Michael McDonald: Adaptation in recombining experimental populations of microbes, and the repeatability of evolution
- Date: Aug 8, 2018
- Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Dr. Michael J. McDonald (School of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science Monash University, Melbourne, Australia)
- More information on the speaker can be found here: https://www.monash.edu/science/schools/biological-sciences/staff2/michael-mcdonald
- Location: MPI Plön
- Room: Lecture hall
- Host: Paul Rainey
Abstract
Experimental
evolution is a
powerful method for testing fundamental questions in
evolution and ecology. I
will present a detailed view of the genetics and fitness
changes that occur in
adapting populations of E. coli and
yeast. In both studies, we carry out whole population
sequencing at multiple
time points, allowing the tracking of the dynamics of each
mutation as it
arises during adaptation. Using this sequencing-across-time
approach I will
show that new evolutionary lineages emerge spontaneously,
even in simple
experiments, and demonstrate how recombination fundamentally
changes (and
speeds up) adaptation. I will also present ongoing work
using the bacteria H.
pylori as a model for studying recombination and horizontal
gene transfer.