Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY 2003

Marx, Christopher J, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY2003. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden their scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations. The research and training plan is entitled "In-lab evolution of bacterial metabolism: costs of specialization and the contribution of genetic exchange between organisms." The evolutionary dynamics involved in the maintenance of specialized bacterial metabolism and the role of horizontal gene transfer is being examined using experimental evolution. Physiological analyses and attempts to identify the beneficial mutations in the evolved strains are being performed in order to gain insight into their increased fitness.