ABOUT THIS EPISODE
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
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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 mattersmicrobial@gmail.com
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