation interact, and how these interactions drive species and ecosystem resilience to anthropogenic change. We use tropical butterflies, study them in the field and lab, and integrate approaches from development, genomics, evolutionary biology and ecology.Publications
Publications of specific relevance to the Centre for Biodiversity and Sustainability2024
Larval growth rate is not a major determinant of adult wing shape and eyespot size in the seasonally polyphenic butterfly Melanitis leda.Molleman F, Moore ME, Halali S, Kodandaramaiah U, Halali D, van Bergen E, Brakefield PM and Oostra V
Peerj, Peerj vol. 12
16-10-2024
2023
Does the definition of a novel environment affect the ability to detect cryptic genetic variation?Riley CL, Oostra V and Plaistow SJ
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Oxford University Press (Oup) vol. 36 (11), 1618-1629.
01-11-2023
Digest: Habitat seasonality drives evolutionary change in plasticity in Bicyclus butterfliesvan Bergen E and Oostra V
Evolution, Oxford University Press (Oup) vol. 77 (8), 1910-1911.
10-06-2023
2022
Alternative splicing in seasonal plasticity and the potential for adaptation to environmental changeSteward RA, de Jong MA, Oostra V and Wheat CW
Nature Communications, Springer Nature vol. 13 (1)
08-02-2022
Improved chromosome-level genome assembly of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) integrating Pacific Biosciences long reads and a high-density linkage mapSmolander O-P, Blande D, Ahola V, Rastas P, Tanskanen J, Kammonen JI, Oostra V, Pellegrini L, Ikonen S, Dallas T, DiLeo MF, Duplouy A, Duru IC, Halimaa P, Kahilainen A, Kuwar SS, Kärenlampi SO, Lafuente E, Luo S, Makkonen J, et al.
Gigascience, Oxford University Press (Oup) vol. 11 (1)
12-01-2022
2021
Alternative developmental and transcriptomic responses to host plant water limitation in a butterfly metapopulationKahilainen A, Oostra V, Somervuo P, Minard G and Saastamoinen M
Molecular Ecology, Wiley vol. 31 (22), 5666-5683.
27-09-2021
2019
On the power to detect rare recombination eventsWright AE, Darolti I, Bloch NI, Oostra V, Sandkam BA, Buechel SD, Kolm N, Breden F, Vicoso B and Mank JE
Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America, Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences vol. 116 (26), 12607-12608.
18-06-2019
Effects of adult temperature on gene expression in a butterfly: identifying pathways associated with thermal acclimationFranke K, Karl I, Centeno TP, Feldmeyer B, Lassek C, Oostra V, Riedel K, Stanke M, Wheat CW and Fischer K
Bmc Ecology and Evolution, Springer Nature vol. 19 (1)
23-01-2019
Research priorities for maintaining biodiversity’s contributions to people in Latin AmericaPearson RG, Martínez-Meyer E, Velázquez MA, Caron M, Corona-Núñez RO, Davis K, Durán AP, García-Morales R, Hackett TD, Ingram DJ, Díaz RL, Lescano J, Lira-Noriega A, López-Maldonado Y, Manuschevich D, Mendoza A, Milligan B, Mills SC, Moreira-Arce D, Nava LF, et al.
, Ucl Press vol. 1
01-01-2019
2018
Regulatory and sequence evolution in response to selection for improved associative learning ability in Nasonia vitripennisKraaijeveld K, Oostra V, Liefting M, Wertheim B, de Meijer E and Ellers J
Bmc Genomics, Springer Nature vol. 19 (1)
01-12-2018
Strong phenotypic plasticity limits potential for evolutionary responses to climate changeOostra V, Saastamoinen M, Zwaan BJ and Wheat CW
Nature Communications, Springer Nature vol. 9 (1)
08-03-2018
2017
A high-coverage draft genome of the mycalesine butterfly Bicyclus anynanaNowell RW, Elsworth B, Oostra V, Zwaan BJ, Wheat CW, Saastamoinen M, Saccheri IJ, Hof AEV, Wasik BR, Connahs H, Aslam ML, Kumar S, Challis RJ, Monteiro A, Brakefield PM and Blaxter M
Gigascience, Oxford University Press (Oup) vol. 6 (7)
09-05-2017
Convergent recombination suppression suggests role of sexual selection in guppy sex chromosome formationWright AE, Darolti I, Bloch NI, Oostra V, Sandkam B, Buechel SD, Kolm N, Breden F, Vicoso B and Mank JE
Nature Communications, Springer Nature vol. 8 (1)
31-01-2017
2016
The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project.Hudson LN, Newbold T, Contu S, Hill SLL, Lysenko I, De Palma A, Phillips HRP, Alhusseini TI, Bedford FE, Bennett DJ, Booth H, Burton VJ, Chng CWT, Choimes A, Correia DLP, Day J, Echeverría-Londoño S, Emerson SR, Gao D, Garon M, et al.
Ecol Evol vol. 7 (1), 145-188.
16-12-2016
2014
Adaptive developmental plasticity: Compartmentalized responses to environmental cues and to corresponding internal signals provide phenotypic flexibilityMateus ARA, Marques-Pita M, Oostra V, Lafuente E, Brakefield PM, Zwaan BJ and Beldade P
Bmc Biology, Springer Nature vol. 12 (1)
21-11-2014
Ecdysteroid Hormones Link the Juvenile Environment to Alternative Adult Life Histories in a Seasonal InsectOostra V, Mateus ARA, van der Burg KRL, Piessens T, van Eijk M, Brakefield PM, Beldade P and Zwaan BJ
The American Naturalist, University of Chicago Press vol. 184 (3), e79-e92.
31-07-2014
On the fate of seasonally plastic traits in a rainforest butterfly under relaxed selectionOostra V, Brakefield PM, Hiltemann Y, Zwaan BJ and Brattström O
Ecology and Evolution, Wiley vol. 4 (13), 2654-2667.
04-06-2014
2010
RNA interference in Lepidoptera: An overview of successful and unsuccessful studies and implications for experimental designTerenius O, Papanicolaou A, Garbutt JS, Eleftherianos I, Huvenne H, Kanginakudru S, Albrechtsen M, An C, Aymeric J-L, Barthel A, Bebas P, Bitra K, Bravo A, Chevalier F, Collinge DP, Crava CM, de Maagd RA, Duvic B, Erlandson M, Faye I, et al.
Journal of Insect Physiology, Elsevier vol. 57 (2), 231-245.
20-11-2010
Translating environmental gradients into discontinuous reaction norms via hormone signalling in a polyphenic butterflyOostra V, de Jong MA, Invergo BM, Kesbeke F, Wende F, Brakefield PM and Zwaan BJ
Proceedings of The Royal Society B, The Royal Society vol. 278 (1706), 789-797.
08-09-2010
Grants
Future Leadership Fellowship: Testing how developmental pathways can predict evolutionary adaptation to climate change-GRANT TRANSFERVicencio Oostra
£1,404,707 MRC Medical Research Council
31-05-2022 - 31-12-2026