About
Nancy Moran
University of Texas
2506 Speedway
NMS 4.216, Stop A5000
Austin, TX 78712
Abstract:
Animals are associated with communities of microorganisms that can have a major influence on the evolution and phenotypes of their hosts. The extent to which these microbial lineages coevolve with hosts and with each other is often unclear, as are the kinds of genetic changes that accompany this evolution. Social bees are associated with a set of well-defined and host-restricted bacterial lineages that make up the gut microbiota. The results presented address the extent to which these have evolved along with their hosts, how they affect host biology, and the kinds of genetic changes that have accompanied this evolution.