Sam Brown, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, UoE:

Molecular, ecological and evolutionary dynamics of bacterial communication 

Bacteria are highly social organisms, able to modify their behaviour in the light of changes in their social and physical environment. In this talk I will present work in progress on the molecular dynamics and functional significance of chemical communication (termed 'quorum-sensing') in the model bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. I will ask - what inferences can bacteria draw from changes in their signal environment? How does evolution shape their signal and response strategies? How can we perturb bacterial communication in order to control pathogenic behaviour? Can we make 'evolution-proof' control strategies? The talk will include a mix of approaches, including simple ODE models, agent-based simulations, experimental signal manipulation and bio-informatic analyses.