Franke, Lukas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lukas Franke
PhD Student

Contents

  1. Curriculum Vitae
  2. Research Interests
  3. PhD Project
  4. Contact
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Curriculum Vitae

2026 - current

 

PhD student, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany

Working title: „Ageing and gene evolution in ants”

Supervisors: Dr. Luisa María Jaimes-Nino, Prof. Dr. Susanne Foitzik, Prof. Dr. Shuqing Xu

 

2023 - 2026

 

Master of Science in Biosciences, University Münster, Germany

Thesis: “Functional characterization of a horizontal gene transfer in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior”

Supervisors: Janina Rinke, Dr. Lukas Schrader, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Gadau

 

2020 - 2023

 

Bachelor of Science in Biosciences, University Münster, Germany

Thesis: “Lethal and sublethal effects of the herbicide glyphosate on the ant species Camponotus maculatus”

Supervisor: Marius Pohl, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Gadau

 
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Research Interests

Driven by a fascination for how evolution shapes genetic and genomic complexity, I seek to unravel the mechanisms behind complex traits across different levels of biological organization. Social insects, with their superorganism colonies, provide a unique model to explore how collective behaviour and division of labour emerge and evolve.

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PhD Project

As organisms age, natural selection becomes less effective at removing harmful late‑acting mutations, creating a “selection shadow” where genes expressed late in life are usually under weaker purifying selection. In most model organisms, old‑biased genes indeed show lower sequence conservation than genes expressed earlier in life. Surprisingly, studies on the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior queens suggest the opposite pattern, with old‑biased genes under stronger purifying selection, pointing to a delayed selection shadow and extended health span in social insect reproductives. In my PhD, I will investigate how sociality reshapes this selection shadow across tissues and cell types in queens, and compare these patterns to solitary model organisms such as Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans. This will reveal which tissues retain strong selection into late life and how reproductive specialization in superorganisms feeds back on the evolution of ageing.

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Contact

Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution
Lukas Franke
Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15
01.401
Tel.: +49 15739644995
55122 Mainz, Deutschland

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