Kjetill JakobsenCentre for Evolutionary and Ecological Synthesis (CEES) |
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The evolutionary dynamics of toxin genes in cyanobacteria |
| Our understanding of the biosynthetic pathways, the genes and gene clusters involved in the production of the diversity of toxic and bioactive compounds synthesized by cyanobacteria has boosted in the last decade. In particular, improved molecular methods and bioinformatics tools have made the pro-gress to proceed even faster very recently. In this talk I will focus on the molecular processes generating the diversity of secondary metabolites in cyanobacteria. I will present results illustrating the dynamics of non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) at the gene level and how this affects the diversity and stability of toxin production. In addition, our findings points towards essential roles of some secondary metabolites in creating population differentiation within a cyanobacterial "species". These findings and biological implications will be discussed. |
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Ort |
| 17.11.2008 15:00 Uhr Großer Hörsaal |
© IGB |