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DTSTAMP:20261017T181345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200403T133525Z
DTSTART:20200406T183000Z
DTEND:20200406T193000Z
UID:event2324@bu.edu
URL:http://physics.bu.edu/internal/events/show/2324
SUMMARY:Eco-evolutionary dynamics of microbial populations with heterogeneo
	us growth and dispersal
DESCRIPTION:Featuring Ashish Bino George\, Boston University\, Physics Depa
	rtment\n\nPart of the Departmental Seminars.\n\nUnderstanding eco-evolution
	ary dynamics in bacterial colonies\, cancer tumors\, and the human\nmicrobi
	ome is vital for many health\, energy\, and agricultural applications. Howe
	ver\, spatial structure and population heterogeneity make this challenging.
	 My research examines the evolutionary consequences of cell shape asymmetry
	 and phenotypic heterogeneity in spatially expanding populations.\n\nFirst\
	, I examine the evolutionary effect of chiral cell shape in bacterial\, hum
	an\, and cancer cells. I will present a minimal model of chiral growth that
	 quantitatively reproduces experimental patterns in bacterial colonies. The
	 model shows that cells can invade by either increasing their chirality or 
	switching their handedness. To understand how chirality mediates competitio
	n\, we derived a general effective theory of chiral growth. The theory reve
	als that selection occurs due to coupling of the dynamics of the expanding 
	colony edge and the population dynamics at the edge.\n\nSecond\, I describe
	 a growing bacterial colony\, composed of phenotypes with distinct growth a
	nd migration strategies. I show that coordinated phenotypic switching in a 
	cooperative population reproduces periodic\, pulsed expansions observed in 
	P. mirabilis colonies\, and discuss implied evolutionary tradeoffs. \nI con
	clude by presenting ongoing work on the assembly of complex microbial commu
	nities optimized to perform a specific function like producing biofuel or t
	reating disease. I will describe a framework for community optimization and
	 methods to help bioengineers estimate the difficulty of searching for an o
	ptimal community. \n\n\n\nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://zoom.us/j/433892652\n\
	nMeeting ID: 433 892 652
LOCATION: \, \, 
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CLASS:PUBLIC
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