Dr. Bharat Parthasarathy
Postdoc/Drittmittel
Behavioural Biology
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Research interests
I am a behavioural ecologist, interested in the evolution of sociality. Sociality is widespread in the animal kingdom, so much so that even groups that are predominantly solitary (e.g., arachnids) have a handful of social species. I use the Indian social spider, Stegodyphus sarasinorum as a model system to interrogate the evolution of cooperative group living and task participation. Social spiders are less explored and interesting model organisms because they show a remarkable degree of cooperation while performing various tasks, live within colonies throughout their life, inbreed with their kins and show a highly female-biased sex ratio. Female biased sex ratios are attributed to rapid colony proliferation and survival. Through a combination of cutting-edge molecular biological techniques, mathematical modelling, field observations and experimental colony manipulations, I am currently investigating adaptive sex ratio adjustment by different individuals within social groups, which will shed considerable insight into inter-individual cooperation and/or conflict. I am also examining if mothers and fathers show coinciding, neutral or divergent interests in sex allocation.
Publications
Parthasarathy B*, Dumke M*, Herberstein ME, Schneider JM 2023. Male cooperation improves their own and kin-group productivity in a group-foraging spider. Scientific Reports 13:366 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27282-9
Parthasarathy B, Bourchard M, Schneider JM (2022). Extended phenotypes can underlie trade-offs: a case of social spiders. The Nature of Science, 109, DOI: 10.1007/s00114-022-01826-5
Parthasarathy B, Müller M, Bilde T, Schneider JM. (2022). Hunger state and not among-Individual differences in personality determines task participation in a spider society. Animal Behaviour 190: 143-152 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.06.002
Parthasarathy B and Somanathan H (2019): Behavioural Responses Vary with Prey Species in the Social Spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum. Behavioral Ecology https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arz032
Parthasarathy B, Joshi CH, Kalyadan SS and Somanathan H (2019): Early Ontogenic Emergence of Personality and its Long Term Persistence in a Social Spider. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 73:35 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-019-2645-4
Parthasarathy B and Somanathan H (2018): Body Condition and Food Shapes Group Dispersal but not Solitary Dispersal in a Social Spider. Behavioural Ecology. 29: 619-627 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary013
Parthasarathy B and Somanathan H (2018): A Method for Accurately Estimating Social Spider Numbers without Colony Damage. Journal of Arachnology. 46: 373-375 https://doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-17-075.1
Parthasarathy B, and Somanathan H. When and Why Do Sit and Wait Social Spiders Disperse? Invited Review: Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution. 66: 15-25 https://doi.org/10.1163/22244662-20191068
Academic CV
Work Experience and Education
Since February 2021: Alexander von Humboldt Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Hamburg, Germany
Supervisor: Prof. Jutta Schneider
January 2020 to January 2021: SERB National Post-Doctoral Fellow, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
Supervisor: Prof. Raghavendra Gadagkar
July 2019 to January 2020: Research Assistant (Post-Doctoral) at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
Supervisor: Prof. Raghavendra Gadagkar
October 2018 to June 2019: Research Assistant (Post-Doctoral) at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Trivandrum, India
Supervisor: Prof. Hema Somanathan
Jan 2012 to Sep 2018: Ph.D. at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Trivandrum, India
Title of the Thesis: Collective Behaviour of the Inbred Social Spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum
Supervisor: Prof. Hema Somanathan
Date of Award of Ph.D. Degree: 15.06.2019
July 2011 to Dec 2011: Research Assistant, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre of Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India
Supervisor: Prof. Amitabh Joshi
Oct 2008 to Nov 2010: M.Sc. in Biological Sciences (Specialization: Genetics) from University of Cologne, Germany
Title of the Thesis: Cell Biology of Irgm1 upon Listeria monocytogenes Infection
Supervisor: Prof. Jonathan Howard
July 2007 to May 2008: Associate in learning services, Accenture Services PVT LTD, Bangalore, India
June 2005 to May 2006: Honours in Biotechnology of Plants, St. Joseph’s College of Arts and Science, Bangalore, India
June 2004 to May 2007: B.Sc. (Triple major in Microbiology, Chemistry and Botany), St. Joseph’s College of Arts and Science, Bangalore, India