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SUMMARY:Plenary Lecture 11: The evolution of groups and microbial collecti
 ves - de Monte\, S (cole Normale Suprieure)
DTSTART:20141031T112500Z
DTEND:20141031T115500Z
UID:TALK55845@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Mustapha Amrani
DESCRIPTION:Co-authors: Thomas Garcia (IBENS\, Paris)\, Paul Rainey (NZIAS
 \, Auckland/MPI\, Ploen) \n\nMicrobial populations display a number of col
 lective forms of organization\, some of which have been integrated into co
 mplex life cycles. For instance\, clusters or flakes of cells confer prote
 ction against stress to yeast and bacteria\, swarming powers collective fo
 raging in Myxobacteria\, and recurrent aggregation of sparse cells allows 
 the development of fruiting bodies in Myxobacteria and social amoebas. In 
 this talk\, I will present different ways natural selection can drive the 
 evolution of groups composed of replicating particles. In particular\, I w
 ill focus on settings when collectives are composed of particles of two ty
 pes\, which provide different contributions to collective functionality. A
  classical conundrum associated with such systems is that functional colle
 ctives exist\, in spite of the disruptive effects of free-riding on groups
  composed of cooperative particles. I will use mathematical models that ta
 ke explicitly into account the process of group formation to show that the
  evolution of functional collectives can stem from simple features of the 
 composing particles\, such as differential stickiness. However\, something
  more is required if selection is to shift to the collective level. In con
 cluding\, I will discuss the value of a mechanistic perspective on the evo
 lutionary emergence of multicellular life forms.\n
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Newton Institute
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