Seminar – Daehan Lee

Invited by the Courtier lab and the Konstantinides Lab, Daehan Lee (Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University
Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea) will present a seminar on the theme:

Ecological Transitions Across Scales: Rewiring Sense, Losing Sex, Dodging Death, and Becoming Complex

Abstract:

Ecological transitions—changes in the physical, chemical, or biotic environment experienced by organisms—can have profound effects on developmental, physiological, and evolutionary trajectories. In this seminar, I will examine how ecological shifts across multiple scales drive remodeling of biological systems, from gene regulatory networks to life history strategies. Using a set of diverse model organisms, I will present evidence for ecological transitions as catalysts of evolutionary change: sensory system reorganization during host specialization in Drosophila sechellia; the evolutionary loss of sexual reproduction under laboratory conditions in Caenorhabditis elegans; stage-specific aging and regeneration linked to ecological niches in the life cycle of jellyfish; and the emergence of multicellularity in choanoflagellates in response to environmental and social cues. Together, these studies illustrate how ecological context shapes the evolution of complexity, modulates developmental plasticity, and alters fundamental features of animal biology.