Department of Biological Sciences
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, India
Projects
Research in the Evogen lab largely focuses on the evolution of symbiosis, functional genomics and behavioural ecology. We use many model systems, including wasps, termites, bacteria and fungi, in trying to understand how symbiotic interactions influence the biology of these organisms. Research methods can include anything from generating genomic and transcriptomic data to behavioural observations. We regularly use high-throughput sequencing techniques to generate microbiota and mycobiota of different organisms and habitats. How these microbes influence the biology of their host remains an important research area. We aim to answer these by asking questions from across different levels of biological organization, ranging from molecular to organismal.
Research with Nasonia
Nasonia are a genus of tiny wasps which are parasitoids on fly pupae. Currently, there are four known species: N. vitripennis, N. longicornis, N. giraulti and N. oneida. They are a young species complex which diverged during the last million years or so, and hybrids between them can be established in the lab. They do not bite humans and are easy to maintain and work with. Genome sequences exist for all the species along with several molecular tools.
Nasonia is an excellent model system for investigating behavioural, host-pathogen interaction, speciation and evolutionary genetic studies.
Refer to the paper to know more about
Nasonia biology.
Some of the projects using Nasonia that are ongoing in the lab-
Genomics
We sequenced the genome of N. oneida and hope to use it for functional genomic studies.
Relevant recent publications:
Rana, A., Verma, P., Pandit, S. B., Werren, J. H., Wang, X., & Raychoudhury, R. (2025). Genome assembly and annotation of the parasitoid jewel wasp Nasonia oneida. Scientific Data, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05375-0
Behaviour
We use Nasonia extensively for several studies in behavioural ecology. Primarily we are interested in sex-specific behaviour of these wasps.
Relevant recent publications:
Verma, T., Sirasva, B. K., Jena, S., Behera, D., Anoop, A., Sen, R., & Raychoudhury, R. (2025). Nasonia vitripennis males exhibit greater effort and competency in detecting hosts with conspecific females than other Nasonia males. bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory). https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.17.676707
Host-pathogen studies
The four Nasonia species are infected by several strains of the maternally-inherited endosymbiont bacteria Wolbachia. This bacteria often behaves as a sexual parasite and increases the number of Wolbachia-infected females in the population by manipulating the offspring sex ratio. We use the Nasonia-Wolbachia system as well as the Nasonia gut microbes in several projects.
Relevant recent publications:
Tiwary, A., Babu, R., Sen, R., & Raychoudhury, R. (2022). Bacterial supergroup‐specific “cost” of Wolbachia infections in Nasonia vitripennis. Ecology and Evolution, 12(9), e9219. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9219
Research with Termites
We use the fungus-farming termite Odontotermes obesus to understand this remarkable symbiosis. These termites practice agriculture and grow a fungus called Termitomyces in specialized structures, made just for the fungus by the termites, called fungus comb. We are investigating how these termites get rid of fungal weeds that invade their gardens and the role of the microbes that are found in their colonies.
Relevant publications and articles:
Fungus-farming termites can protect their crop by confining weeds with fungistatic soil boluses
Other projects
We collaborate with Dr. Ruchira Sen in investigating the biology of the paper wasp Polistes wattii. These wasps are widely found in North Western India and make open nests in many residential areas. We are interested in finding out more about their unique life-history.
Relevant publications and articles:
Fungus-farming termites can protect their crop by confining weeds with fungistatic soil boluses
