<description>&lt;header class="entry-header clearfix"&gt; &lt;h1 class="entry-title"&gt;Matters Microbial #129: Microbes Reveal How Evolution Might Replay&lt;/h1&gt; &lt;span class="mini-title"&gt;May 5, 2026&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/header&gt; &lt;div class="entry-content"&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Today Dr. Michael Travisano, Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the College of Biological Sciences of the University of Minnesota, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss fascinating work from his lab group exploring evolutionary questions from a microbial perspective.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Host: &lt;a href= "https://www.pugetsound.edu/directory/mark-martin"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mark O. Martin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Guest&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a title="" href= "https://toryhendry.weebly.com/"&gt;: &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a title="" href= "https://cbs.umn.edu/directory/michael-travisano"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Michael Travisano&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Subscribe: &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/matters-microbial/id1701545625"&gt;Apple Podcasts&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href= "https://open.spotify.com/show/22BQtkxh56Dy7xRW7yAYvC?si=4c093f07fdaa4e27"&gt;Spotify&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Become a &lt;a href= "https://www.microbe.tv/contribute"&gt;patron&lt;/a&gt; of Matters Microbial!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 id="links-for-this-episode" class="wp-block-heading"&gt;Links for this episode&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;ul class="wp-block-list"&gt; &lt;li&gt;Here is the &lt;a href= "https://www.nature.com/articles/27900"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; to the article we discussed during the podcast, authored by Dr. Travisano and Dr. Rainey.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;An &lt;a href= "https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/adaptive-radiation"&gt;overview&lt;/a&gt; of the concept of adaptive radiation.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The ecological/evolutionary concept of "&lt;a href= "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2722019/"&gt;cheating&lt;/a&gt;" which applies to the mat forming &lt;a href= "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982219302660"&gt;bacteria&lt;/a&gt; discussed in this podcast.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;A &lt;a href= "https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.02846-18"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; to an article by Dr. Jo Handelsman and colleagues about THOR, a simple microbial community that has shows great functional diversity.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;A wonderful &lt;a href= "https://www.quantamagazine.org/long-term-evolution-the-richard-lenski-interview-20161103/"&gt;essay&lt;/a&gt; about Dr. Rich Lenski's role in the &lt;a href= "https://the-ltee.org/about/"&gt;LTEE&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;An &lt;a href= "https://smallthingsconsidered.blog/schaechter/2016/03/the-red-queen-running-uphill/"&gt;essay&lt;/a&gt; from "&lt;em&gt;Small Things Considered&lt;/em&gt;" describing "rewinding" evolution using microbial systems.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;A wonderful &lt;a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Wonderful-Life-Burgess-Nature-History/dp/039330700X"&gt;book&lt;/a&gt; by Stephen Jay Gould, "&lt;em&gt;Wonderful Life&lt;/em&gt;" about evolution.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Another &lt;a href= "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26558946/"&gt;book&lt;/a&gt; well worth your attention:  "&lt;em&gt;Chance and Necessity&lt;/em&gt;" by Jacques Monod.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;An &lt;a href= "https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-mystery-of-the-missing-multicellular-prokaryotes-20240502/"&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; about the challenges of multicellularity in bacteria.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The wonderful short &lt;a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVGHr6MHapo"&gt;video&lt;/a&gt; example of "snowflake yeast" evolving within days.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;A &lt;a href= "https://youtu.be/woKKGBRdg6k?si=ahfJAsZBZl2JQstl"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt; to another #MattersMicrobial podcast by Dr Will Ratcliff, about "snowflake yeast."&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;An &lt;a href= "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.00141/full"&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; by Dr. Travisano and colleagues describing conflict and cooperation in microbial societies discussed on this podcast.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;An &lt;a href= "https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1115323109"&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; by Dr. Travisano and colleagues about the evolution of "snowflake yeast," discussed on this podcast.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;An &lt;a href= "https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/290/2007/20231055/104216"&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; by Dr. Travisano and colleagues discussing the role of other microbes in the development of multicellularity, discussed on this podcast. &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;An &lt;a href= "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0014184"&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; by Dr. Travisano and colleagues, on the repeatability of microbial adaptive evolution discussed on this podcast.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;A list of &lt;a href= "https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&amp;user=JrdvhcQAAAAJ&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;sortby=pubdate"&gt;references&lt;/a&gt; authored by Dr. Travisano and colleagues.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Dr. Travisano's &lt;a href= "https://cbs.umn.edu/directory/michael-travisano"&gt;faculty website&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;p&gt;Intro music is by Reber Clark&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt;</description>

Matters Microbial

Mark O. Martin

Matters Microbial #129: Microbes Reveal How Evolution Might Replay

MAY 5, 202667 MIN
Matters Microbial

Matters Microbial #129: Microbes Reveal How Evolution Might Replay

MAY 5, 202667 MIN

Description

Matters Microbial #129: Microbes Reveal How Evolution Might Replay May 5, 2026 Today Dr. Michael Travisano, Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the College of Biological Sciences of the University of Minnesota, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss fascinating work from his lab group exploring evolutionary questions from a microbial perspective. Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: Michael Travisano Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode Here is the link to the article we discussed during the podcast, authored by Dr. Travisano and Dr. Rainey. An overview of the concept of adaptive radiation. The ecological/evolutionary concept of "cheating" which applies to the mat forming bacteria discussed in this podcast. A link to an article by Dr. Jo Handelsman and colleagues about THOR, a simple microbial community that has shows great functional diversity. A wonderful essay about Dr. Rich Lenski's role in the LTEE. An essay from "Small Things Considered" describing "rewinding" evolution using microbial systems. A wonderful book by Stephen Jay Gould, "Wonderful Life" about evolution. Another book well worth your attention: "Chance and Necessity" by Jacques Monod. An article about the challenges of multicellularity in bacteria. The wonderful short video example of "snowflake yeast" evolving within days. A link to another #MattersMicrobial podcast by Dr Will Ratcliff, about "snowflake yeast." An article by Dr. Travisano and colleagues describing conflict and cooperation in microbial societies discussed on this podcast. An article by Dr. Travisano and colleagues about the evolution of "snowflake yeast," discussed on this podcast. An article by Dr. Travisano and colleagues discussing the role of other microbes in the development of multicellularity, discussed on this podcast. An article by Dr. Travisano and colleagues, on the repeatability of microbial adaptive evolution discussed on this podcast. A list of references authored by Dr. Travisano and colleagues. Dr. Travisano's faculty website. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to [email protected]