Retracing the Evolutionary Steps Toward Symbiosis

The "Retracing the Evolutionary Steps Toward Symbiosis" lecture is part of the Microbiomes Presidential Lecture Series in Biology.

The biosphere is a network of interacting species that connects organisms across all scales, from microbes to mammals. Knowledge of the mechanisms underlying these relationships, and the evolutionary forces that shape them, is fragmentary.

In this lecture, Joe Parker will describe how his lab pioneered the study of rove beetles as a model clade to break open basic problems in organismal interactions. While most of the 66,000 rove beetle species are free-living predators, hundreds of lineages have transformed into symbiotic organisms specialized for life as imposters within the complex societies of ants. The widespread, convergent evolution of this form of symbiosis, combined with the experimental tractability of both free-living and symbiotic rove beetles, provides a virtuoso system for understanding both how and why novel ecological relationships are forged by evolution. Parker will discuss how his lab’s work on rove beetles is creating an integrated picture of how species recognize and interact with each other, illuminating the conditions that predispose such interactions to emerge, and pinpointing forces that shape the evolutionary path towards obligate and highly intimate relationships between species.

Originally from Wales in the United Kingdom, Parker is a lifelong entomologist who transformed a childhood interest in beetles into his laboratory’s research program. He obtained a B.Sc. in zoology from Imperial College London, a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University before joining Caltech in 2017. His lab is pioneering the study of rove beetles and their interactions with social insects to understand how relationships between species emerge during evolution.

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SCHEDULE

Doors open: 5:30 p.m. (No entrance before 5:30 p.m.)

Lecture: 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (Admittance closes at 6:20 p.m.)

The Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and offers accessible seating to visitors with special access needs.

The theme of the 2023 Simons Foundation Presidential Lecture series in biology is Microbiomes. Microscopic lifeforms live just about everywhere on Earth — in the deep ocean, suspended in the atmosphere and even in our planet’s interior. Microbial communities can even thrive within plants and animals, affecting the biology and biochemistry inside their hosts. On the environmental scale, microbial communities profoundly impact food chains, biogeochemical cycling and climate. This series of talks will explore microbiomes and their roles in specific hosts and environments.