Birgit Gessler, M.Sc.

  • PhD

Garbenstr. 17
Room 008

+49 711 459 22486
birgit.gessler@uni-hohenheim.de

Consultation Hours: Please make an appointment!

     

CV

2012-2014 Master study in biology at the Univsersity of Hohenheim with main focus in genetics
Start 2015 PhD student at the department of livestock population genomics at the University of Hohenheim with the topic “Deciphering the molecular signal for diploid drone detection in the western honey bee Apis mellifera”.
Seit 2019 Researcher in the project SETBie in Baden-Württemberg with the emphasis on detecting molecular markers for Varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH) trait in the western honey bee Apis mellifera.

Research Projects

The varroa mite (Varroa destructor) belongs to the major threat of colonies of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) worldwide. A sustainable approach to control the mite population in a honey bee colony is by breeding varroatolerant honey bees. In the SETBie project beekeepers, beekeeper associations and various university institutions are working together to breed and establish a varroa tolerant honey bees in Baden-Württemberg via the behavioural trait Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH). Bee colonies with this trait specifically remove varroa infested brood cells and thus reduce the mite density within a colony. The project investigates the breeding trait VSH from genetic, methodological and beekeeping aspects. 

 

Project website

Social insects have gained many novel morphological and behavioral traits relative to their solitary ancestors. One remarkable behavior of the western honey bee Apis mellifera is the cannibalism of diploid drone larvae at early developmental stages. Quantitative differences of larval cuticular substances are proposed to be recognized by worker bees; however the molecular signals and mechanisms are still unknown. We combine molecular and biochemical analysis to investigate the differences between the sexes in young larvae to elucidate the cannibalism behaviour of diploid drones in Apis mellifera.