K. Hammerschmidt

Unicellular cyanobacteria rely on sodium energetics to fix N2

This study shows that unicellular cyanobacteria rely on sodium energetics for N2 fixation, which may explain their low abundance in coastal waters due to insufficient NaCl levels.

Bet hedging in a unicellular microalga

The paper demonstrates bet hedging in the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis through reversible phenotypic diversification into mobile and non-mobile subunits, enhancing population persistence under environmental stress.

Stability of Ecologically Scaffolded Traits During Evolutionary Transitions in Individuality

The paper investigates how traits developed under ecological scaffolding can persist after scaffolding conditions are removed, using mathematical models to identify conditions for endogenisation.

Phenotypic plasticity, life cycles and the evolutionary transition to multicellularity

The paper identifies an environmentally driven facultative multicellular life cycle in Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142, showing that filament dissolution is triggered by environmental changes and modeled as a density-dependent sensing system.

Tradeoff breaking as model of evolutionary transitions in individuality and the limits of the fitness decoupling metaphor

The paper shows that fitness decoupling in evolutionary transitions is impossible and proposes tradeoff-breaking as a better marker for these transitions.

The order of trait emergence in the evolution of cyanobacterial multicellularity

This paper examines the evolution of cyanobacterial multicellularity, finding nitrogen fixation as the primary driver that enabled the transition from unicellular to multicellular forms through metabolic specialization and division of labor.

Life history tradeoffs, division of labor and evolutionary transitions in individuality

The paper presents a theoretical model examining how life-history tradeoffs influence reproductive division of labor during evolutionary transitions in individuality.

Exploring the niche concept in a simple metaorganism

The paper applies the niche concept and trait-based approaches to study microbial community assembly in Hydra, finding that microbial interactions influence community structure beyond individual traits.

Meta-population structure and the evolutionary transition to multicellularity

The paper shows that structured environments favor the evolution of multicellularity by maintaining group and dispersal phase discreteness in bacterial populations.

Microbial species coexistence depends on the host environment

This study shows that microbial species coexistence in Hydra depends on the host environment, not just intrinsic interactions, with Duganella outcompeting Curvibacter in vitro but coexisting on the host.

Vocal convergence in a multi-level primate society: insights into the evolution of vocal learning

The paper examines vocal convergence in Guinea baboons, finding that acoustic similarity in grunts correlates with social interactions rather than genetic relatedness, suggesting an implicit form of vocal learning.

Experimental evolution of nascent multicellularity: Recognizing a Darwinian transition in individuality

The paper examines an experimental evolution study of multicellularity in Pseudomonas fluorescens, arguing that bacterial groups developed Darwinian properties enabling group-level adaptation.