Andrew J. Roger
{{short description|Canadian-Australian molecular biologist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
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| workplaces = Dalhousie University
| alma_mater = University of British Columbia, Dalhousie University
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| main_interests = Eukaryotic organisms, biology and evolution of mitochondria, hydrogenosomes and mitosomes, comparative genomics of unicellular eukaryotes, modeling the evolution of genes and genomes
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| influences = Ford Doolittle
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| website = https://medicine.dal.ca/departments/department-sites/biochemistry-molecular-biology/our-people/faculty/roger.html
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Andrew J. Roger is a Canadian-Australian molecular biologist and evolutionary bioinformatician. He is currently a professor in the [http://www.biochem.dal.ca/ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology] at Dalhousie University and was the founding director (from 2008-2017) of the inter-departmental Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics (CGEB).{{Cite web|url=http://www.biochem.dal.ca/faculty-staff/faculty/roger.php|title=Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology}}
Education and career
Roger received his B.Sc from the University of British Columbia and his PhD from Dalhousie University. Roger was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2012http://www.rsc-src.ca/en/search-fellows?keywords_44=&first_name=Andrew&last_name=Roger&display_name=Dalhousie+University&election_year_21=&academy_25=All&division_24=All&discipline_23=All&is_deceased=0&sort_by=last_name&sort_order=ASC {{Dead link|date=February 2022}} for his work on eukaryotic superkingdoms, his work on the evolution of mitochondrion-related organelles in anaerobic protists and his contribution to investigating and improving phylogenetic models {{Cite web|url=https://www.dal.ca/news/2012/09/24/a--royal--recognition-for-dal-scientists.html|title = A "Royal" recognition for Dal scientists}}
=Research=
A former student of Ford Doolittle, Roger's research focuses on the 'deep' Tree of Life, especially determining the super-kingdom-level relationships amongst eukaryotes and clarifying the nature of the [http://www.pnas.org/content/103/35/13080.long last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA)].{{Cite web|url=http://bloodroot.biochem.dal.ca/rogerlab.ca/Andrew.php|title=Roger Lab}} Using phylogenomic approaches Roger's group elucidates the patterns and process of genome evolution in eukaryotic microbes. His research also addresses the evolutionary origin of mitochondria, hydrogenosomes, and mitosomes,{{cite journal |pmid=28087774 |year=2017 |last1=Muñoz-Gómez |first1=S. A. |title=The origin of mitochondrial cristae from alphaproteobacteria |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |pages=943–956 |last2=Wideman |first2=J. G. |last3=Roger |first3=A. J. |last4=Slamovits |first4=C. H. |volume=34 |issue=4 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msw298|doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Stairs |first1=Courtney W. |last2=Eme |first2=Laura |last3=Brown |first3=Matthew W. |last4=Mutsaers |first4=Cornelis |last5=Susko |first5=Edward |last6=Dellaire |first6=Graham |last7=Soanes |first7=Darren M. |last8=van der Giezen |first8=Mark |last9=Roger |first9=Andrew J. |title=A SUF Fe-S Cluster Biogenesis System in the Mitochondrion-Related Organelles of the Anaerobic Protist Pygsuia |journal=Current Biology |date=June 2014 |volume=24 |issue=11 |pages=1176–1186 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2014.04.033|pmid=24856215 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |pmc=3785491 |year=2013 |last1=Leger |first1=M. M. |title=Evidence for a Hydrogenosomal-Type Anaerobic ATP Generation Pathway in Acanthamoeba castellanii |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=9 |pages=e69532 |last2=Gawryluk |first2=R. M. |last3=Gray |first3=M. W. |last4=Roger |first4=A. J. |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0069532 |pmid=24086244 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...869532L|doi-access=free }} the role of lateral (horizontal) gene transfer in eukaryotic genome evolution{{cite journal |last1=Leger |first1=Michelle M. |last2=Eme |first2=Laura |last3=Stairs |first3=Courtney W. |last4=Roger |first4=Andrew J. |title=Demystifying Eukaryote Lateral Gene Transfer (Response to Martin 2017 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201700115) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bies.201700242 |journal=BioEssays |pages=1700242 |language=en |doi=10.1002/bies.201700242 |date=2018|volume=40 |issue=5 |pmid=29543982 |s2cid=3927083 }}{{cite journal |last1=Sibbald |first1=Shannon J. |last2=Eme |first2=Laura |last3=Archibald |first3=John M. |last4=Roger |first4=Andrew J. |title=Lateral Gene Transfer Mechanisms and Pan-genomes in Eukaryotes |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1471492220301975 |journal=Trends in Parasitology |language=en |doi=10.1016/j.pt.2020.07.014 |date=19 August 2020|volume=36 |issue=11 |pages=927–941 |pmid=32828660 |s2cid=221282630 }} and how anaerobic parasites evolved from free-living ancestors.
Selected publications
- Roger, A.J. and Susko, E. (2018) Molecular clocks provide little information to date methanogenic archaea. Nature Ecol. Evol. 2: 1676-1677.
- Muñoz-Gómez, S.A., Hess, S., Burger, G., Lang, B.F., Susko, E., Slamovits, C.H. and Roger, A.J. (2019) An updated phylogeny of the Alphaproteobacteria reveals that the parasitic Rickettsiales and *Holosporales have independent origins. eLife, Feb. 25; 8. pii: e42535.
- Hess, S., Eme, L., Roger, A.J. and Simpson, A.G.B. (2019) A natural toroidal microswimmer propelled by a rotary eukaryotic flagellum. Nature Microbiol. 4:1620-1626.
- Susko E. and Roger, A.J. (2019) On the use of information criteria for model selection in phylogenetics. Mol. Biol. Evol., Nov. 5
- Susko E, Roger AJ., (2013) Problems with estimation of ancestral frequencies under stationary models. Syst Biol. 62(2):330-8
- Stairs, C.W., Roger, A.J. and Hampl, V. , (2011) Eukaryotic pyruvate formate lyase and its activating enzyme were acquired laterally from a firmicute. Mol. Biol. Evol. 28:2087-2099
References
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Category:21st-century Australian biologists
Category:Canadian molecular biologists
Category:Academic staff of Dalhousie University