University of Connecticut, Storrs

Dr. Gogarten is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and co-director of the Bioinformatics Facility at the University of Connecticut Biotechnology Services Center. His current research on the early evolution of life and on horizontal gene transfer is funded through the NASA Exobiology and the NFS Assembling the Tree of Life programs. He is best known for rooting the tree of life using ancient gene duplications, and for his early recognition of horizontal gene transfer as an important force in microbial evolution. Currently, the main focus of his research is comparative genomics and horizontal gene transfer. He is also interested in the early evolution of life and the evolution of molecular parasites, in particular the life cycle of homing endonucleases.

Gogarten and collaborators study the role of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in microbial evolution using comparative genomics. They explore the role of gene transfer in the assembly of metabolic pathways, the use of horizontally transferred genes as phylogenetic marker for the recipient lineage, and the role of biased HGT in maintaining higher level taxonomic units. Other projects focus on the life cycle of homing endonucleases, and the origin and early evolution of life.

For more information on his research visit http://gogarten.uconn.edu.