Colin Dale
Professor of Biological Sciences
Associate Director, Graduate Studies
Microbiology and Molecular Evolution, Insects and Endosymbionts
Molecular Biology Program
Education
B.S. University of West England
Ph.D. University of Liverpool
Research
Research in the Dale lab explores the nature of symbiotic interactions between animals and bacteria. We utilize an integrative approach that employs genomic, transcriptomic, molecular genetic and molecular evolutionary analysis techniques. The mainstay of our research focuses on insects, which are known to harbor mutualistic bacterial symbionts that play important roles in host nutrition and defense. We explore a range of topics including: (i) elucidating the origin of insect-bacterial relationships, (ii) the causes and consequences of genome degeneration in bacterial symbionts, (iii) the molecular basis of interactions between insects and symbiotic bacteria, and (iv) the use of symbionts to express foreign gene in insects of medical and agricultural importance to combat disease.
References
Selected Publications
- Weiss, B., Rokhin-Shalom, S., Dolgova, A., Teh, L., Kaltenpoth, M., Dale, C., Chiel, E. 2025. Maternal symbiont transmission via envenomation in the parasitoid wasp Spalangia cameroni. Current Biology. S0960-9822(25)00199-X. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.02.035.
- Boyd, B.M., James, I.N., Johnson, K.P., Weiss, R.B., Bush, S.E., Clayton, D.H., Dale, C. 2024. Stochasticity, determinism and contingency shape symbiont genome evolution. Nature Communications. 15: 4571.
- Su, Y., Lin H-C, Teh, L, Chevance, F., James, I., Mayfield, C., Golic, K.G., Gagnon, J.A., Rog, O. and Dale, C. 2022. Rational engineering of a synthetic insect-bacterial mutualism. Current Biology. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.036.
- Weinstein, S.B., et al. 2021. Microbiome stability and structure is governed by host phylogeny over diet and geography in woodrats (Neotoma spp.). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118: e2108787118
- Nechitaylo, T.Y. et al. 2021. Incipient genome erosion and metabolic streamlining for antibiotic production in a defensive symbiont. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 118: e2023047118
- Medina Munoz, M., Spencer, N., Enomoto, S., Dale, C. and Rio, R.V.M. 2020. Quorum sensing sets the stage for the establishment and vertical transmission of Sodalis praecaptivus in tsetse flies. PLoS Genetics. 16: e1008992
- McCutcheon, J.P., Boyd, B.and Dale, C. 2019. The life of an insect endosymbiont: conflict and cooperation from the cradle to the grave. Current Biology. 29: 485-495
- Enomoto, S., Chari, A., Clayton, A.L., Dale, C. 2017. Quorum Sensing Attenuates Virulence in Sodalis praecaptivus. Cell Host and Microbe. 21: 629-636.