Phone: (413) 585-3638
Office: 435 Sabin-Reed Hall
Email: rdorit@smith.edu

Courses:

Fall

Bio 152 Genetics, Genomics and Evolution

Bio 340 Molecular Evolution (fall)
Bio 370 Topics in Microbiology: Biofilms
334 Molecular Evolution

335 Molecular Evolution Laboratory

Spring

Bio 110 The Biology and Policy of Breast Cancer

Bio 152 Genetics, Genomics and Evolution

351 Antibodics and Antibiotic Resistance (Spring 2009)

Research Interests:

This lab is broadly concerned with experimental, retrospective and computational approaches to molecular evolution. At present, three projects are underway:

• The in vivo experimental re-evolution of an important ribonucleoprotein, RNase P in E. coli. Our approach consist in introducing sythetic versions of the catalytic RNA component of RNase P, which are then allowed to evolve over repeated replication cycles, gradually improving their function and hence organismal fitness.
• We are interested in evolving novel antimicrobials that reduce the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Specifically, we use in vitro protein engineering to generate novel bacteriocins, which are then tested for activity and further modified to increase their activity, alter their target range, or slow the appearance of resistant strains. (In collaboration with Dr. Margaret Riley, UMass Amherst)
• We are investigating the genetic dynamics of the seed bank in a weed species, Stellaria media. Using a series of microsatellites we have developed for this project, we are comparing the contributions of the seed bank to standing genetic diversity in disturbed and undisturbed habitats, and using these data to investigate the evolutionary consequences of the seed bank on adaptation and plant plasticity. (In collaboration with Dr. Sonia Sultan, Wesleyan University)

Representative Publications:

Dorit, R. 2004. The evolution of complexity, In Scientists confront Creationism (L. Godfrey and A. Petto, eds., Norton Press. In press.

Dorit, R, M. Riley. 2002. When comparative information leads us astray: the receptor-binding region of Colicin E9 Journal of Molecular Evolution 55:373-355.

Hanczyc, M., R. Dorit 2000. Replicability and recurrence in the experimental evolution of a group I ribozyme. Molecular Biology and Evolution 17:1050-1060.

Cole, K., R. Dorit 1999. Acquisition of novel activity by the M1 RNA ribozyme: the cost of molecular adaptation. Journal of Molecular Biology 292:931-944.