Evolutionary Microbiology

Bacteria are found everywhere: in clouds and raindrops, on tree leaves, in soil and oceans, on and in our body. Unlike eukaryotes, bacterial evolution comprises both vertical and horizontal components. Recombination at the species level plays a role in selective sweeps through the population, while inter-species lateral gene transfer (LGT) has important implications to microbial adaptation and evolutionary transformations. In our research we study molecular and genome evolution of microbial genomes.