She is now studying the evolution of the bacterial genome in the context of the interaction between symbiont and host. A general aim of her current research is to determine how endosymbiosis affects the long term evolution and ecology of insect hosts, including such diverse processes as adaptation to host plants and the accumulation by drift of mildly deleterious mutations within symbiont genomes. The work extends to population genetic studies analyzing polymorphism of insect and symbiont genomes within a host species. Selected Publications Moran, N. A. 1996. Accelerated evolution and Muller's ratchet in endosymbiotic bacteria.
Maternal death relaxes developmental inhibition in nymphal aphid defenders.
The evolution of bacteriocyte-associated endosymbionts in insects. Evolutionary rates for tuf genes in endosymbionts of aphids. Deleterious mutations destabilize ribosomal RNA of endosymbionts. 1999, Phylogenetics and evolution of the aphid genus Uroleucon based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Nutritional enhancement of host plants by aphids-a comparison of three aphid species on grasses.