Professor Sasha (Alexander) Mikheyev

Contacts
Group membership
I am a Russian-American-Australian evolutionary biologist interested in understanding how organisms adapt to rapid ecological changes. My work focuses on two main areas:
Biological invasions and host-pathogen evolution
I work with honey bees (Apis) as a model of pathogen evolution. Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) are an agricultural mainstay, with 65% of Australian agricultural production relying on their pollination services. Originally native to Europe, West Asia and Africa, these bees have been spread worldwide by humans. Globalisation also facilitated the spread of many bee parasites and diseases caused by bacteria and viruses. As other insects, honey bees evolve rapidly and, given their agricultural relevance, we know a lot about their pathology. My lab focuses on (1) characterising how new pathogens enter a naive host population, (2) ecological and evolutionary dynamics of pathogen spread and (3) responses by the bees and coevolution.
Given the recent arrival and spread of Varroa mites in Australia we are particularly interested in collaborations focused on their impact on the Australian ecosystem and what can be done to mitigate it.
Evolution of venom systems
Snake venoms are some of the most rapidly evolving loci in the whole genome. For venomous snakes an effective venom is essential to catch prey and avoid injury. However, unlike other complex traits, venoms can be easily characterised, making a connection between ecology and specific genes in the genome. We use this system to study how adaptive novelty arises at different timescales, from hundreds of millions of years to generations.
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Synthesis Group grant, 2019
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Ignition Grant, 2019
Research interests
My major research interests include using historical material to understand how evolution takes place and how complex phenotypes evolve. I am particularly fond of social insects as models, though I have worked on a variety of systems, from fruit flies to snakes, to coral. My current research intersts focus on understanding how organisms coevolve, particularly focusing on the interaction of hosts with parasites and diseases and also with beneficial microbes.
Projects
- Principal investigator, Beating the heat? Population genomics of climate change in Australian birds
- Principal investigator, BeePocalypse Now: How the arrival of parasitic bee mites will change Australia's ecosystems and agriculture
- Principal investigator, Conservation Genetics of the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect
- Principal investigator, Food matters - Studying and disentangling the interconnection of monocultures, the microbiome and honey bee health
- Principal investigator, Using computer vision and machine learning to study honey bee behavior
- Collaborator, Coral development and comparative genomics
See my Google Scholar page.