A great opportunity
A comparative approach
Among all microbes subjected to social-evolutionary study, social amoebae have the best-characterized phylogenetic, taxonomic, and biogeographical distribution. A community of naturalists have studied these organisms in their own right for many decades. The data affords the opportunity to study trait-based ecology and evolution. There are a number of common species that exhibit variation in the key trait of stalk production that determines the potential for conflict. Many of these species are common in nature and amenable to field and laboratory study (see figure). Social amoebae are an ideal model system for integrating ecology, evolution, and social behavior. Moreover, they provide a useful scenario for studying the evolution of a complex trait, kin recognition.
A note on model systems
Usually, when a model organism is such a useful tool for research, one initial laboratory gives rise to others. For example, T. H. Morgan’s lab quickly gave rise to numerous other labs studying Drosophila. This meant that students graduating from one lab could continue their research on Drosophila. In contrast, when I graduated from the Strassmann-Queller laboratory, there were no other laboratories studying social amoebae from a social-evolutionary approach in the USA. This is still true, but I would like to change it.
Approach to studying social amoebae
I outlined my comparative approach to studying social amoebae in my research proposal. In the figure here, I highlight the species that I would probably focus on. I also show the difference between major migration types.