Projects

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  Evolutionary ecology of symbiosis using microbial mark-recapture

  Core Project

  Researchers use molecular barcoding to study Rhizobium leguminosarum evolution, focusing on interactions with clover hosts and soil under nitrogen addition and phage parasitism.

Publications

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  Vereau Gorbitz et al., 2025

  Vereau Gorbitz, D., Schwarz, C., McMullen, J. G., Cerón-Romero, M., Doyle, R. T., Lau, J. A., Whitaker, R. J., Vanderpool, C. K., & Heath, K. (2025). Plasmid transmission dynamics and evolution of partner quality in a natural population of Rhizobium leguminosarum. mBio 0:e02497-25.

  https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02497-25
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  Hill et al., 2024

  Hill, C. A., McMullen, J. G., & Lennon, J. T. (2024). Nitrogen enrichment alters selection on rhizobial genes. bioRxiv.

  https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.25.625319
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  Heath et al., 2022

  Heath, K. D., Batstone, R. T., Cerón Romero, M., & McMullen, J. G. (2022). MGEs as the MVPs of partner quality variation in legume-Rhizobium symbiosis. mBio, 13(4).

  https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00888-22
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  McMullen & Lennon, 2022

  McMullen, II, J. G., & Lennon, J. T. (2022). Mark‐recapture of microorganisms. Environmental Microbiology, 25(1), 150-157.

  https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.16267