Maintenance of microbial species in the model organism from the Archaeal domain

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

All organisms, including humans, cannot live without the vast microbial menagerie that lives in and around us. Critical to understanding the vital functions of these communities is knowledge about the processes responsible for microbial species. How microbial species are generated and maintained over time, and whether they are even independent units is not known. Whitaker and colleagues combine genetic and genomic tools to define the rules of speciation in the model microorganism Sulfolobus. Their goal is to better understand the evolutionary and ecological parameters that govern how genetic material moves between individual cells and result in the generation and maintenance of microbial diversity on which we depend. A more robust understanding of microbial biodiversity will help propel discovery and innovation in a host of scientific fields, ranging from emerging infectious diseases to climate change modeling, that are being transformed by the microbial revolution. Whitaker will extend an understanding of the microbial world and its impact on daily human life through Project Microbe, a curriculum designed to integrate microorganisms into the national K-12 education, in the college setting at the University of Illinois, and outside of the classroom through the Osher Life Long Learning at Illinois program.