Symbiotic interactions between organisms enable the exploitation of new ecological niches and can promote diversification. Prominent examples of symbiotic interactions include organelles (i.e. mitochondria and plastids) in eukaryotes and intracellular bacteria that persist in an obligate co-evolutionary relationship with specific insect host lineages. Our research combines molecular techniques, experimental approaches, and bioinformatic tools to investigate how co-evolutionary interactions between host and intracellular symbiont drives genomic and functional evolution of symbioses.
The Chong Lab is in the School of Life Sciences (formerly Departments of Biology, Botany, and Microbiology) at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Learn more about our research or contact us.
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Becky Chong and Megan Porter featured on Hawaii Public Radio
Check out the March 29, 2022 edition of The Conversation on HPR to hear Becky Chong and Megan Porter discuss their work on Hawaiian lava tube biodiversity. Listen here. Related post (3/20/22): NSF award to study lava tube biodiversity on Hawaiʻi Island