Dr. Alexandra Weyrich
Scientific Profile
Als Molekularbiologin konzentriere ich mich auf die Wildtier-Epigenetik mit dem Ziel zu verstehen, wie sich Wildtiere auf molekularer Ebene an Umweltveränderungen anpassen können. Epigenetische Veränderungen fungieren als flexible Mechanismen, die die Anpassungsfähigkeit einer Art an Umweltveränderungen erhöhen. Epigenetische Modifikationen regulieren die Genexpression und erhöhen die phänotypische Variabilität. Modifikationen entstehen innerhalb einer Lebensspanne, können an nachfolgende Generationen weitergegeben werden, und sind potentiell wichtig in evolutionären Prozessen. Mein Hauptforschungsinteresse ist es, diese epigenetischen Mechanismen und ihre Funktion für die Anpassungsfähigkeit in Wildarten zu verstehen. Bisher fokussierte ich mich auf DNA-Methylierungsänderungen als Reaktion auf sich ändernde Umweltbedingungen wie Temperatur, Ernährung, Bodenbeschaffenheit, Gefangenschaft, sozialer Status und männliche Fortpflanzungstaktiken bei mehreren Tierarten (einschließlich dem Wildmeerschweinchen, der Tüpfelhyäne, dem Gepard, einer Blindmaus, der Schwarzmund-Grundel, der Fruchtfliege). In meinem aktuellen sDiv-Forschungsprojekt strebe ich ein artübergreifendes Verständnis epigenetischer Muster an. Das Projekt ist in Zusammenarbeit mit Dr. Walter Durka (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung UFZ, Halle, Deutschland), Prof. Christina Richards (Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Deutschland und University of South Florida, Tampa, USA) sowie einem internationalen Netzwerk von Wissenschaftlern auf dem Gebiet der Epigenetik.
Scientific Career
2022 – 2025 | Principle investigator “Interspecies Epigenetics” at German Center of integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Funding DFG |
2018 - 2022 | Principle investigator Leibniz SAW Project “Epigenetic stability and plasticity of social environmental effects”, Dept. of Evolutionary Genetics, Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) |
Since 2018 | Group Leader of the group “Wildlife Epigenetics” at the Dept. of Evolutionary Genetics, Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) |
Since 2015 | Scientist and headofEpigenetic laboratory, Dept. of Evolutionary Genetics, Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Epigenetic effects and gene expression in Wildlife |
2011 - 2014 | Post-doctoralfellow and HeadofEpigenetic laboratory, Dept. of Evolutionary Genetics, Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Funding SAW “Paternal epigenetic effects in Wild guinea pig” |
2010 - 2011 | Guest scientist and Lab assistant, Breeding Biology and Molecular Genetics, Dept. for Crop and Animal Sciences, Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany, Funding: German Science Foundation (DFG) “Glycogen, lactate and candidate gene expression studies of diverse muscles of Mus musculus” |
2007 - 2009 | Post-doctoralfellow, Evolutionary Genetics, Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW); “Immune gene expression in Pallid Atlantic Forest Rat (Delomys sublineatus)” (Funding: BMBF); “Seasonal gene expression changes of the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)” (Funding: DFG) |
2004 – 2007 | Doctor rerum naturalium, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, processed at the Chinese Academy of Biological Sciences, Shanghai, China, Funding: Max Planck Scholarship, Dissertation topic: “DNA methylation and histone modifications in the spermatogenesis of the fruit fly (Drosophila)” |
2002 - 2003 | Diploma, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, processed at the Chinese Academy of Biological Sciences, Shanghai, China, Funding: Max Planck Scholarship, Thesis topic: “Expression of mammalian methylases in the male germ line of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster)” |
1998 - 2003 | Diploma student in Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany |
Publications
Grunau C, Weyrich A (2023) “Explique moi l’épigénétique” Livre, “Epigenetique et Evolution”, Chap. 10, accepted
Weyrich A, Guerrero-Altamirano TP, Yasar S, CzirjákGA, Wachter B, Fickel J, First Steps towards the Development of Epigenetic Biomarkers in Female Cheetahs, Life 2022, 12(6), 920; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12060920.
Westbury MV, Le Duc D, Duchêne DA, Krishnan A, Prost S, Rutschmann S, Grau JH, Dalen L, Weyrich A, Norén K, Werdelin L, Dalerum F, Schöneberg T, Hofreiter M(2021) Ecological specialisation and evolutionary reticulation in extant Hyaenidae, Molecular Biology and Evolution, msab055, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab055
Li K#, Zhang S#, Song X#, Weyrich A#, Wang Y, Liu X, Wan N, lovy M, Cui H, Frenkel V, Titievsky A, Panov J, Brodsky L, Nevo E (2020) Genome evolution of blind subterranean mole rats: Adaptive peripatric versus sympatric speciation, #shared first author, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA Dec 22, 2020 117 (51) 32499-32508, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018123117
Wahedi A, Günther A, Weyrich A, Sondheimer N (2020) The mitochondrial genome of Cavia aperea, Mitochondrial DNA Part B: Resources, 5:3, 2147-2148, DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2020.1768918
Weyrich A, Yasar S, Lenz D and Fickel J (2020) Tissue-specific epigenetic inheritance after paternal heat exposure in male Wild guinea pigs, invited to special issue in Mammalian Genome, Springer, https://rdcu.be/b3ytT
Guerrero TP, Fickel J, Benhaiem S, Weyrich A (2020) Epigenomics and gene regulation in mammalian social systems. Invited to special issue on “Social behavior and evolution in the omics era” in Current Zoology,https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoaa005
Al Klifeh E, Balard A, Jarquín-Diaz VH, Weyrich A, Wibbelt G, Heitlinger E (2019) Eimeria falciformis BayerHaberkorn1970 and novel wild derived isolates from house mice: differences in parasite lifecycle, pathogenicity and host immune reactions, BioRxiv, Preprint
Somerville V, Schwaiger M, Hirsch PE, Walser JC, Bussmann K, Weyrich A, Burkhardt-Holm P & Adrian-Kalchhauser I (2019) DNA methylation patterns in the round goby hypothalamus support an on-the-spot decision scenario for territorial behavior. Invited to special issue on “Epigenetics and Adaptation” in Genes 10(3), 219
Weyrich A, Lenz D and Fickel J (2019) Environmental change-dependent transgenerational epigenetic response. Invited to special issue on “Epigenetics and Adaptation” in Genes10(1), 4, doi: 10.3390/genes10010004
Weyrich A, Jeschek M, Schrapers KT, Lenz D, Chung TH, Rübensam K, Yasar S, Schneemann M, Ortmann S, Jewgenow K & Fickel J (2018) Diet changes alter paternally inherited epigenetic pattern in male wild guinea pigs. Invited to Environmental epigenetics, 4(2), dvy011
Weyrich A, Benz S, Karl S, Jeschek M, Jewgenow K, Fickel J (2016) Paternal heat exposure causes DNA methylation and gene expression changes of Stat3 in wild guinea pig sons. Ecology and Evolution, doi: 10.1002/ece3.1993
Weyrich A, Lenz D, Jeschek M, Chung TH, Rübensam K, Göritz K, Jewgenow, K, Fickel J (2016) Paternal intergenerational epigenetic response to heat exposure in male wild guinea. Invited to special issue on “Epigenetic Studies in Ecology and Evolution” in Molecular Ecology, doi: 10.1111/mec.13494
Weyrich A, Schüllermann T, Heeger F, Jeschek M, Mazzoni CJ, Chen W, Schumann K, Fickel J (2014) Whole genome sequencing and methylome analysis of the wild guinea pig, BMC Genomics 15:1036, doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-1036
Hennig W and Weyrich A (2013) Histone Modifications in the Male Germ Line of Drosophila; BMC Developmental Biology 13:7, doi: 10.1186/1471-213X-13-7
Kärst S, Strucken EM, Schmitt AO, Weyrich A, de Villena FPM, Hyuna Yang, Brockmann GA (2013) Effect of the myostatin locus on muscle mass and intramuscular fat content in a cross between mouse lines selected for hypermuscularity, BMC Genomics 16;14(1):16, doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-14-16
Weyrich A, Preparation of Genomic DNA from Mammalian Sperm. Curr Protoc Mol Biol. 2012; 2:2.13.1-3. doi: 10.1002/0471142727.mb0213s98
Fickel J and Weyrich A (2010) Female mate choice in rodents, in: Kaoru Hashimoto, From gene to animal behaviour, Springer-Verlag (Japan) 4(19), ISBN 978-4-431-53892-9
Weyrich A, Axtner J, Sommer S (2010) Selection and validation of reference genes for real-time RT-PCR studies in the non-model species Delomys sublineatus, a Brazilian rodent. Biochemistry and Biophysical Research Communications 392:145-149, doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2009.12.173
Weyrich A, Mahr JA, Jauernig O, Göritz F, Fritzenkötter A, Blottner S, Fickel J (2010), Seasonal changes of gene expression in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) testis measured by expression microarray analysis, Trends in Animal & Veterinary Sciences Journal 1(2):49-64
Weyrich A, Tang X, Xu G, Schrattenholz A, Hunzinger C, Hennig W (2008) Mammalian DNMTs in the male germ line DNA of Drosophila. Biochemistry and Cell Biology 86(5):380-5, doi: 10.1139/o08-096
Puschstraße 4
04103 Leipzig
A.01.14
Leibniz Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung, Berlin, https://www.izw-berlin.de/de/alexandra-weyrich-de.html
