Romain Libbrecht

Identifiants chercheurs

IdHAL :

romain-libbrecht

ORCID :

0000-0003-4397-000X

Présentation

Research interests

A key challenge in the life sciences is to understand how organisms adjust their reproduction, physiology and behavior in response to environmental conditions. This ability to produce several phenotypes from a single genotype, called phenotypic plasticity, is central to the functioning and evolution of social insects, such as ants, termites, social bees and wasps. Their societies show a division of labor between queens that monopolize egg production and workers that specialize in performing all the other tasks necessary to maintain the colony. In my work, I study multiple aspects of division of labor and phenotypic specialization in different species of ants. My research combines tools from the fields of evolutionay biology, behavioral ecology, molecular biology and epigenetics to study the factors and mechanisms that control, initiate and maintain division of labor in insect societies.

Research experience

2023-present CNRS researcher (Chargé de Recherche), IRBI UMR7261 CNRS – University of Tours, France

2016-2023 Assistant professor, IOME, University of Mainz, Germany

2015-2016 Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow - return phase, DEE, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

2013-2015 Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow - outgoing phase, The Rockefeller University, New York City, USA

2007-2012 PhD student, DEE, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Academic diplomas

2025 - HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches) in life sciences - University of Tours, France

2012 - PhD in life sciences - University of Lausanne, Switzerland

2007 - MSc degree in Ecology, Ethology, Evolution - University of Rennes, France

2007 - Engineering diploma in biology and agronomy - Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie de Rennes, France

Publications

Article dans une revue (35)

Integrated co-expression analysis of host–parasite transcriptomes reveals mechanisms of host modulation in an ant–cestode system Tom Sistermans,Romain Libbrecht,Susanne Foitzik BMC Genomics, 2026, 27, pp.232. ⟨10.1186/s12864-026-12581-6⟩ Article dans une revue hal-05533434v1
Impact of heat stress on colony foundation in ants Alice Roux,Anika Zimmermann,Marlène Goubault,Irene Villalta,Romain Libbrecht Biology Letters, 2026, 22 (4), pp.20260016. ⟨10.1098/rsbl.2026.0016⟩ Article dans une revue hal-05576059v1
Parasite prevalence in a social host has colony-wide impacts on transcriptional activity and survival Tom Sistermans,Hugo Darras,Victor Ronget,Sara Beros,Juliane Hartkeet al. Evolution - International Journal of Organic Evolution, 2025, 79 (9), pp.1862-1875. ⟨10.1093/evolut/qpaf118⟩ Article dans une revue hal-05234789v1
Worker Survival and Egg Production—But Not Transcriptional Activity—Respond to Queen Number in the Highly Polygynous, Invasive Ant Tapinoma magnum Anna Lenhart,Megha Majoe,Sibel Selvi,Thomas J Colgan,Romain Libbrechtet al. Molecular Ecology, 2025, 34 (6), pp.e17679. ⟨10.1111/mec.17679⟩ Article dans une revue hal-05045920v1
The tropical ant Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793) in France and discrimination with the local Pheidole pallidula (Nylander, 1849) Alain Lenoir,Elfie Perdereau,Simon Dupont,Romain Libbrecht,Pierre Picquetet al. Naturae, 2025, Naturae, 2025 (4), pp.35-43. ⟨10.5852/naturae2025a4⟩ Article dans une revue (data paper) hal-05032862v1
Ontogeny of superorganisms: Social control of queen specialization in ants Vahideh Majidifar,Marina N Psalti,Martin Coulm,Ebru Fetzer,Eva‐maria Teggerset al. Functional Ecology, 2024, 38 (5), pp.1044 - 1060. ⟨10.1111/1365-2435.14536⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04730386v1
Transcriptomic signature of spatial navigation in brains of desert ants Luisa Maria Jaimes‐nino,Adi Bar,Aziz Subach,Marah Stoldt,Romain Libbrechtet al. Ecology and Evolution, 2024, 14 (10), pp.e70365. ⟨10.1002/ece3.70365⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04730392v1
Task-specific odorant receptor expression in worker antennae indicates that sensory filters regulate division of labor in ants Marcel A Caminer,Romain Libbrecht,Megha Majoe,David V Ho,Peter Baumannet al. Communications Biology, 2023, 6 (1), pp.1004. ⟨10.1038/s42003-023-05273-4⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04730444v1
The influence of parasite load on transcriptional activity and morphology of a cestode and its ant intermediate host Tom Sistermans,Juliane Hartke,Marah Stoldt,Romain Libbrecht,Susanne Foitzik Molecular Ecology, 2023, 32 (15), pp.4412 - 4426. ⟨10.1111/mec.16995⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04730434v1
Annotation and analysis of 3902 odorant receptor protein sequences from 21 insect species provide insights into the evolution of odorant receptor gene families in solitary and social insects Pablo Mier,Jean-Fred Fontaine,Marah Stoldt,Romain Libbrecht,Carlotta Martelliet al. Genes, 2022, 13 (5), pp.919. ⟨10.3390/genes13050919⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04730528v1
Evidence for the effect of brief exposure to food, but not learning interference, on maze solving in desert ants Tomer Gilad,Arik Dorfman,Aziz Subach,Romain Libbrecht,Susanne Foitziket al. Integrative Zoology, 2022, 17 (5), pp.704 - 714. ⟨10.1111/1749-4877.12622⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04730500v1
Queen loss increases worker survival in leaf-cutting ants under paraquat-induced oxidative stress Megha Majoe,Romain Libbrecht,Susanne Foitzik,Volker Nehring Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2021, 376 (1823), pp.20190735. ⟨10.1098/rstb.2019.0735⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04741740v1
Queen and worker phenotypic traits are associated with colony composition and environment in Temnothorax rugatulus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), an ant with alternative reproductive strategies Marina Choppin,Stefan Graf,Barbara Feldmeyer,Romain Libbrecht,Florian Menzelet al. Myrmecological News, 2021, ⟨10.25849/myrmecol.news_031:061⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04741767v1
Fecundity determines the outcome of founding queen associations in ants Eva-Maria Teggers,Falk Deegener,Romain Libbrecht Scientific Reports, 2021, 11 (1), pp.2986. ⟨10.1038/s41598-021-82559-9⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04741781v1
Social isolation causes downregulation of immune and stress response genes and behavioural changes in a social insect Inon Scharf,Marah Stoldt,Romain Libbrecht,Anna Lena Höpfner,Evelien Jongepieret al. Molecular Ecology, 2021, 30 (10), pp.2378-2389. ⟨10.1111/mec.15902⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04730654v1
Experimental increase of worker diversity benefits brood production in ants Marina N Psalti,Dustin Gohlke,Romain Libbrecht BMC Ecology and Evolution, 2021, 21 (1), pp.163. ⟨10.1186/s12862-021-01890-x⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04730468v1
Comparative transcriptomic analysis of the mechanisms underpinning ageing and fecundity in social insects Judith Korb,Karen Meusemann,Denise Aumer,Abel Bernadou,Daniel Elsneret al. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2021, 376 (1823), pp.20190728. ⟨10.1098/rstb.2019.0728⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04732168v1
Oxidative stress and senescence in social insects: a significant but inconsistent link? Boris H Kramer,Volker Nehring,Anja Buttstedt,Jürgen Heinze,Judith Korbet al. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2021, 376 (1823), pp.20190732. ⟨10.1098/rstb.2019.0732⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04732184v1
A role of histone acetylation in the regulation of circadian rhythm in ants Romain Libbrecht,Dennis Nadrau,Susanne Foitzik iScience, 2020, 23 (2), pp.100846. ⟨10.1016/j.isci.2020.100846⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04741803v1
Offspring reverse transcriptome responses to maternal deprivation when reared with pathogens in an insect with facultative family life Maximilian Körner,Fanny Vogelweith,Romain Libbrecht,Susanne Foitzik,Barbara Feldmeyeret al. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2020, 287 (1926), pp.20200440. ⟨10.1098/rspb.2020.0440⟩ Article dans une revue hal-02565970v1
Gene expression is more strongly associated with behavioural specialization than with age or fertility in ant workers Philip Kohlmeier,Austin R Alleman,Romain Libbrecht,Susanne Foitzik,Barbara Feldmeyer Molecular Ecology, 2019, 28 (3), pp.658-670. ⟨10.1111/mec.14971⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04759759v1
Clonal raider ant brain transcriptomics identifies candidate molecular mechanisms for reproductive division of labor Romain Libbrecht,Peter R Oxley,Daniel J C Kronauer BMC Biology, 2018, 16 (1), pp.89. ⟨10.1186/s12915-018-0558-8⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04759994v1
Social regulation of insulin signaling and the evolution of eusociality in ants Vikram Chandra,Ingrid Fetter-Pruneda,Peter Oxley,Amelia Ritger,Sean Mckenzieet al. Science, 2018, 361 (6400), pp.398-402. ⟨10.1126/science.aar5723⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760016v1
Back to the roots: the importance of using simple insect societies to understand the molecular basis of complex social life Daniel Jc Kronauer,Romain Libbrecht Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2018, 28, pp.33-39. ⟨10.1016/j.cois.2018.03.009⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760008v1
Genetics and evolution of social behavior in insects Chelsea A Weitekamp,Romain Libbrecht,Laurent Keller Annual Review of Genetics, 2017, 51 (1), pp.219-239. ⟨10.1146/annurev-genet-120116-024515⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760031v1
Molecular mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity in social insects Miguel Corona,Romain Libbrecht,Diana Wheeler Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2016, 13, pp.55-60. ⟨10.1016/j.cois.2015.12.003⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760052v1
Robust DNA methylation in the clonal raider ant brain Romain Libbrecht,Peter Robert Oxley,Laurent Keller,Daniel JC Kronauer Current Biology, 2016, 26 (3), pp.391 - 395. ⟨10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.040⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760042v1
Ant larvae regulate worker foraging behavior and ovarian activity in a dose-dependent manner Yuko Ulrich,Dominic Burns,Romain Libbrecht,Daniel JC Kronauer Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2015, 70 (7), pp.1011-1018. ⟨10.1007/s00265-015-2046-2⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760059v1
Supergenes and complex phenotypes Tanja Schwander,Romain Libbrecht,Laurent Keller Current Biology, 2014, 24 (7), pp.R288-R294. ⟨10.1016/j.cub.2014.01.056⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760067v1
Interplay between insulin signaling, juvenile hormone, and vitellogenin regulates maternal effects on polyphenism in ants Romain Libbrecht,Miguel Corona,Franziska Wende,Dihego Azevedo,Jose Serrãoet al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013, 110 (27), pp.11050-11055. ⟨10.1073/pnas.1221781110⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760080v1
Vitellogenin underwent subfunctionalization to acquire caste and behavioral specific expression in the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus Miguel Corona,Romain Libbrecht,Yannick Wurm,Oksana Riba-Grognuz,Romain A Studeret al. PLoS Genetics, 2013, 9 (8), pp.e1003730. ⟨10.1371/journal.pgen.1003730⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760075v1
Genetic compatibility affects division of labor in the Argentine ant Linepithema humile Romain Libbrecht,Laurent Keller Evolution - International Journal of Organic Evolution, 2013, 67 (2), pp.517-524. ⟨10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01792.x⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760094v1
Ant genomics sheds light on the molecular regulation of social organization Romain Libbrecht,Peter Oxley,Daniel Jc Kronauer,Laurent Keller Genome Biology, 2013, 14 (7), pp.212. ⟨10.1186/gb-2013-14-7-212⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760083v1
Genetic components to caste allocation in a multiple-queen ant species Romain Libbrecht,Tanja Schwander,Laurent Keller Evolution - International Journal of Organic Evolution, 2011, 65 (10), pp.2907-2915. ⟨10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01348.x⟩ Article dans une revue hal-04760100v1
Aphidius ervi preferentially attacks the green morph of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum Romain Libbrecht,David M Gwynn,Mark DE Fellowes Journal of Insect Behavior, 2007, 20 (1), pp.25-32. ⟨10.1007/s10905-006-9055-y⟩ Article dans une revue istex hal-04760108v1

Chapitre d'ouvrage (1)

Caste Differentiation Marina Psalti,Romain Libbrecht C. Starr. Encyclopedia of Social Insects, Springer International Publishing, pp.1-5, 2020, ⟨10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_21-1⟩ Chapitre d'ouvrage hal-04741808v1

Thèse (1)

Division of labor in insect societies: Genetic components and physiological regulation Romain Libbrecht Life Sciences [q-bio]. University of Lausanne, 2012. English. ⟨NNT : ⟩ Thèse tel-04760125v1