Investigations in Ecology and Evolution of Microbial Eukaryotes and the Application of (Meta)genomic Tools

Most of life is microbial. We rely on microbes to maintain healthy and stable ecosystems (e.g., biogeochemical cycles and food webs). In our everyday lives microbes are intimately linked to everything from our diet to the global economy, yet they remain understudied. Despite the increasing appreciation of microbial life of late, the focus has largely been on bacteria, overlooking other groups including single-celled microbial eukaryotes. Microbial eukaryotes often go undetected by metagenomic investigations due to their highly divergent sequences, or in other cases the data may be left unanalyzed or even discarded due to how challenging assembly can be and limited reference materials.

Laura Walker, a postdoctoral fellow at University Washington, St. Louis, will discuss her research program, focused on the development of molecular approaches and utilization of genomic data to investigate the diversity and evolution of microbial eukaryotes and other interacting microbes.

This presentation is part of the Science and Mathematics Colloquium Series, organized at ASU Polytechnic campus by the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts Sciences and Arts.

Professor Cynthia Sagers

Faculty of Science and Mathematics

701-429-3905

csagers@gmail.com