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WELCOME TO THE WU LAB OF MICROBES

In the wu lab, we study the tiny organisms that make the planet the way it is today. We combine quantitative experiments with computational approaches to bridge small-scale interactions with large-scale phenomena in space and time.

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Research

Wu lab attempts to link the molecular and cellular interactions of microbial cells to biogeochemistry and evolution, in order to contribute to addressing two basic questions:

 

1. How are nitrogen and carbon cycles quantitatively linked in the face of resource limitations? For this, we are developing cultivation technologies and combining them with various omics and quantitative approaches.

 

2. How did genetic diversity emerge in the prokaryotes and propagate across eukaryotes? For this, we are combining bioinformatics and protein biochemistry, with a recent focus on the central dogma as well as its hijacking by mobile genetic elements.

 

In the lab, we mostly grow anaerobic bacterial and archaeal species and marine communities.

Latest Publications

RNA-guided RNA silencing by an Asgard archaeal Argonaute

In this paper, we show that an Asgard archaeal Argonaute mediates RNA-guided RNA silencing, providing new insights into the origin and diversification of eukaryotic RNA silencing pathways. 

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