How many genes can a species lose and still stay alive? It turns out, bacteria can lose just about all of them!
In this podcast, I talk to Nancy Moran of Yale University about her fascinating work on the microbes that live inside insects such as aphids and cicadas. After millions of years, they have become stripped down creatures that are revealing some profound lessons about how superfluous most genes are--at least if you live inside a host.
Recent Publications:
Bacterial genes in the aphid genome: absence of functional gene transfer from Buchnera to its host
Symbiosis and insect diversification: an ancient symbiont of sap-feeding insects from the bacterial phylum Bacteroidetes