Moran Lab Research

green and pink pea aphids

My long-term interests are in the biology of symbiosis, particularly that between multicellular hosts and microbes. Symbioses are central in the evolution of complexity, have evolved many times and are critical to the lifestyles of many animals and plants and also to whole ecosystems, in which symbiotic organisms are key players. The primary reason that symbiosis research is suddenly active, after decades at the margins of mainstream biology, is that DNA technology and genomics give us enormous new ability to discover symbiont diversity, and more significantly, to reveal how microbial metabolic capabilities contribute to the functioning of hosts and biological communities.

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LAB NEWS

  • Congratulations to Zheng Li (Postdoctoral Fellow) on his new position of Assistant Professor at Miami University in Ohio. (August 2024)
  • Congratulations to Korin Jones (Stengl Wyer Scholar & Postdoctoral Fellow), on being awarded "Postdoc Talk Award" at the 9th Conference on Beneficial Microbes in Madison, WI. (July 2024)
  • Congratulations to graduate student, Laila Phillips on being awarded a University Graduate Continuing Fellowship. (June 2024)

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