Trade, Borrow, or Steal: How Acquired Metabolism Drives Evolution

Biology textbooks teach us that metabolism is hardwired into our genetic code, specifying how our cells can use different forms of energy. Yet many organisms defy this expectation by “acquiring” metabolism from other species within their lifetimes. Sometimes this is done through friendly exchanges; other times, through cellular theft.

In this Presidential Lecture, Holly Moeller will explore how these biological rule-breakers have transformed their ecology and opened the door for evolutionary innovation. She’ll discuss how metabolic mutualisms with belowground fungi enable trees to wear different “metabolic hats” for every occasion and how chloroplast-stealing microbes harness the power of sunlight to produce red tides. Along the way, she will explain how these acquisitions have allowed metabolism to jump from branch to branch on the tree of life, shaping the course of evolution in the deep past and today.

Moeller is an associate professor of ecology, evolution, and marine biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where her group works on acquired metabolism using a combination of mathematical modeling and laboratory experiments. Moeller is a New Jersey native whose interest in acquired metabolism was sparked at Rutgers University before she continued her graduate training at MIT, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Stanford University. Beyond her research lab, Moeller is also a “math evangelist” who teaches and writes about applications of mathematics in biology.