BRS: Holly Moeller "Trade, Borrow, or Steal: How acquired metabolism creates ecological opportunity and fuels evolutionary innovation"

host: Jason Pither

Abstract: While biologists typically think of an organism's metabolism as hard-wired in its DNA, in reality a vast array of species gain access to additional forms of metabolism through interactions with other species. This acquired metabolism can be obtained through interactions ranging from mutualism to predation, creating opportunities for niche expansion and, ultimately, evolutionary diversification. I'll focus on two examples of acquired metabolism--tree-fungal mutualisms and chloroplast-stealing marine microbes--to illustrate how these metabolic exchanges create and maintain diversity on our planet.