MIC 291 Seminar Presented by Dr. David Booth

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1022 Green Hall

MIC (Microbiology Course) 291 Seminars
Work in Progress Seminars
Select Topics in Microbiology

Guest Speaker: Dr. David Booth, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

Dr. Booth presents: "Algal influences on multicellularity in choanoflagellates and animals"

Abstract: My lab studies how intercellular interactions evolve to support the physiology of multicellular organisms and to facilitate ecosystem functions in microeukaryotic communities. We focus on a key group of marine microeukaryotes, the choanoflagellates (choanos, for short), to determine how they transform themselves into distinct types of cells that can inhabit different ecosystems comprised of microeukaryotes. The mechanisms choanos deploy for cell specialization, resource sharing, and interspecies communication in microeukaryotic communities evolved from a genetic toolkit that also laid the foundation for the multicellular physiology of animals–the closest living relatives of choanos. By reconstituting microbial communities in the laboratory, we have discovered associations between algae and choanos, and we are utilizing biochemistry, genetics, and cell biology to molecular basis of these associations. Overall, investigating the mechanisms of these interactions promises to uncover how choanos support the critical ecological functions of algae and to illuminate the evolution intercellular interactions in choanos and animals.