Dr Robin Beaven

Personal profile

• 2016 - present - Postdoctoral Researcher, Denholm lab, CDBS, University of Edinburgh.
• 2013-2016 - Postdoctoral Researcher, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, Hiro Ohkura laboratory, University of Edinburgh.
• 2008-2012 - PhD in Cell Biology, Andreas Prokop laboratory, University of Manchester.
• 2005-2008 - BSc (Honours) Genetics, University of York.

Research

My background is in developmental and cell biology, and I currently explore how insect osmoregulatory organs develop. I focus on the cryptonephridial complex of beetles, in which their renal tubules associate with their rectum to recycle water back into the body. I have gained insights into its morphogenesis and developmental patterning, as well as physiology and endocrine control. This is shedding light on how tenebrionid beetles are adapted to survive in arid environments, contributing to the remarkable evolutionary success of this group. Through comparative developmental studies in other insects, I am also investigating how this system has evolved. I am now working to establish the rose chafer as a model system for embryological and molecular studies, to learn how a similar complex has evolved independently in Scarabaeoid beetles. This species could also be more generally useful to understand the unique biology of Scarabaeoid beetles; a very large and ecologically important group. I am also interested in the history of science, and gaining a longer view on how our current ideas and approaches have arisen.

Recent publications

Beaven, R.¶, Denholm B. (2025) The cryptonephridial/rectal complex: an evolutionary adaptation for water and ion conservation. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 100, 647-671

Beaven, R.¶, Denholm, B., Fremlin, M. and Scaccini, D. (2025) Evidence for the independent evolution of a rectal complex within the beetle superfamily Scarabaeoidea. Arthropod Struct Dev. 84, 101406

Beaven, R.§, Koyama, T., Naseem, M.T., Halberg, K.V., Denholm, B. (2024) Something old, something new: the origins of an unusual renal cell underpinning a beetle water-conserving mechanism. Development. 151, dev202994 (Featured in Special Issue: Uncovering Developmental Diversity)

Beaven, R., Halberg, K.V. and Denholm, B. (2023) The insect cryptonephridial complex. Current Biology. 33: R748-R749. (Quick guide)

Naseem, M.T., Beaven, R., Koyama, T., Naz, S., Su, S.Y., Leader, D.P., Klaerke, D.A., Calloe, K., Denholm, B. and Halberg, K.V. (2023) NHA1 is a cation/proton antiporter essential for the water-conserving functions of the rectal complex in Tribolium castaneum. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 120: e2217084120

Beaven, R. ¶ (2023) The take-off of Drosophila research in 1930-1950s Edinburgh. J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 53: 119-127

Zechini, L., Camilleri-Brennan, J., Walsh, J., Beavan, R., Moran, O., Hartley, P., Diaz, M. and Denholm, B.  (2022). Piezo buffers mechanical stress via modulation of intracellular Ca 2+ handling in the Drosophila heart. Frontiers in Physiology. 13:1003999

Beaven, R. and Denholm, B. (2022) Early patterning followed by tissue growth establishes distal identity in Drosophila Malpighian tubules. Front Cell Dev Biol. 10:947376

Beaven, R., and Denholm, B. (2018) Release and spread of Wingless is required to pattern the proximo-distal axis of Drosophila renal tubules. eLife. 7, e35373

¶ corresponding author

§ co-corresponding author