RESEARCH
ABOUT
Microbes live in complex communities where they constantly compete, cooperate, prey on one another, and adapt to changing environments. Our research seeks to understand how ecological interactions and life-history strategies shape microbial evolution, diversity, and function. We combine experimental evolution, microbial ecology, genetics, and genomics to uncover the forces that drive adaptation in microbial populations.
We use Myxococcus xanthus as a major model system to study these questions. M. xanthus is a predatory bacterium that kills and consumes other microbes using diverse antimicrobial strategies and forms multicellular fruiting bodies upon starvation. Its remarkable life cycle allows us to investigate predator-prey interactions, antimicrobial resistance, social evolution, dormancy, and the evolution of development within a single experimental system.
Specifically, we study how ecological interactions, population bottlenecks, dormancy, environmental fluctuations, and complex life cycles influence evolutionary outcomes. Please contact Samay or lab members if you would like to know more about our research
Primary Areas of Interest
BACTERIAL PREDATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESITANCE
Predation is one of the oldest ecological interactions on Earth and a major force shaping microbial communities. We study how bacterial predators kill and consume their prey, how prey populations evolve resistance, and how these interactions influence microbial adaptation.
Many predatory strategies rely on antimicrobial compounds, making predator-prey systems a powerful framework for understanding the origins and evolution of antimicrobial resistance. By combining experimental evolution, genetics, and genomics, we investigate how ecological interactions influence the emergence, maintenance, and diversification of resistance traits.
DORMANCY AND EVOLUTION
Dormancy is a widespread survival strategy that allows microorganisms to persist through environmental stress. However, dormant cells are not merely inactive passengers in evolutionary processes; they can profoundly influence adaptation, diversification, and population dynamics.
Our research examines how dormancy shapes evolutionary outcomes, including the maintenance of genetic variation, the evolution of resistance, and the ability of populations to adapt to changing environments. We are particularly interested in understanding how transitions between active growth and dormancy influence long-term evolutionary trajectories.
SOCIAL EVOLUTION
Many microbial behaviours are cooperative, producing benefits that are shared among neighbouring cells. Such cooperation creates opportunities for conflict, exploitation, and the evolution of social strategies.
We use microbial systems to investigate how cooperation evolves and persists, how cheating strategies arise, and how ecological conditions influence social interactions. By combining laboratory experiments with evolutionary approaches, we seek to identify the mechanisms that promote or destabilize cooperation in microbial populations.
M. xanthus lifecycle
EVOLUTION OF DEVELOPMENT AND LIFECYCLE
Microorganisms often exhibit complex developmental programmes that coordinate the behaviour of thousands or millions of cells. The developmental cycle of Myxococcus xanthus provides a unique opportunity to investigate the evolution of multicellular traits in a genetically tractable system.
We study how developmental traits evolve, how multicellular behaviours are maintained, and how ecological and evolutionary processes shape developmental diversity. More broadly, we are interested in understanding how complex life cycles influence evolutionary adaptation.
EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION AND MICROBIAL ECOLOGY
A central goal of our research is to understand how ecological interactions shape evolutionary outcomes. To address this question, we use experimental evolution, microbial ecology, genetics, and genomics to study adaptation in real time.
Our work investigates how competition, cooperation, predation, dormancy, and environmental change influence the evolution of microbial populations. By integrating ecological and evolutionary perspectives, we seek to uncover general principles that govern microbial adaptation and diversification.
