| From Early Cells to Multicellularity |
LIFE is a NASA Astrobiology Program Research Coordination Network, dedicated to understanding life from early cells to multicellularity. The LIFE Research Coordination Network (RCN) is pleased to host a virtual seminar series that will showcase the research of leaders and emerging leaders in the field of astrobiology.
The LIFE RCN Seminar Series is typically held the first Monday of every month from 1-2 PM EST and will consist of live-streamed short (30-40 min) talks followed by Q&A and discussion. This seminar series is open to all who share an interest in the co-evolution of life and the Earth from the appearance of the earliest cells to the advent of multicellularity.
Click here to join the LIFE mailing list. Connect on Twitter @LIFE_RCN. |
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| Monday, November 6th at 10AM PDT / 1PM EDT / 5PM UTC |
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| Dr. Anthony J. Burnetti Research Scientist Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Major molecular innovations circumvent the iron grip of oxygen limitations
The history of life on Earth is intimately intertwined with the history of oxygen in the atmosphere. While Earth’s atmosphere has been oxygenated for billions of years, a varied set of challenges has stood in the way of life making use of this oxygen for metabolic energy, especially in the context of multicellular groups which are widely considered to be oxygen-limited. During the Proterozoic, oxygen was too low for multicellular communities to drive the metabolism of their interior cells. After the Neoproterozoic oxygenation event, however, abundant oxygen existed but diffusional limitations prevented its use deep inside multicellular groups. Multiple strategies appear to have been employed allowing multicellular communities and organisms to exist during these periods – specifically, phototrophy during the Proterozoic, and facilitated oxygen diffusion by oxygen binding proteins during the Phanerozoic.
Using synthetic biology techniques, we have imported both of these mechanisms into the “snowflake yeast” model system to investigate how they affect the ecology and evolution of multicellular groups. By engineering yeast to contain both of these molecular innovations, we are exploring how they affect the physiology of multicellular groups and affect course of long-term evolution experiments and the physiology of aerobic respiration and energy metabolism in oxygen-limited environments. |
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