THE BACTERIAL ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION LAB
ABOUT
Welcome to the Bacterial Ecology and Evolution (BEE) lab!
The main focus of our lab is understanding the evolution of bacterial predator-prey interactions and their influence on sympatric microbial species. To do so, we use generalist bacterial predator Myxococcus xanthus. M. xanthus is a predatory bacterium that kills and eats other microbes by secreting antimicrobial compounds and forms spore-filled multicellular fruiting bodies upon starvation.
We predict that microbial predators, and particularly M. xanthus has a significant influence on microbial physiology and diversity in nature. Hence two primary themes in the laboratory are:
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Bacterial predation: Here we study antimicrobial strategies used by M. xanthus and resistance to such strategies by prey bacteria
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M. xanthus evolution: We study the influence of lifecycle on the evolution of cooperation and development.
Please have a look at the research page to learn more about the major themes of research.
FUNDED BY
