Bdelloid rotifers: unveiling the mystery of an evolutionary scandal

Add to your list(s) Download to your calendar using vCal

• Chiara Boschetti (University of Cambridge)
• Wednesday 26 November 2014, 13:00-14:00
• Part II Lecture Theatre, Department of Zoology.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Jeremy Solly.

Bdelloid rotifers are small aquatic invertebrates mainly famous for their ability to survive harsh environmental conditions, like extreme water loss or ionizing radiation, and for their status as ancient asexuals. Different explanations have been suggested to account for their extreme resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, but the recent publications of their transcriptome and draft genome point to a previously unforeseen mechanism. As many as 10% of their active genes have been acquired by horizontal gene transfer from other organisms which are not direct ancestors, and at least some of them are likely to participate to stress response strategies. I will explore bdelloids’ unusual characteristics and our most recent findings to support this idea, and link them to our current understanding of evolution.

This talk is part of the Evolution and Development Seminar Series series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• All Talks (aka the CURE list)
• Biology
• Centre for Health Leadership and Enterprise
• DevBio
• Evolution and Development Seminar Series
• Featured lists
• Graduate-Seminars
• Life Sciences
• Life Sciences
• ME Seminar
• Museums in Cambridge
• Neurons, Fake News, DNA and your iPhone: The Mathematics of Information
• PMRFPS's
• Part II Lecture Theatre, Department of Zoology
• ji247's list
• my_list
• other talks

Note that ex-directory lists are not shown.