PhD defense: Microbial Evolution on a Virtual Grain of Sand

The microbial world is astonishingly diverse. Even a single soil particle, that has to be sampled with the tip of a needle, contains up to hundreds of different strains or species. Where does all this diversity come from, and how is it maintained on an area smaller than a grain of sand?

In my thesis, I describe our work on the ecology and evolution of micro-organisms. Instead of going into the laboratory, however, we study these systems by designing "virtual laboratories", in which we implement the most important aspects of what microbes must do to survive and reproduce. By studying these models, in which microbes live on a virtual grain of sand, we can one day better understand what happens in the lakes and soils around us.