G. J. Velicer

The paper investigates pleiotropic effects of cheater mutations in Myxococcus xanthus, showing antagonistic, synergistic, and social pleiotropy can both promote and limit cheating alleles.

The paper tests for positive density dependence of growth under acid stress in five bacterial species and finds the Allee effect in all, with different mechanisms across species.

This study shows that ecological factors like surface stiffness and prey identity latently shape developmental traits in M. xanthus, affecting plasticity and canalization of multicellular development.

The paper shows that social interactions during multicellular development influence morphological evolution in Myxococcus xanthus, with antagonistic partners promoting more robust fruiting body formation.

This study examines behavioral interactions between predatory nematodes and bacteria in a synthetic microbial community, finding mutual behavioral influences and avoidance patterns.

The paper shows that allopatric divergence of cooperators reduces cheater spread by limiting the range of cooperators a defector can exploit and altering mutation effects on social traits.

This study shows that host quality can diversify latently during parasite-blind evolution, with selective environments and ancestral genotypes shaping this diversification.

This study shows Myxococcus bacteria can facultatively exploit social partners through simple non-responsive local competition rather than complex adaptive traits.

This paper studies how bacterial predator-prey interactions drive genome evolution and select for virulence-associated prey defenses.