Peter Kuhlman

Broadly, my research interests lie in the area of Molecular Evolution. Specifically, I'm interested in the rates at which biological macromolecules evolve and the forces that constrain the rate of evolution of individual molecules — both at the level of the molecule and the organism.

Currently, my research group is focused on understanding the molecular mechanism underlying one particular biological phenomenon, with the eventual aim of characterizing the forces that constrain its development and maintenance. Our organism of interest is the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, known to its friends as “dicty”. Dicty amoebae spend most of their lives as solitary individuals, eating bacteria in the soil. When their population density rises and food becomes scarce, however, the dicty gather together in great cell masses — tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of cells — and differentiate into a multi-cellular organism. The resulting “slug” has a head and tail and rudimentary “organ” systems, and climbs towards the light and heat of the soil surface. Once there, some of the cells commit suicide to form a sort of a ladder from their cell skeletons; the remaining cells climb up that ladder, further differentiate into spores, and get dispersed into new habitats that may offer better conditions for life. If that wasn’t remarkable enough, recent studies have shown that a subset of wild dicty cells will actually initiate the social stage of their lifecycle Before they run out of food bacteria, and package up some of the surrounding bacteria to disperse with the spores into their new habitats. This has been described as the most primitive form of farming in the biological world.

Our group is investigating the biochemical basis of this “farming” behavior — how it works mechanistically, and what triggers it. If you find this intriguing and want to learn more, I encourage you to email me or stop by to chat!