Blog

In the first of many papers lead by Juan Hurtado in the lab, we catalog the diversity of male derived mRNAs transferred to female during copulation in Drosophila mojavensis and D. arizonae. Great paper that will be the foundation of a number of future studies. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0358942

The lab had a great time at the Department of Entomology Insect Festival. This year we had a few additions to our booth including our 3D printed Drosophila arizonae (hand painted by our very own Sergio Castrezana). It is always fun to talk to our community about all the great work the lab is doing and the wonderful and powerful study system of cactophilic Drosophila.

In this paper we examine how the evolution of postmating-prezygotic (PMPZ) incompatibilities can arise by molecular divergence of the seminal fluid proteins at the level of sequence differences, composition and abundance levels. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12915-026-02601-y

I had the great honor to be invited to give a seminar at the Sociedad Argentina de Biologia (SAB) (Argentine Society of Biology) Annual Meeting in December 2025 at the Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (IBYME) (Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was a great opportunity to hear about all the great science that is happening (with very little support) in Argentina. I also had the chance to spend some time with my sister, Eugenia Matzkin, who is an investigator at IBYME. Additionally, I gave another seminar at Universidad de Buenos Aires Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución (Institute of Ecology, Genetics and Evolution) to great collaborators, colleagues and friends (Esteban Hasson, Juan Fanara, Julian Mensch).

I had a wonderful time talking to 7th grade science students at Dodge Middle School in the Tucson Unified School District. We talked about amphibian biodiversity, the frog life cycle and dissected a frog. It is such a treat to see excitement for science and discovery on the faces of these students. Thank you Mrs. Matzkin for the invitation and your extreme dedication to your students. You are the best.

Congratulations to Liam on passing his comprehensive examination!!!

A bit tired, but we all had a wonderful time at annual Department of Entomology Insect Festival. It is always great to share our work with the community and getting both young and old interested in the work we do in the lab.

Congratulations to Zoe on successfully passing the comprehensive exams. Next stop is dissertation defense!!!

I am very proud and honored to have been selected as a 2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow. I am thankful to my entire team and colleagues which makes this honor possible. Congratulations to also to my fellow University of Arizona fellows.

This work spearheaded by past postdoc, Fernando Diaz, examines the transcriptional basis for transgenerational effects associated with thermal tolerance (Diaz & Matzkin 2025).