Professor Suegene Noh discussed her research in her talk entitled, “How Current Genomes are Shaped by Evolutionary Pasts”. Despite covering fairly complex material, I really appreciated Professor Noh’s effort to make the content accessible to a range of audiences. Additionally, as an environmental science major, my previous coursework helped prepare me to understand her lecture. Dr. Noh’s research focuses on Dictyostelium discoideum, a social amoeba, found in soil. The “dicty” aggregate into slug shaped forms during the winter. About 20% of the dicty at the head of the aggregation die while the other 80% turn into spores. She used genomic sequencing to compare the mRNA abundances of each gene sample from clonal samples and wild samples. By comparing chimera based up and chimera based down samples Dr. Noh found evidence to support her claim that the dicty positively select traits through evolution rather than through neutral evolution. She further studied the endosymbiotic relationship between dicty and Burkholderia. She found that over evolutionary time the more closely associated the burk and dicty become, they show distinct differences as a result of their relationship.
It’s fascinating to apply the theme of the presence of the past to scientific findings. Many of the other lectures in this series have focused on either the social sciences or literary studies. Over time, scientists like Dr. Noh have identified evidence supporting evolutionary and adaptive changes over time. Thus, the historical origins of older species are present in a changed/evolved way today. It’s really incredible to see how adaptive organisms can be to their environments. The fact that the dicty she studied changed in size as a response to their relationship with the burk is pretty amazing- especially given the relatively short time period considered (compared to geological time scales of millions and billions of years). The effect of the historical origins and treatments was really highlighted by Chris Walker’s question. Professor Walker asked about Dr. Noh’s motivation for studying wild dicty. She explained that many scientists use lab grown/cultivated samples of dicty but, these samples, over time, adapt to the lab conditions. By using a wild strain Professor Noh attempts to remove a specific bred, component of the past from affecting the results of her research. By removing a controlled component of the past Dr. Noh is able to better see the changes in the organisms she studies. However, she’s also able to use the existing research about those lab-grown dicty samples as a control in her research.
I was inspired by how modern, and groundbreaking Professor Noh’s research is. By using the fairly new study of genomics, Professor Noh is able to study the burk and dicty at an extremely precise level. Her research likely would not have been possible 20 years ago. It’s cool to know that such a present and active field of research is being conducted on Colby’s campus.