Forney Lab: Research
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Research done in the
laboratory focuses on the ecology of prokaryotic organisms. The
overall aim of the program is to better understand adaptive evolution
in various species of Eubacteria and Archaea, and factors that
influence the outcome of competition in various habitats. This
is integrated with studies on the diversity found within species, and
investigations to characterize the temporal and spatial patterns of
diversity in microbial communities. All of the research projects
that are done in some way address the question: "Who wins, and why?" |
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Community Diversity
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Biogeography
and Populations Genetics
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Genomic fingerprinting and phylogenetic analyses of
metabolic genes are used to characterize the
biogeography and
population genetics of prokaryotes, with a particular emphasis on the
genetic diversity found within species and how various chemical and
physical characteristics of an environment influence the
maintenance
of diversity and the spatial patterns observed.
These studies employ rep-PCR genomic DNA fingerprinting to assess
differences in genome structure, and data from DNA sequencing of
structural genes and are used to assess the phylogeny of populations
and genes that may be horizontally transferred.
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In addition, other studies are done to assess the
tempo of evolution in prokaryotes, with a focus on understanding the
role of genome plasticity (via asexual recombination) and possible
regulation of mutation rates in response to changes in cellular growth
rate and stress. These studies employ reporter gene fusions to measure
the expression of genes involved in genetic recombination and
cellular
stress response, and genome arrays to compare global patterns of gene
expression under various growth conditions.
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Views from around the Lab
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Interested in working with us?
Please go to the Lab Openings page.
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