Nick Ornston Professor of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology » Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics and Development » » Microbiology » B.A. Harvard College 1961; Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley 1965 We are interested in the how bacteria adapt to their environment, particularly ancient yet constantly changing chemical communication between plants and bacteria. Lurking in this are myriad physiological and genetic responses, some of which can be glimpsed in the present and interpreted in the context of evolution. It is our good fortune to work with bacteria that allow some of these interpretations to be tested in the laboratory. The bacteria have taught us quite a bit about heredity. One lesson has been the importance of membranes, not generally regarded as the hereditary material, in conferring upon a cell its self-identity. By constantly pumping chemicals one way or another, transport systems can confer cellular constancy with a fidelity worthy of DNA. On the other hand, DNA has a secret life, and its fidelity has been exaggerated. Too long regarded as a passive tablet upon which the experiences of evolution are written in nucleotide sequence, DNA has a voice of its own with respect to its destiny. Duplication, rearrangement, repair, rapid divergence, buffering against change - messages for all of these missions are contained within DNA and, with good fortune, can be assessed in the laboratory. Barbe, V., et al. (2004). Unique features revealed by the genome sequence of Acinetobacter sp. ADP1, a versatile and naturally transformation competent bacterium. Nucleic Acids Res. 32:5766-5779. Parke, D., and Ornston, L.N. (2004). Toxicity caused by hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA thioester accumulation in mutants of Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:2974-2983. Young, D.M., D'Argenio, D.A., Jen, M., Parke, D., and Ornston, L.N. (2003). Gunsalus and Stanier set the stage for selection of cold-sensitive mutants apparently impaired in movement of FAD within 4-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 312:153-160. email nicholas.ornston@yale.edu