(Please circulate this announcement)

Joan Roughgarden
Professor Emerita, Department of Biology, Stanford University and Adjunct Researcher, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii, USA

"Theoretical Microbiology: Holobionts, Lytic/Lysogenic Switch, and Merger vs Major Transition"

Online talk, PhilInBioMed Seminar Series

June 8, 2026, 5pm-6:30pm (Paris time, UTC+2)

Abstract of the talk:
Microbiology has traditionally been exclusively experimental. Yet the
functioning of holobionts with their hologenomes, the switch of virus from a
parasitic lytic stage to a commensal or mutualistic lysogenic stage, and the
assembly of microbes and hosts into holobionts are all phenomena that invite a
theoretical ecological and evolutionary perspective. Holobiont assembly
suggests a concept of an ecological merger that may be more useful than the
concept of a major evolutionary transition.

Two recommended papers for this talk:
Roughgarden J (2026) Evolutionarily Optimal Phage Life-History Traits: Burst Size vs. Lysis Time. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.04.16.649164
Roughgarden J (2023) Holobiont Evolution: Population Theory for the Hologenome. The American Naturalist 201:763–778.
https://doi.org/10.1086/723782

Details & Zoom link:
https://philinbiomed.cnrs.fr/event/joan-roughgarden/

More on the speaker:
Joan Roughgarden is an evolutionary biologist and ecologist. Her work bridges
biology, behavior, and social theory. Over her career, she has contributed
foundational research in evolutionary ecology, population genetics, and the
evolution of social behavior. Roughgarden is widely known for her critiques of
sexual selection theory and for advancing social selection as an alternative
framework emphasizing cooperation and diversity in reproduction. Her books,
including Evolution’s Rainbow (2004) and The Genial Gene (2009), have shaped
ongoing debates about sex, gender, and sexuality in both biology and society,
positioning her as a leading voice in expanding evolutionary perspectives on
diversity. She has written more than 200 scientific papers, including:

Akçay E, Van Cleve J, Feldman MW, Roughgarden J (2009) A theory for the
evolution of other-regard integrating proximate and ultimate perspectives.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106:19061–19066.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0904357106

Connolly SR, Roughgarden J (1999) Theory of Marine Communities: Competition,
Predation, and Recruitment-Dependent Interaction Strength. Ecological
Monographs 69:277–296. https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9615(1999)069

Folse HJ, Roughgarden J (2010) What is an Individual Organism? A Multilevel
Selection Perspective. The Quarterly Review of Biology 85:447–472

Hughes TP, Baird AH, Bellwood DR, et al (2003) Climate Change, Human Impacts,
and the Resilience of Coral Reefs. Science 301:929–933.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1085046

Roughgarden J (2009) Is there a general theory of community ecology? Biol
Philos 24:521–529. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-009-9164-z

Roughgarden J (2012) The social selection alternative to sexual selection.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 367:2294–2303.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0282

Roughgarden J (2020) A Mathematical Theory of Holobiont Evolution. bioRxiv
2020.04.10.036350. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.10.036350

Roughgarden J (2023) Holobiont Evolution: Population Theory for the
Hologenome. The American Naturalist 201:763–778.
https://doi.org/10.1086/723782

Roughgarden J (2024) Lytic/Lysogenic Transition as a Life-History Switch.
Virus Evol 10:veae028. https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/veae028

Roughgarden J (2026) Evolutionarily Optimal Phage Life-History Traits: Burst
Size vs. Lysis Time. 2025.04.16.649164

Roughgarden J, Gilbert SF, Rosenberg E, et al (2017) Holobionts as Units of
Selection and a Model of Their Population Dynamics and Evolution. Biol Theory
1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13752-017-0287-1

Roughgarden J, Oishi M, Akçay E (2006) Reproductive Social Behavior:
Cooperative Games to Replace Sexual Selection. Science 311:965–969.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1110105

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