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This week we will have a seminar from our own Jason Kearsley.

There will be coffee and snacks before the seminar. Please bring your own mug.

Thursday 4:00PM, MDCL 3023 and on zoom (Passcode: cElegans)

All living organisms require a source of reduced nitrogen. However, the only organisms capable of reducing nitrogen gas to ammonia (nitrogen-fixation) are certain bacteria and archaea, some of whom form symbiotic relationships with plants. It is of significant agricultural and environmental interest to understand the genes involved in the formation of N₂-fixing symbioses. One method of approaching this understanding is to establish a minimal genome that is still capable of forming an effective symbiotic relationship with its host. In this seminar, I will discuss my synthetic biology approaches to identify the minimal genetic components of the model bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti that are required for the formation of N₂-fixing root nodules on legumes. This work has importance in advancing our understanding of symbiotic biological N₂-fixation that will hopefully culminate in decreasing our reliance on nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture.