Molecular Microbial Ecology
The focus of our research group is on basic questions on bacterial ecology and evolution: on the biological significance of phenotypic heterogeneity in clonal populations, on interactions within and between species, and on how bacteria cope with ever-changing environments. Our goal is to work on basic principles with model systems in the laboratory, and then to test these principles in more natural situations.
The group often works at the
level of single cells, and asks how this perspective provides insights that
could not be obtained by population experiments. One of the current specific
interests is on how stochastic gene expression can promote the emergence of
different phenotypes in clonal populations, and in how this shapes interactions
within and between different strains and species.