Ben Wielstra
Assistant professor
- Name
- Dr. B.M. Wielstra
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 5135
- b.m.wielstra@biology.leidenuniv.nl
Genomes can undergo major changes in composition due to 1) hybridization, combining the genetic material of two distinct species, and 2) structural re-arrangements, splitting up a single stretch of DNA into two independently evolving units. I study how genomes evolve in response to the associated positive and negative fitness consequences. The study system I work on is the genus Triturus, the crested and marbled newts.
More information about Ben Wielstra
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Research
My work heavily relies on genomic data and the main study system I work on is the genus Triturus, the crested and marbled newts. I am particularly interested in the evolutionary history of closely related species – how such species originated and obtained their current distribution and how they interact during the course of their evolution, as ecological divergence drives them apart and gene flow pulls them together. My early work mainly involved phylogeography (inferring glacial refugia), systematics (resolving rapid radiations) and taxonomy (diagnosing cryptic species). Recently, I have been studying hybridization, both under natural conditions (in particular hybrid zone movement) and anthropogenically induced (the complicated conservation issues of ‘genetic pollution’). Presently, I am conducting a research program, funded with an ERC Starting Grant, aiming to understand the evolution of balanced lethal systems. Balanced lethal systems are extremely maladaptive as they cut reproductive potential in half. Yet, they have evolved time and again along the branches of the tree of life. I hope to solve this evolutionary mystery.
Brief biography
I studied biology at IBL, after which I pursued my PhD at Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Subsequently, I conducted five years of postdoctoral research abroad, at the University of Sheffield and UCLA, before returning to IBL (and Naturalis) as Assistant Professor.
I am an honorary researcher at Naturalis Biodiversity Center.
My Google Scholar profile can be found here.
Check out my personal website Newt Research.
Grants
Grants and fellowships as PI:
- ERC Starting Grant
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Global Fellowship
- Newton International Fellowship
Grants and fellowships as host:
- NWO Promotiebeurs voor leraren
- Martin & Temminck Fellowship
- NWO-ALW Open
Key publications
Wielstra, B. (2020). Balanced lethal systems. Current Biology 30(13): R742-R743.
Wielstra, B. (2019). Historical hybrid zone movement: more pervasive than appreciated? Journal of Biogeography 46(7): 1300-1305.
Wielstra, B., McCartney-Melstad, E., Arntzen, J.W., Butlin, R.K., Shaffer, H.B. (2019). Phylogenomics of the adaptive radiation of Triturus newts supports gradual ecological niche expansion towards an incrementally aquatic lifestyle. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 133: 120-127.
Assistant professor
- Science
- Instituut Biologie Leiden
- IBL Animal Sciences
- Visser M.C. de, France J.M., Meilink W.R.M. & Wielstra B.M. (2021), Een evolutionair raadsel: het dodelijke chromosoom 1 syndroom in Triturus-salamanders, RAVON 23(1): 9-12.
- Wielstra B.M. (2021), Hybrid zones, Current Biology 31(3): R108-R109.
- Struijk R.P.J.H., Demirkapu B., Visser M.C. de & Wielstra B.M. (2021), Exotische smaragdhagedissen in de duinen bij Scheveningen, Kijk op Exoten (34): 12-13.
- Palomar G., Dudek K., Wielstra B.M., Jockusch E.L., Vinkler M., Arntzen J.W., Ficetola G.F., Matsunami M., Waldman B., Těšický M., Zieliński P. & Babik W. (2021), Molecular evolution of antigen-processing genes in salamanders: do they coevolve with MHC class I genes?, Genome Biology and Evolution 13(2): evaa259.
- Asztalos M., Wielstra B., Struijk R.P.J.H., Ayaz D. & Fritz U. (2021), Aliens in the Netherlands: local genetic pollution of barred grass snakes (Squamata: Serpentes: Natricidae), Salamandra: German journal of Herpetology 57(1): 174-179.
- Arntzen J.W., López-Delgado J., Riemsdijk I. & Wielstra B.M. (2021), A genomic footprint of a moving hybrid zone in marbled newts, Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 59(2): 459-465.
- Wielstra B.M., Saliv D. & Canestrelli D. (2021), Genetic divergence across glacial refugia despite interglacial gene flow in a crested newt, Evolutionary Biology 48(1): 17-26.
- Rancilhac L., Irisarri I., Angelini C., Arntzen J.W., Babik W., Bossuyt F., Künzel S., Lüddecke T., Pasmans F., Sanchez E., Weisrock D., Veith M., Wielstra B., Steinfartz S., Hofreiter M., Philippe H. & Vences M. (2021), Phylotranscriptomic evidence for pervasive ancient hybridization among Old World salamanders, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 155: 106967.
- Wielstra B.M. (2020), Digest: Biased male–male competition drives asymmetric introgression in lizards*, Evolution 74(10): 2427-2428.
- Si Y., Wei J., Wu W., Zhang W., Hou L., Yu L. & Wielstra B.M. (2020), Reducing human pressure on farmland could rescue China’s declining wintering geese, Movement Ecology 8: 35.
- Riemsdijk I. van, Struijk R.P.J.H., Pel E., Janssen I.A.W. & Wielstra B.M. (2020), Hybridisation complicates the conservation of Natrix snakes in the Netherlands, Salamandra: German journal of Herpetology 56(1): 78-82.
- Xu G., Wielstra B.M. & Rich S.M. (2020), Northern and southern blacklegged (deer) ticks are genetically distinct with different histories and Lyme spirochete infection rates, Scientific Reports 10: 10289.
- Wielstra B.M. (2020), Balanced lethal systems, Current Biology 30(13): R742-R743.
- Wielstra B.M. & Arntzen J.W. (2020), Extensive cytonuclear discordance in a crested newt from the Balkan Peninsula glacial refugium, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 130(3): 578-585.
- Struijk R.P.J.H., Riemsdijk I. van, Wielstra & B.M. (2020), ‘Gestreepte’ ringslangen in Nederland – Genetica, achtergrond en risico’s, RAVON 22(3): 54-57.
- Dufresnes C., Strachinis I., Suriadna N., Mykytynets G., Cogalniceanu D., Székely P., Vukov T., Arntzen J.W., Wielstra B., Lymberakis P., Geffen E., Gafny S., Kumlutas Y., Ilgaz C., Candan K., Mizsei E., Szabolcs M., Kolenda K., Smirnov N., Géniez P., Lukanov S., Crochet P.-A., Dubey S., Perrin N., Litvinchuk S.N. & Denoël M. (2019), Phylogeography of a cryptic speciation continuum in Eurasian spadefoot toads (Pelobates), Molecular Ecology 28(13): 3257-3270.
- Wielstra B. (2019), Historical hybrid zone movement: More pervasive than appreciated, Journal of Biogeography 46(7): 1300-1305.
- Lv Z., Yang J., Wielstra B., Wei J., Xu F. & Si Y. (2019), Prioritizing Green Spaces for Biodiversity Conservation in Beijing Based on Habitat Network Connectivity, Sustainability 11(7): 2042.
- Wielstra B. (2019), Triturus newts, CURRENT BIOLOGY 29(4): R110-R111.
- Wielstra, B., McCartney-Melstad, E., Arntzen, J.W., Butlin, R.K., Shaffer & H.B. (2019), Phylogenomics of the adaptive radiation of Triturus newts supports gradual ecological niche expansion towards an incrementally aquatic lifestyle, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 133: 120-127.
- Riemsdijk I. van, Butlin R.K., Wielstra B. & Arntzen J.W. (2019), Testing an hypothesis of hybrid zone movement for toads in France, Molecular Ecology 28(5): 1070-1083.
- Üzüm, N., Avcı, A., Olgun, K., Bülbül, U., Fahrbach, M., Litvinchuk, S.N., Wielstra & B. (2019), Cracking cryptic species: external characters to distinguish two recently recognized banded newt species (Ommatotriton ophryticus and O. nesterovi), Salamandra - German journal of Herpetology 55(2): 131-134.
- Wielstra B., Canestrelli D., Cvijanovic M., Denoel M., Fijarczyk A., Jablonski D., Liana M., Naumov B., Olgun K., Pabijan M., Pezzarossa A., Popgeorgiev G., Salvi D., Si Y., Sillero N., Sotiropoulos K., Zielinski P. & Babik W. (2018), The distributions of the six species constituting the smooth newt species complex (Lissotriton vulgaris sensu lato and L. montandoni) – an addition to the New Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe, Amphibia-Reptilia 39(2): 252-259.
- Wielstra B., Zielinski P. & Babik W. (2017), The Carpathians hosted extra-Mediterranean refugia-within-refugia during the Pleistocene Ice Age: genomic evidence from two newt genera, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 122(3): 605-613.
- Wielstra B., Burke T., Butlin R.K., Schaap O., Schaffer H.B., Vrieling K. & Arntzen J.W. (2016), Efficient screening for ‘genetic pollution’ in an anthropogenic crested newt hybrid zone, Conservation Genetics Resources 8(4): 553-560.
No relevant ancillary activities