Project Details
Projekt
Evolution under environmental stress: Patterns of adaptation in natural bacterial populations
Applicant
Dr. Johannes Sikorski
Subject Area
Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
Term
from 2006 to 2012
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 27583473
A deepend knowledge on the evolutionary adaptation dynamics of bacteria under environmental stress in natural habitats is highly desired, specifically when facing the massed recurrent emergence of infectious diseases. This project approaches these dynamics from both a perspective of high academictheoretic and of high applied clinical value. A recent initial study of a model population of Bacillus simplex (Sikorski and Nevo, PNAS 2005), characterized by a well developed genetic adaptive structure to the microclimatically strongly contrasting habitats of the slopes of Evolution Canyon , is highly suited to explore deeply the adaptive dynamics to environmental stress by, e.g., comparing them to present cognitions from mathematical studies and computer simulations. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogenic bacterium with high infectious potential for humans and that resides naturally in habitats such as aquatic systems. This study approaches to determine the population genetic structure and evolution of environmental P. aeruginosa populations, which since long has been neglected. It is expected that the thorough comparison of environmental to clinical isolates will aid in designing new stragies to fight P. aeruginosa.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
USA
