Andrew J. Roger

Wanda Danilchuk

Marlena Dlutek

Dayana Salas

Joran Martijn

Gregory Seaton

Dandan Zhao

Shelby Williams

Tengteng Zhang

Kelsey Williamson

Former Roger Lab Members

Matthew W Brown, Post Doctoral Fellow


During my undergraduate work at the University of Arkansas, I started a research project studying the diversity and ecology of protostelid slime molds (simply, amoebae that form small simple fruiting bodies). After my B.Sc., I immediately returned to the University of Arkansas to start a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences. During my graduate work, I focused on the evolution of sorocarpic protists (AKA cellular slime molds), which are amoeboid organisms that aggregate with one another and work in concert to form a multicellular fruiting body. I was primarily interested in the slime molds that have not been examined in the last ~20 years (i.e., those which have no molecular data available). Molecular phylogenetic analyses from these organisms have shown that the sorocarpic lifestyle is the most broadly distributed form of multicellularity among the eukaryotes, found in 5 of the 6 supergroups.

As of June 2010, I began working with Andrew Roger and lab, where my research has been focused on genomics and phylogenomics of some of these sorocarpic protists. My primary focus is on Fonticula alba, recently placed in Opisthokonta (a lineage which contains the animals and Fungi). We are currently analyzing cDNA libraries Fonticula alba and one from Guttulinopsis vulgaris that have been sequenced using next-gen sequencing technologies. Soon, we will be starting a genome-sequencing project for F. alba with the Unicellular Opisthokont Research Initiative (UNICORN). I am also interested in the evolution of the Amoebozoa-Opisthokonta lineage (often termed 'unikonts'). I am also working on a project examining "animal-specific" neuronal genes and the genes associated with the AKT signaling pathway as part of genome-sequencing project of another opisthokont protist Capsaspora.

Publications:


Book Chapters:

  • Schnittler, M., Novozhilov, Y.K., Romeralo, M., Brown, M. W., and Fiore-Donno, A.M. Myxomycete-like organisms. In Frey (Ed.) A. Engler's Syllabus der Planzenfamilien (Engler's Syllabus of Plant Families). Part 1: Blue-green Algae, Myxomycete-Like Organisms and Fungi. Science Publishers, Berlin.
  • Spiegel, F. W., Shadwick, L, Brown, M.W., Nderitu, G., Aguliar, M., and Shadwick, J. D. L. (In Prep, 2013). Protostelida. In Margulis et al. (Eds.) Handbook of Protoctista, 2nd edition, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Boston.
  • Brown M.W.*, Silberman J.D. (In Press, 2013). The Non-Dictyostelid Sorocarpic Amoebae. In Baldauf, Romeralo, Escalante (Eds.) Dictyostelia - Evolutionary Patterns and Processes in a Social Amoeba. Springer, Heidelberg Germany. *Senior & Corresponding Author

Online Publications:

  • Spiegel, F. W., Shadwick, J. D., Lindley, L. A., Brown, M. W., and Nderitu, G. 2007. A Beginner's Guide to Identifying the Protostelids. http://slimemold.uark.edu/pdfs/Handbook1_3rd.pdf.

Published Abstracts:

  • Brown, M. W., Silberman, J. D., Spiegel, F. W. 2008. Morphological and molecular variation in three morphotypes of Acrasis. Annual Meeting of the Mycological Society of America. Penn State University, Pennsylvania, USA. Inoculum 59(4): 21.
  • Brown, M. W. and Spiegel, F. W. 2007. Assessment of protostelid diversity in Ozark Plateau oak-hickory forests in south central USA. Annual Meeting of the Mycological Society of America. Louisiana State University, Louisiana, USA. Inoculum 59(2): 9.
  • Lindley, L.A.,Brown, M. W., Lawrence, A., Silberman, J.D., Spiegel, F.W. 2007. Schizoplasmodium: a genus reconstituted. Annual Meeting of the Mycological Society of America. Louisiana State University, Louisiana, USA. Inoculum 59(2): 27.
  • Spiegel, F. W., Shadwick, J. D.,Brown, M. W. , Hemmes, D.E. 2007. Protostelids of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Annual Meeting of the Mycological Society of America. Louisiana State University, Louisiana, USA. Inoculum 59(2): 38.

You can reach Matt at:

Work Phone: (+1) 902-494-2881
Fax: (+1) 902-494-1355
E-mail: protist{at}live{dot}com