Project 7
The origins of organismal complexity

Led by Charlie Cornwallis & Per Lundberg

This experimental project seeks to identify factors that promote the transition from single- to multi-cellularity using comparative analysis of single-celled and multicellular species of algae, fungi and cyanobacteria. Chlamydomonas, a green algae that can exist in uni- and multi-cellular states, is used to determine the contribution of developmental bias to multicellularity.

Blog posts

Research project 7: The origins of organismal complexity
Falkenberg KJ. 6 Feb 2017.

EES predictions this project tests

i. phenotypic accommodation can precede, rather than follow, genetic change, in adaptive evolution
iii. novel, evolutionarily consequential, phenotypic variants will frequently be environmentally induced in multiple individuals
v. repeated evolution in isolated populations may be due to convergent selection and/or developmental bias
viii. taxonomic diversity will sometimes be better explained by features of developmental systems (evolvability, constraints) than features of environments