Andrew J. Roger Explained

Andrew J. Roger is a Canadian-Australian molecular biologist and evolutionary bioinformatician. He is currently a professor in the 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).^[1]

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 2012^[2] 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 ^[3]

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 last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA).^[4] 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,^{[5] [6] [7]} the role of lateral (horizontal) gene transfer in eukaryotic genome evolution^{[8] [9]} 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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
2. http://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
3. Web site: A "Royal" recognition for Dal scientists.
4. Web site: Roger Lab.
5. 28087774 . 2017 . Muñoz-Gómez . S. A. . The origin of mitochondrial cristae from alphaproteobacteria . Molecular Biology and Evolution . 943–956 . Wideman . J. G. . Roger . A. J. . Slamovits . C. H. . 34 . 4 . 10.1093/molbev/msw298. free .
6. Stairs . Courtney W. . Eme . Laura . Brown . Matthew W. . Mutsaers . Cornelis . Susko . Edward . Dellaire . Graham . Soanes . Darren M. . van der Giezen . Mark . Roger . Andrew J. . A SUF Fe-S Cluster Biogenesis System in the Mitochondrion-Related Organelles of the Anaerobic Protist Pygsuia . Current Biology . June 2014 . 24 . 11 . 1176–1186 . 10.1016/j.cub.2014.04.033. 24856215 . free .
7. 3785491 . 2013 . Leger . M. M. . Evidence for a Hydrogenosomal-Type Anaerobic ATP Generation Pathway in Acanthamoeba castellanii . PLOS ONE . 8 . 9 . e69532 . Gawryluk . R. M. . Gray . M. W. . Roger . A. J. . 10.1371/journal.pone.0069532 . 24086244 . 2013PLoSO...869532L. free .
8. Leger . Michelle M. . Eme . Laura . Stairs . Courtney W. . Roger . Andrew J. . Demystifying Eukaryote Lateral Gene Transfer (Response to Martin 2017 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201700115) . BioEssays . 1700242 . en . 10.1002/bies.201700242 . 2018. 40 . 5 . 29543982 . 3927083 .
9. Sibbald . Shannon J. . Eme . Laura . Archibald . John M. . Roger . Andrew J. . Lateral Gene Transfer Mechanisms and Pan-genomes in Eukaryotes . Trends in Parasitology . en . 10.1016/j.pt.2020.07.014 . 19 August 2020. 36 . 11 . 927–941 . 32828660 . 221282630 .