AMOEBA

Our lab is broadly interested in the evolution of sociality in microbes. We are developing model systems to look at the commonalities among the greatest examples of convergent evolution known to date. We have discovered that a great diversity of single celled eukaryotic microbes (AKA protists) are capable of working with one another to form a complex body made of thousands of individual cells. This is one of the simplest and most striking examples of emergent behavior. In many cases, this behavior is sacrificial where some of the cells that become part of the multicellular body die for the "greater good" of their kin. To examine the commonalities amongst the various social protists, we are taking a multi-pronged approach using comparative genomics and developmental transcriptomics to elucidate the genetic basis of sociality... Our lab is also interested in examining the deep evolution of eukaryotic lineages. We are using novel approaches in phylogenomics to examine how the various..

Primary location: Lindley United States