Prof. Dr. Gregory Velicer

Research area

We investigate a conceptually diverse range of questions regarding how social behavior among microbes evolves, in ecological context and molecular detail, using several research approaches. Our research addresses questions of general conceptual interest but empirically focuses on the myxobacteria, which have evolved some of the most sophisticated social behaviors found among microorganisms. These behaviors include social motility, coordinated predation of many other microbes and cooperative construction of multicellular fruiting bodies.