The King laboratory uses molecular and comparative genomic approaches to reconstruct the origin and evolution of animals. To this end, we have developed choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives of animals, into genome-enabled and experimentally-tractable organisms for investigating the unicellular ancestry of animals. Our research (see research and publications) has revealed the unicellular ancestry of many key aspects of animal genomes and cell biology.

Choanoflagellates and the King lab in the news:

• Not Exactly Rocket Science (2012): Bacteria transform the closest living relatives of animals from single cells into colonies
• Science (2012): Multicellularity Driven by Bacteria
• NPR (2011): Scientists Explore Why Single Cells Band Together
• NY Times (2010): In a Single-Cell Predator, Clues to the Animal Kingdom’s Birth
• Science — Origins blog (2009): Genomes Light Up Road to Animals
• New Scientist (2009): Sponge larvae: Your unlikely ancestors
• Science Daily (2008): New Evidence That Ancient Choanoflagellates Form Evolutionary Link Between Single-Celled And Multi-Celled Organisms
• Pharyngula (2008): The choanoflagellate genome and metazoan evolution

Mailing address:

King Lab
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Molecular & Cell Biology
142 Life Sciences Addition # 3200
Berkeley, CA 94720-3200

Lab phone number: 510-643-9417