MyxoEE-9 to MyxoEE-15 have been conducted and are being studied; some are previewed below.
And more MyxoEEs are planned…
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New MyxoEEs
Temporary names have been given to these MyxoEEs until their MyxoEE numbers are assigned upon publication of the first paper from each.
MyxoEE-Community
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While natural microbial communities commonly contain several dozens or hundreds of species, lab experiments usually focus on one or two species.
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MyxoEE-Community was designed to investigate the relative importance of species richness, species identity and interaction type for community ecology and evolution, with a focus on predator-prey interactions.
MyxoEE-Apex
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Many organisms evolve under selective pressure exerted by both predators that kill and consume them and prey that they kill and consume.
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MyxoEE-Apex was designed to test how M. xanthus as a bacterial mesopredator - a predator at an intermediate level in a food chain - evolves in the presence vs absence of both a species it consumes as prey (E. coli) and a nematode (Pristionchus pacificus) that, as apex pedator, kills both the mesopredator and the basal prey. M. xanthus evolved in environments of all possible species combinations; the other parties were not allowed to evolve.
MyxoEE-Zymo Biocontrol
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Predatory bacteria may serve well as biocontrol agents (BCAs), for example against Zymoseptoria tritici, one of the most globally destructive pathogens of wheat crops. Experimental evolution might enhance their effectiveness as BCAs, as well as help identify and evolve novel antibiotics synthesized by the predators.
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MyxoEE-Zymo Biocontrol was designed to test whether both myxobacteria and whole microbial communities can be selected in a laboratory setting to more effectively kill the major fungal wheat pathogen Z. tritici grown on wheat straw.
MyxoEE-Migrate I & II
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The level of migration between social groups of the same species of cooperative orgnanisms is a major determinant of how they evolve.
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MyxoEE-Migrate was designed to test how different levels of migration affect the evolution of diversity within M. xanthus social groups, including the degree of such diversity and its genetic and behavioral character .
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Two versions of MyxoEE-Migrate were run that were similar in overall design but differed in their initial genotype composition. In one version, physically separate social groups within a treatment were all founded from a clonal culture of a single genotype and were thus initially identical. In the other version, distinct social groups on the same plate were founded by genetically distinct and internally diverse clone sets that were each composed of strains co-isolated from the same natural fruiting body group.