Manoshi Datta

Microbial communities have a profound influence on nearly every aspect of our lives. Nonetheless, while bacterial demography transpires on the microscale, most studies of microbial communities are performed at meter-level resolution. As a result of this mismatch of scales, the forces that shape microbial communities are difficult to discern.  In collaboration with Martin Polz’s lab at MIT, I hope to develop a model system that will enable high-throughput, microscale characterization of microbial communities. With this system, I plan to study the effect of biotic interactions on microbial community assembly.

Natural populations throughout the tree of life undergo range expansions in response to changes in the environment. In this study, we used a yeast experimental system to explore the effect of range expansions on cooperation, which is widespread in nature, but whose existence remains an evolutionary enigma. We found that range expansions favor cooperation in two ways: (i) through the enrichment of cooperators at the front of the expanding population and (ii) by allowing cooperators to “outrun” an invading wave of defectors.