The Vetsigian Group

Assistant Professor of Bacteriology

Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
Systems Biology Theme, Room 3116
330 N. Orchard Street

Office: (608) 316-4670
kalin@discovery.wisc.edu

Education
BS 2000 MIT
PhD 2005 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Postdoctoral Research: Harvard Medical School

Research Focus
Nothing in biology makes sense except in light of evolution. At the same time, little in evolution makes sense outside the community context. Due to phenotypic interactions and genetic exchange, both selection and mutation pressures on organisms depend on what other organisms are around. To improve our understanding of the collective aspects of evolution, the lab studies the dynamics of microbial interactions in natural and synthetic microbial communities. We are primarily focused on bacteria from the genus Streptomyces because they are prolific producers of secondary metabolites, which mediate interactions, and because the genetic determinants of these interactions are hierarchically modular and subject to horizontal gene transfer. We develop protocols for quantifying the community dynamics at the phenotypic and genetic levels, and seek simplified theoretical models that reproduce aspects of the experimentally measured dynamics.