Biological & Soft Matter Seminar: Me, Us and Them - bacterial communication and the detection of self vs. others on multiple scales

Abstract:

Bacterial cell-cell signaling, or quorum sensing, is characterized by the concomitant cellular secretion and detection of small diffusible signal molecules. This mechanism allows bacterial cells to coordinate their behavior in a density-dependent manner and to distinguish between kins and non-kins. My lab combines physical and evolutionary modeling with data analysis and experimentation to study the ‘syntax’ and ‘semantics’ of bacterial communication and its evolution. In this talk I will describe three projects which aim to determine whether cells can distinguish between self and others, how a social community is physically defined and how social evolutionary forces drive the diversification and elaboration of bacterial communication.

Seminar Organizer: Nimrod Segall