Contact details +64 (09) 414 0800 ext. 43664

Dr Elizabeth Ostrowski

Senior Lecturer

School of Natural and Computational Sciences

My research is focused on ecology and evolutionary biology, with emphasis on the dynamics of adaptation in microbial populations. I am interested in understanding how organisms adapt to their environment, limitations on this process (i.e., why organisms are not perfectly adapted), the genetic basis of adaptation, and the role of genetic architecture in promoting or constraining evolution. Recently my research has focused on cooperation and conflict – how do microbes build societies to mutual benefit of their members, while safeguarding themselves against cheats?

I approach these questions by integrating laboratory evolution experiments with behavioural and genomic studies of natural populations. Experimental approaches give me insight into how evolution might solve selective dilemmas and the genetic basis of traits of interest, whereas studies of natural populations allow me to understand how evolution has proceeded and to identify traits that are selectively important to an organism.

My research is focused on ecology and evolutionary biology, with emphasis on the dynamics of adaptation in microbial populations. Recently my research has focused on cooperation and conflict – how do microbes build societies to mutual benefit of their members, while safeguarding themselves against cheats?

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Research Expertise

Research Interests

Microbial evolution, molecular evolution, evolutionary genomics, cooperation and conflict

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Biological Sciences (060000): Evolutionary Biology (060300): Genetics (060400): Genomics (060408): Microbiology (060500): Molecular Evolution (060409): Population, Ecological and Evolutionary Genetics (060411)

Keywords

Microbial evolution, molecular evolution, genomics, cooperation and conflict

Research Projects

Summary of Research Projects

Position	Current	Completed
Project Leader	2	1

Current Projects

Project Title: Can Arms Races Occur Within a Species

Date Range: 2020 - 2023

Funding Body: Royal Society of New Zealand

Project Team:

Dr Elizabeth Ostrowski - Project Leader

Research Outputs

Journal

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Ostrowski, EA. (2019). Enforcing Cooperation in the Social Amoebae. Current Biology. 29(11), R474-R484
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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3

Rashidi, G., & Ostrowski, EA. (2019). Phagocyte chase behaviours: Discrimination between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria by amoebae. Biology Letters. 15(1)
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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1

Votaw, HR., & Ostrowski, EA. (2017). Stalk size and altruism investment within and among populations of the social amoeba. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 30(11), 2017-2030
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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4

Ostrowski, EA., Shen, Y., Tian, X., Sucgang, R., Jiang, H., Qu, J., . . . Queller, DC. (2015). Genomic Signatures of Cooperation and Conflict in the Social Amoeba. Current Biology. 25(12), 1661-1665
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Ostrowski, EA., Ofria, C., & Lenski, RE. (2015). Genetically integrated traits and rugged adaptive landscapes in digital organisms Experimental evolution. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 15(1)
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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1

Flowers, JM., Li, SI., Stathos, A., Saxer, G., Ostrowski, EA., Queller, DC., . . . Purugganan, MD. (2010). Variation, Sex, and Social Cooperation: Molecular Population Genetics of the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. PLOS GENETICS. 6(7)
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Shen, Y., Wan, Z., Coarfa, C., Drabek, R., Chen, L., Ostrowski, EA., . . . Yu, F. (2010). A SNP discovery method to assess variant allele probability from next-generation resequencing data. Genome Research. 20(2), 273-280
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Ostrowski, EA., & Shaulsky, G. (2009). Learning to get along despite struggling to get by. GENOME BIOLOGY. 10(5)
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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7

Benabentos, R., Hirose, S., Sucgang, R., Curk, T., Katoh, M., Ostrowski, EA., . . . Kuspa, A. (2009). Polymorphic Members of the lag Gene Family Mediate Kin Discrimination in Dictyostelium. Current Biology. 19(7), 567-572
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Ostrowski, EA., Katoh, M., Shaulsky, G., Queller, DC., & Strassmann, JE. (2008). Kin discrimination increases with genetic distance in a social amoeba. PLoS Biology. 6(11), 2376-2382
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Ostrowski, EA., Woods, RJ., & Lenski, RE. (2008). The genetic basis of parallel and divergent phenotypic responses in evolving populations of Escherichia coli. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 275(1632), 277-284
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Cooper, TF., Ostrowski, EA., & Travisano, M. (2007). A negative relationship between mutation pleiotropy and fitness effect in yeast. Evolution. 61(6), 1495-1499
[Journal article]Authored by: Cooper, T., Ostrowski, E.

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Ostrowski, EA., Ofria, C., & Lenski, RE. (2007). Ecological specialization and adaptive decay in digital organisms.. The American naturalist. 169(1)
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Ostrowski, EA., Rozen, DE., & Lenski, RE. (2005). Pleiotropic effects of beneficial mutations in Escherichia coli. Evolution. 59(11), 2343-2352
[Journal article]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Thesis

Ostrowski, EA. (2005). Adaptation and specialization in biological and digital organisms. (Doctoral Thesis)
[Doctoral Thesis]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

Conference

Khoo, J., O'Brien, J., & Ostrowski, E. (2019, March). Bio-inspired Auckland transport network. Presented at Engineering New Zealand Transportation Group Conference
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

Ostrowski, EA., & Miller, MEM. (2017, August). Experimental evolution of resistance to cheating in the social amoeba. Presented at European Society for Evolutionary Biology XVI Congress. Groningen, The Netherlands.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Ostrowski, EA. (2016, February). Evolutionary genomics of social conflict. Presented at Lausanne Genomics Days. Lausanne, Switzerland.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

Ostrowski, EA. (2016, August). Conflict and coevolution in the social amoeba. Presented at American Society for Microbiology Conference on Experimental Microbial Evolution. Washington, United States of America.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Ostrowski, EA. (2015, June). Evolutionary genetics of social conflict. Presented at Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Population Biology. Andover, NH, USA.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

Other

Rashidi, G., & Ostrowski, EA. (2018). Discrimination of Gram-Positive versus Gram-Negative Bacteria by the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. : BioRxiv
[Internet publication]Authored by: Ostrowski, E.

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Teaching and Supervision

Teaching Statement

Biology of Cells (162.101)

Evolutionary Biology (196.217)

Contact Supervisor

Summary of Doctoral Supervision

Position	Current	Completed
Main Supervisor	1	0
Co-supervisor	3	0

Current Doctoral Supervision

Main Supervisor of:

Cathleen Broersma - Doctor of Philosophy
Cooperation and conflict in Dictyostelium discoideum.

Co-supervisor of:

Andrea Sajuthi - Doctor of Philosophy
Bacterial competition and cooperation at the single-cell level
B Priyadarshini B Priyadarshini - Doctor of Philosophy
Investigating the evolution of endosymbiosis between Dictyostelium sp and Pseudomonas sp
Jasper Perry - Doctor of Philosophy
Investigating the Evolution of Endosymbiotic Relationship Formation between Naegleria and Pseudomonas

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Dr Elizabeth Ostrowski

Senior Lecturer

Research Expertise

Research Interests

Area of Expertise

Keywords

Research Projects

Summary of Research Projects

Current Projects

Research Outputs

Journal

Thesis

Conference

Other

Teaching and Supervision

Teaching Statement

Summary of Doctoral Supervision

Current Doctoral Supervision

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