Environmental Science and Engineering Seminar

SAR11 bacteria are the most abundant marine microorganisms, yet their dominance counterintuitively accompanies obligate slow growth and an inability to rapidly respond to changing conditions. We are investigating the mechanisms underlying these phenotypes in an effort to understand the evolutionary tradeoffs that led to such seemingly undesirable traits corresponding with the superior fitness of SAR11. The talk will focus on our recent discoveries regarding SAR11 cell cycle dynamics and the effects of nutrients on growth inhibition, with a view towards some of the factors that may have selected for SAR11s unique biology.