Angeliqua P. Montoya

The evolutionary genomics of incipient endosymbiosis in wild rhizobia bacteria

This study demonstrates that conjugated symbiosis islands can generate nitrogen-fixing endosymbionts in rhizobia, often as mutualists rather than exploiters, with transmission dynamics influenced by phylogenetic relatedness.

Mobile genetic elements shape the evolution of wild bacterial pangenomes in the face of biotic and abiotic selective pressures in the soil

The paper investigates the phylogenetic congruence of mobile genetic elements and host chromosomes in wild bacteria, finding that they often co-inherit vertically and that environmental factors influence horizontal transfer.