Caltech Geobiology

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A weekly group discussing geobiology-related journal articles.

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Upcoming Events

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Past Events

2009

Thu 17 Dec

Journal Article Discussion

Sorry for the late notice, but yes, there will be breakfast tomorrow at journal club! We have a special pre-winter break breakfast, so be there a few minutes early to take advantage.

A "silent" polymorphism in the MDR1 gene changes substrate specificity. Kimchi-Sarfaty C (2007) Science.

Thu 10 Dec

Journal Article Discussion

Did an ancient chlamydial endosymbiosis facilitate the establishment of primary plastids?. Huang Jinling (2007) Genome Biol.

Thu 03 Dec

Journal Article Discussion

We will have breakfast this week.

Gene Transfer and Diversification of Microbial Eukaryotes. Andersson Jan O. (2009) Annu. Rev. Microbiol..

Thu 12 Nov

Journal Article Discussion

No breakfast this week.

Experimental evolution of bet hedging. Beaumont HJ (2009) Nature.

Thu 05 Nov

Journal Article Discussion

This week we will discuss a paper comparing six E. coli genomes sampled during a 40,000 generation (20 year!) laboratory culture, offering a unique opportunity to investigate genomic evolution and organismal adaptation. We will have bagels for breakfast courtesy of the GSC.

Genome evolution and adaptation in a long-term experiment with Escherichia coli. Barrick Jeffrey E (2009) Nature.

Thu 29 Oct

Journal Article Discussion

There will be no breakfast provided this week. Note that two versions of this week's article are listed. I would recommend reading the Nature Reviews Microbiology version.

Explaining microbial population genomics through phage predation. Rodriguez-Valera Francisco (2009) Nature Precedings.

Explaining microbial population genomics through phage predation. Rodriguez-Valera Francisco (2009) Nat Rev Micro.

Thu 22 Oct

Journal Article Discussion

There will be bagels this week.

Intracellular transport by active diffusion. Brangwynne Clifford P. (2009) Trends in Cell Biology.

Thu 15 Oct

Journal Article Discussion

For those of you not on the general Caltech geobiology list, sorry for the late notice. Also, if you would prefer not to receive email notifications when events are created in journalfire, you can change your settings by going to the "my membership" tab on the Caltech Geobiology journalfire homepage.

An Acidic Matrix Protein, Pif, Is a Key Macromolecule for Nacre Formation. Suzuki M. (2009) Science.

Thu 08 Oct

Journal Article Discussion

Note the 8:00 AM time. There will be no bagels this week. Since it came up in our last meeting, I wanted to point out the ways you can add articles to our group site. We encourage everyone to suggest articles (by putting them in our "Suggested" folder, or comment on whether or not suggested articles look like good choices for discussion. TO ADD AN ARTICLE: When you sign in, you are on the journalfire home page. If you start typing a title, author, or DOI into the top field where is says "Find...

Anoxygenic photosynthesis modulated Proterozoic oxygen and sustained Earth's middle age. Johnston D. T. (2009) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Thu 01 Oct

Journal Article Discussion

Note the switch in time. There will be bagels courtesy of the GSC.

An epistatic ratchet constrains the direction of glucocorticoid receptor evolution. Bridgham JT (2009) Nature.

Thu 24 Sep

Journal Article Discussion

Photosystem I gene cassettes are present in marine virus genomes. Sharon Itai (2009) Nature.

Thu 17 Sep

Journal Article Discussion

We will have bagels this week for breakfast, courtesy of the GSC.

The cycling and redox state of nitrogen in the Archaean ocean. Godfrey Linda V. (2009) Nature Geosci.

Thu 10 Sep

Journal Article Discussion

Despite slow catalysis and confused substrate specificity, all ribulose bisphosphate carboxylases may be nearly perfectly optimized. Tcherkez GG (2006) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.

Thu 03 Sep

Journal Article Discussion

The Commentary piece by Tim Lyons will not be the focus of the discussion but may be helpful in understanding the context of the Canfield paper.

Animal evolution, bioturbation, and the sulfate concentration of the oceans. Canfield D. E. (2009) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The worm turned, and the ocean followed. Lyons T. W. (2009) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Thu 27 Aug

Journal Article Discussion

Evidence for an early prokaryotic endosymbiosis. Lake James A. (2009) Nature.

Thu 20 Aug

Journal Article Discussion

There will be bagels this week.

The hedgehog signaling pathway: where did it come from?. Hausmann G (2009) PLoS Biol.

Thu 13 Aug

Journal Article Discussion

This is a no-breakfast week.

Membrane lipids of mesophilic anaerobic bacteria thriving in peats have typical archaeal traits. Weijers Johan W. H. (2006) Environ Microbiol.

Thu 06 Aug

Journal Article Discussion

This week will we tackle an unresolved problem in biology: how do we define species? Although assigning definitions to terms may seem trivial, the assumptions we make in microbiology about metabolism based on 16S rRNA identity (species) are highly dependent on this definition. The paper we will discuss finds great genotypic diversity within a single species from a single environment, begging the question: what is a species, after all? Two additional articles exploring this issue, one comparing...

Genotypic diversity within a natural coastal bacterioplankton population. Thompson JR (2005) Science.

Thu 30 Jul

Journal Article Discussion

Note that we are still on the summer start time of 9:30 am.

CaCO3 nucleation by cyanobacteria: laboratory evidence for a passive, surface-induced mechanism. Obst M (2009) Geobiology.