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Pierre Raoul de Wit
Senior Lecturer
Department of Biological & Environmental SciencesAbout Pierre Raoul de Wit
I am interested in the study of evolution at all levels, from adaptations to local environments and population genetics to how species form and to try to elucidate the history of life on earth, as well as to make predictions for the future.
I work with genetic methods to study differences in DNA sequences between populations and species of marine organisms. The goal of my current work is to find out how marine animals are affected genetically when they are exposed to environmental changes such as ocean acidification or changes in salinity, which will hopefully allow us to identify genotypes tolerant to the predicted environment. In addition, barriers to gene flow in the marine environment can allow populations to become locally adapted to specific environments, which might give them better chances to tackle climate change. However, lack of connectivity along a species range also causes fragmentation of populations, making them more sensitive to stress. The balance between these two processes has important implications for management of marine species. I therefore use genetic tools to understand where barriers to gene flow are locates, how this translates into genetic patterns and what the implications are for their sensitivity to environmental change.
I am currently a steering committee member for the Linnaeus Centre for Marine Evolutionary Biology, which connects researchers throughout Europe and beyond in research on evolution of marine organisms.
My current research projects include:
- Genetic structure and tolerance to climate change in Scandinavian flat oysters (Ostrea edulis) and the effects of artificial substrates on Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis)
- Evolution within inversions in seaweed flies (Coelopa frigida), aiming at understanding how chromosomal rearrangements evolve.
- Dynamic Management of the invasive Pacific oysters in Scandinavia, aiming to understand the adaptive potential to the low salinity conditions in the Baltic Sea as the oysters spread along the coast.
- I also work in several research projects aiming at improving a sustainable management of the marine environment across borders in the Kattegat and Skagerrak seas, by including data about biodiversity, connectivity and trophic interactions. These include the Nordic Council of Ministers-funded project SAMSKAG, the InterReg-funded BlueBioClimate, and the Horizon Europe-funded project MARHAB.
Previous projects that I have been involved in include studies of biodiversity in the Baltic Sea, effects of ocean acidification on Copepods and Pacific oysters, genetic variation in natural populations of abalone along the California coast, including the effects of algal bloom-induced mass mortality events, and also bioinformatic work, both construction of data analysis pipelines for large data sets, and for data mining of public databases. My PhD thesis dealt with phylogeny reconstruction and cryptic speciation patterns in marine clitellate worms (Annelida). I am also currently involved in several collaborative efforts continuing both of these lines of research.
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Unlocking the secret life of blue mussels: Exploring connectivity in the Skagerrak through biophysical modeling and population
genomics
Malin Gustafsson, Åsa Strand, Ane T. Laugen, Jon Albretsen, Carl André, Göran Broström, Per Erik Jorde, Halvor Knutsen, Olga Ortega-Martínez, Marte Sodeland, Malin Waern, Anna-Lisa Wrange, Pierre De Wit
Evolutionary Applications - 2024 -
Deep-learning-powered data analysis in plankton
ecology
Harshith Bachimanchi, Matthew I. M. Pinder, Chloé Robert, Pierre De Wit, Jonathan N. Havenhand, Alexandra Kinnby, Daniel Midtvedt, Erik Selander, Giovanni Volpe
Limnology And Oceanography Letters - 2024 -
Genome architecture and selective signals compensatorily shape plastic response to a new
environment
Ao Li, Mingjie Zhao, Chaogang Wang, Kexin Zhang, Xu Zhang, Pierre De Wit, Wei Wang, Juntao Gao, Ximing Guo, Guofan Zhang, Li Li
The Innovation - 2023 -
Clones on the run: The genomics of a recently expanded partially clonal
species
Ricardo T. Pereyra, Marina Rafajlović, Pierre De Wit, Matthew I. M. Pinder, Alexandra Kinnby, Mats H. Töpel, Kerstin Johannesson
Molecular Ecology - 2023 -
Genetic changes in larval oysters are more abundant and dynamic than can be explained by rare events or error. A response to Hedgecock
(2022)
Evan Durland, Pierre De Wit, Chris Langdon
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences - 2022 -
Adaptive, maladaptive, neutral, or absent plasticity: Hidden caveats of reaction
norms
Martin Eriksson, Alexandra Kinnby, Pierre De Wit, Marina Rafajlović
Evolutionary Applications - 2022 -
A decade of progress in marine evolutionary
biology
Pierre De Wit, Ellika Faust, Leon Green, Marlene Jahnke, Ricardo T. Pereyra, Marina Rafajlović
Evolutionary Applications - 2022 -
Double-edged sword of desalination: Decreased growth and increased grazing endanger range-margin Fucus
populations
Leona Milec, V. Jormalainen, Luca Rugiu, Ricardo T. Pereyra, E. Rothausler, Jonathan N. Havenhand, Pierre De Wit
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology - 2022 -
Single nucleotide polymorphisms are suitable for assessing the success of restocking efforts of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus,
L.)
Pierre De Wit, Linda Svanberg, Isabel Casties, Susanne P. Eriksson, Kristina Sundell, Carl André
Conservation Genetics Resources - 2022 -
Larval development in the Pacific oyster and the impacts of ocean acidification: Differential genetic effects in wild and domesticated
stocks
Evan Durland, Pierre De Wit, Eli Meyer, Chris Langdon
Evolutionary Applications - 2021 -
Temporally balanced selection during development of larval Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) inherently preserves genetic diversity within
offspring
Evan Durland, Pierre De Wit, Chris Langdon
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences - 2021 -
Climate change driven hyposalinity as a selective agent in the littoral mesoherbivore Idotea
balthica
Luca Rugiu, Pierre De Wit, Iita Kostian, Veijo Jormalainen
Marine Environmental Research - 2021 -
Spatial genetic structure in a crustacean herbivore highlights the need for local considerations in Baltic Sea biodiversity
management
Pierre De Wit, Per R. Jonsson, Ricardo T. Pereyra, Marina Panova, Carl André, Kerstin Johannesson
Evolutionary Applications - 2020 -
Ecological & functional consequences of coastal ocean acidification: perspectives from the Baltic-Skagerrak
system
Jonathan N. Havenhand, Helena L. Filipsson, Susa Niiranen, Max Troell, Anne-Sophie Crépin, Sverker C. Jagers, David Langlet, Simon Matti, David R. Turner, Monica Winder, Pierre De Wit, Leif G Anderson
Ambio - 2019 -
The popular model annelid Enchytraeus albidus is only one species in a complex of seashore White Worms (Clitellata,
Enchytraeidae)
Christer Erséus, Mårten Klinth, Emilia Rota, Pierre De Wit, Daniel Gustafsson, Svante Martinsson
Organisms Diversity & Evolution - 2019 -
Factors affecting formation of adventitious branches in the seaweeds Fucus vesiculosus and F.
radicans
Alexandra Kinnby, Ricardo T. Pereyra, Jonathan N. Havenhand, Pierre De Wit, Per R. Jonsson, Henrik Pavia, Kerstin Johannesson
Bmc Ecology - 2019 -
Established and emerging techniques for characterising the formation, structure and performance of calcified structures under ocean
acidification
Susan Fitzer, Vera Chan, Yuan Meng, Kanmani Chandra Rajan, Michio Suzuki, Christelle Not, Takashi Toyofuku, Laura Falkenberg, Maria Byrne, Ben Harvey, Pierre De Wit, Maggie Cusack, Kun Shan Gao, Paul Taylor, Samuel Dupont, Jason Hall-Spencer, Vengatesen Thiyagarajan
Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review 57 - 2019 -
Gene expression correlated with delay in shell formation in larval Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) exposed to experimental ocean acidification provides insights into shell formation
mechanisms
Pierre De Wit, Evan Durland, Alexander Ventura, Christopher J Langdon
BMC Genomics - 2018 -
Diet-dependent gene expression highlights the importance of Cytochrome P450 in detoxification of algal secondary metabolites in a marine
isopod
Pierre De Wit, Keith Yamada, Marina Panova, Carl André, Kerstin Johannesson
Scientific Reports - 2018 -
Divergence and plasticity shape adaptive potential of the Pacific
oyster
L. Li, A. Li, K. Song, J. Meng, X. M. Guo, S. M. Li, C. Y. Li, Pierre De Wit, H. Y. Que, F. C. Wu, W. Wang, H. G. Qi, F. Xu, R. H. Cong, B. Y. Huang, Y. X. Li, T. Wang, X. Y. Tang, S. Liu, B. S. Li, R. H. Shi, Y. L. Liu, C. Bu, C. Zhang, W. M. He, S. C. Zhao, H. J. Li, S. D. Zhang, L. L. Zhang, G. F. Zhang
Nature Ecology & Evolution - 2018 -
Acquisition of a Novel Sulfur-Oxidizing Symbiont in the Gutless Marine Worm Inanidrilus
exumae
Claudia Bergin, Cecilia Wentrup, Nancy Brewig, Anna Blazejak, Christer Erséus, Olav Giere, Markus Schmid, Pierre De Wit, Nicole Dubilier
Applied and Environmental Microbiology - 2018 -
Micromorphology of ovaries and oogenesis in Grania postclitellochaeta (Clitellata:
Enchytraeidae)
Piotr Świątek, Pierre De Wit, Natalia Jarosz, Łukasz Chajec, Anna Urbisz
Zoology - 2018 -
Regulation of gene expression is associated with tolerance of the Arctic copepod Calanus glacialis to CO2-acidified sea
water
Allison Bailey, Pierre De Wit, Peter Thor, Howard Browman, Reidun Bjelland, Steven Shema, David Fields, Jeffrey Runge, Cameron Thompson, Haakon Hop
Ecology and Evolution - 2017 -
Molecular data reveal a tropical freshwater origin of Naidinae (Annelida, Clitellata,
Naididae)
Christer Erséus, Ida Envall, Pierre De Wit, Lena Gustavsson
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - 2017 -
First reports of Grania (Clitellata: Enchytraeidae) from Africa and South America: molecular phylogeny and descriptions of nine new
species
A. L. Prantoni, Pierre De Wit, Christer Erséus
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society - 2016 -
Selection on oxidative phosphorylation and ribosomal structure as a multigenerational response to ocean acidification in the common copepod Pseudocalanus
acuspes
Pierre De Wit, Samuel Dupont, Peter Thor
Evolutionary Applications - 2016 -
Will Life find a Way? Evolution of Marine Species Under Global
Change
Piero Calosi, Pierre De Wit, Peter Thor, Samuel Dupont
Evolutionary Applications - 2016 -
SNP Discovery Using Next Generation Transcriptomic
Sequencing
Pierre De Wit
Marine Genomics - Methods and Protocols - 2016 -
Closely coupled evolutionary history of ecto- and endosymbionts from two distantly-related animal
phyla
Judith Zimmermann, Cecilia Wentrup, Miriam Sadowski, Anna Blazejak, Harald Gruber-Vodicka, Manuel Kleiner, Jörg Ott, Bodil Cronholm, Pierre De Wit, Christer Erséus, Nicole Dubilier
Molecular Ecology - 2016 -
SNP genotyping and population genomics from expressed sequences –current advances and future
possibilities
Pierre De Wit, Melissa H Pespeni, Stephen R Palumbi
Molecular Ecology - 2015 -
DNA-based phylogeny of the marine genus Heterodrilus (Annelida, Clitellata,
Naididae)
Erica Mejlon, Pierre De Wit, Lisa Matamoros, Christer Erséus
Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research - 2015 -
Forensic genomics as a novel tool for identifying the causes of mass mortality
events
Pierre De Wit, Laura Rogers-Bennett, Raphael M Kudela, Stephen R Palumbi
Nature Communications - 2014 -
Improved software detection and extraction of ITS1 and ITS2 from ribosomal ITS sequences of fungi and other eukaryotes for analysis of environmental sequencing
data
Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Martin Ryberg, Martin Hartmann, Sara Branco, Zheng Wang, Anna Godhe, Pierre De Wit, Marisol Sánchez-García, Ingo Ebersberger, Filipe de Sousa, Anthony S. Amend, Ari Jumpponen, Martin Unterseher, Erik Kristiansson, Kessy Abarenkov, Yann Bertrand, Kemal Sanli, Karl Martin Eriksson, Unni Vik, Vilmar Veldre, R. Henrik Nilsson
Methods in Ecology and Evolution - 2013 -
Transcriptome-wide polymorphisms of red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) reveal patterns of gene flow and local
adaptation
Pierre De Wit, Stephen R. Palumbi
Molecular Ecology - 2013 -
The Simple Fool’s Guide to Population Genomics via RNA-Seq: An introduction to high-throughput sequencing data
analysis.
Pierre De Wit, MS Pespeni, JT Ladner, DJ Barshis, F Seneca, H Jaris, N Therkildssen, M Morikawa, SR Palumbi
Molecular Ecology Resources - 2012 -
Ultrastructure of the body wall of three species of Grania (Annelida: Clitellata:
Enchytraeidae)
Pierre De Wit, Christer Erséus, L.M. Gustavsson
Acta Zoologica - 2011 -
Phylogeny and character evolution in Grania (Annelida,
Clitellata)
Pierre De Wit, Emilia Rota, Christer Erséus
Zoologica Scripta - 2011 -
Intraspecific variation and phylogeny of Scandinavian species of Grania (Annelida: Clitellata: Enchytraeidae), with the discovery of a cryptic
species.
Pierre De Wit, Christer Erséus
Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research - 2010 -
Molecular phylogeny of Enchytraeidae (Annelida,
Clitellata).
Christer Erséus, E. Rota, Lisa Matamoros, Pierre De Wit
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - 2010 -
An open source chimera checker for the fungal ITS
region
R. Henrik Nilsson, Kessy Abarenkov, Vilmar Veldre, Stephan Nylinder, Pierre De Wit, Sara Brosché, Johan F. Alfredsson, Martin Ryberg, Erik Kristiansson
Molecular Ecology Resources - 2010 -
Molecular phylogeny of Nearctic species of Rhynchelmis
(Annelida)
Hong Zhou, Steven V Fend, Daniel L Gustafson, Pierre De Wit, Christer Erséus
Zoologica Scripta - 2010 -
An open source chimera checker for the fungal ITS
region
R. Henrik Nilsson, Vilmar Veldre, Kessy Abarenkov, Stephan Nylinder, Pierre De Wit, Sara Brosché, Johan Alfredsson, Martin Ryberg, Erik Kristiansson
9th International Mycological Congress, Edinburgh, UK - 2010 -
Systematics of Grania (Clitellata: Enchytraeidae), an interstitial annelid
taxon
Pierre De Wit
2010 -
Grania (Annelida: Clitellata: Enchytraeidae) of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, including four new species and a re-description of Grania trichaeta Jamieson,
1977
Pierre De Wit, E. Rota, Christer Erséus
Zootaxa - 2009 -
Molecular evidence indicates that morphological characters are unsuitable to infer phylogeny of
Grania
Pierre De Wit, E. Rota, Christer Erséus
Abstracts, 11th International Symposium on Aquatic Oligochaeta, Alanya, Turkey, 5-12 October 2009 - 2009 -
Genetic Variation in Swedish Marine
Clitellates
Pierre De Wit, Sebastian Kvist
Poster presented at Systematikdagarna 2008, Uppsala, Sweden 24-25 November 2008 - 2008 -
Seven new species of Grania (Annelida: Clitellata: Enchytraeidae) from New Caledonia, South Pacific
Ocean
Pierre De Wit, Christer Erséus
Zootaxa - 2007 -
A preliminary molecular phylogeny of the enchytraeid genus
Grania
Pierre De Wit, Christer Erséus
Poster presented at The 10th International symposium on Aquatic Oligochaeta, Wuhan, China 16-21 October 2006. - 2006 -
A preliminary molecular phylogeny of Grania
(Enchytraeidae)
Pierre De Wit
Poster presented at Systematikdagarna 2006, Göteborg, Sweden 27-28 November 2006 - 2006 -
Grania
maricola
Pierre De Wit
Fauna & Flora - 2006 -
Seven new species of Grania (Annelida: Clitellata: Enchytraeidae) from New Caledonia, South Pacific
Ocean
Pierre De Wit, Christer Erséus
The Marine Biological Association - Third Annual Postgraduate Workshop Dublin, Ireland 3-5 maj - 2006