Institute of Evolution

The Institute of Evolution (IoE) 

Established in the University of Haifa at 1977 by prof. Eviatar Nevo, includes 12 faculty members (members of the Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology) and more than 20 affiliated scientists with PhD degrees.

The Institute of Evolution (IOE) at the University of Haifa is unique in its broad and interdisciplinary research with particular expertise in population and evolutionary genetics, developmental evolution, behavioral evolution, bioinformatics and ecology. The IOE is situated on Mount Carmel at the heart of the Carmel national park, next to one of most beautiful cities around the Mediterranean, we are in prefect location to study biodiversity and evolution.  We are abundant with in house and outdoor facilities providing for modern, cutting edge science. Together with the Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology  based in our campus, we are a center of excellence in the field of ecology and evolution in the north of Israel.

Institute News

Congratulations to Hanchao Wang & Tzion Fahima for publishing their work in the journal Nature Communications. The paper's title is "Dosage differences in 12-OXOPHYTODIENOATE REDUCTASE genes modulate wheat root growth" and the work involves teams from both University of Haifa and UC Davis


Congratulation to Lujain Shawasha - M.Sc. student of Imad Shamas who won the 2nd prize of the best poster contest for her poster "Cellular Senescence and Inflammatory Response in Long-Lived Fruit Bats Cultured Cells" at the annual conference of the Zoological Society of Israel 

בנק הגנים .12023_1_ENGsubs (1).mp4

Catсhing Blind Mole Rats by Dr. Imad Shams in the Upper Galilee

Imad Video.mp4

Credit: Dr. Grace Smarsh

Scientific Seminars 

The presented lectures deal mainly with the hot topics in evolutionary biology, molecular genetics, genomics, and ecology. The seminars are delivered by expert lecturers and distinguished visitors in a relaxed environment

At this point, the seminars will be held on Mondays at 12:00 pm 

    Next seminar:

        

      27.03.2023, Safdie Auditorium floor -1, Multi-Purpose Building 

                                                  (will be held at 10 am)  

   


Prof. Yuval Gottlieb-Dror

The Hebrew University Of Jerusalem 


From mutualism to parasitism: Holosymbiosis in ticks

Abstract:

A blood-only diet poses significant challenges both behaviorally and metabolically. Ticks, which feed on the blood of vertebrates, depend on bacterial symbionts that allow them to cope with these challenges. The brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, carries the symbiont Coxiella which is found in the Malpighian tubules and ovaries, and is maternally transmitted. Genomic evidence shows that the bacterium is able to synthesize a number of pathways for the production of B vitamins which are deficient from the blood meal, as well as other metabolites that may contribute to energy balance and feeding behavior. Using computational methods, proteomics and metabolite analyzes, as well as controlled experiments we study the mutualistic interactions between the tick and its symbiont that contribute to the evolution of parasitism