Roger Lab

Sergio Munoz, Post Doctoral Fellow

I received my B.Sc. Honors in Biology from Universidad de Antioquia in Colombia. During my undergraduate years I made emphasis on microbial (and algal) diversity and evolution, as well as molecular evolution and phylogenetics. I did my B.Sc. Honors thesis on the evolutionary history of green plants (Viridiplantae) and their plastid genomes. In September 2013, I joined the Center for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics (CGEB) under the supervision of Dr. Claudio Slamovits. In September 2015, I also joined the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Roger. Under their co-supervision, I successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis on the evolutionary origin of mitochondria in November 2018. Since then I have started a ‘bridge’ postdoctoral stay in both labs to follow up on Ph.D. research and gain further insights into the ancestor of mitochondria.

Research interests:

My general interests encompass the evolution of the cell, the origin and diversification of eukaryotes, and endosymbiosis. My main Ph.D. project was concerned with the anatomical and genealogical nature of the first mitochondrial ancestor, or the alphaproteobacterium from which mitochondria evolved. My immediate postdoctoral research at the Roger and Slamovits labs will expand on my Ph.D. thesis by also addressing the genomic and metabolic nature of the first mitochondrial ancestor. I am also interested in plants and algae, and the evolution of their plastid organelles. I combine bioinformatics and genomics, as well as experimental biology, to improve our understanding of the evolutionary and developmental dynamics of endosymbiosis, and the origin and evolution of mitochondria and eukaryotes.

Research papers:

Muñoz-Gómez, S.A., Hess, S., Burger, G., Lang, B. F., Susko, E., Slamovits, C.H., and Roger, A.J. 2018 An updated phylogeny of the Alphaproteobacteria reveals that the parasitic Rickettsiales and Holosporales have independent origins.bioRxiv 462648.

Muñoz-Gómez, S.A. 2018 The anatomical and phylogenetic nature of the first mitochondrial ancestor. Ph.D. Dissertation. Dalhousie University. Halifax, Canada.

Wideman, J.G., and Muñoz-Gómez, S.A. 2018 Cell Biology: Functional Conservation, Structural Divergence, and Surprising Convergence in the MICOS Complex of Trypanosomes. Curr. Biol. 28(21): R1245-1248.

Stairs, C.W., Eme, L., Muñoz-Gómez, S.A., Cohen, A., Dellaire, G., Shepherd, J.N., Fawcett, J.P., and Roger, A.J. 2018 Microbial eukaryotes have adapted to hypoxia by horizontal acquisitions of a gene involved in rhodoquinone biosynthesis. eLife. e34292.

Muñoz-Gómez, S.A., Slamovits, C. H. 2018 Plastid Genomes in the Myzozoa. Adv. Bot. Res. 85, 55-94.

Roger, A.J.,Muñoz-Gómez, S.A., Kamikawa, R. 2017 The Origin and Diversification of Mitochondria. Curr. Biol. 27(21): pR1177-R1192.

Muñoz-Gómez, S.A., Mejía-Franco, F.G., Durnin, K., Colp, M., Grisdale, C.J., Archibald, J.M., and Slamovits, C.H. 2017 The New Red Algal Subphylum Proteorhodophytina Comprises the Largest and Most Divergent Plastid Genomes Known. Curr. Biol. 27(11):1677-1684.

Muñoz-Gómez, S.A., Wideman, J.G., Roger, A.J., and Slamovits, C.H. 2017 The origin of mitochondrial cristae from alphaproteobacteria. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 34(4):943-956.

Muñoz-Gómez, S.A., and Roger, A.J. 2016 Leaving negative ancestors behind. eLife. 5:e20061

Wideman, J.G., and Muñoz-Gómez, S.A. 2016 The evolution of ERMIONE in mitochondrial biogenesis and lipid homeostasis: An evolutionary view from comparative cell biology. BBA-Mol. Cell Biol. L. 1861(8):900-912

Muñoz-Gómez, S.A., Slamovits, C.H., Dacks, J.B., and Wideman, J.G. 2015 The evolution of MICOS: ancestral and derived functions and interactions. Commun. Integr. Biol. 8(6):e1094593

Muñoz-Gómez, S.A., Slamovits, C.H., Dacks, J.B., Baier, K.A., Spencer, K.D. and Wideman, J.G. 2015 Ancient Homology of the Mitochondrial Contact Site and Cristae Organizing System Points to an Endosymbiotic Origin of Mitochondrial Cristae. Curr. Biol.25(11):1489-1495

You can reach Sergio at:

Work Phone: (+1) 902-494-2881 or (+1) 902-494-7894
Fax: (+1) 902-494-1355
E-mail: sergio{dot}munoz{at}dal{dot}ca