Peter Pfaffelhuber

“Bacterial population genomics”

The genome of bacteria is less stable than the genome of eucariotes. In particular, it is an empirical observation that bacteria from the same population carry different genes. We study a model where new genes are introduced from the environment and can be lost along ancestral lines. By randomizing the genealogy according to a Kingman coalescent this mutation model, which appears to be new in the population genetic literature, can be analyzed. Moreover, empirical data fit well with our theoretical results. This is joint work with Franz Baumdicker, Wolfgang Hess, University of Freiburg.