It was amongst unicellular eukaryotes (protists) that complex cell architectures and compartmentalisation were developed that enabled larger and more sophisticated cells and cell behaviours. It is where endosymbiotic organelles were gained, redefining the metabolisms of eukaryotic cells. And in is where cell genomes developed packaging and organisational systems that enabled vast increases in genome size […]
Eukaryotic nuclei define our difference from prokaryotes, and the use of histone proteins as DNA packing and genome regulation agents was a seminal invention. So profound was this innovation, that all eukaryotes continue to use it—all except dinoflagellates. We have shown that early in dinoflagellate evolution histones were largely abandoned and no longer play a […]
A non-photosynthetic plastid in the malaria parasite (Plasmodium) in its blood cell host. Selected publications: Waller, R.F. and Kořený, L. (2017) Plastid Complexity in Dinoflagellates: A Picture of Gains, Losses, Replacements and Revisions. In Secondary Endosymbioses (ed Yoshihisa Hirakawa), Vol 84, Advances in Botanical Research, UK: Academic Press, 2017, pp. 105-144 Waller, R.F. et al (2016) Metabolic […]
Cell compartmentalisation is the foundation of eukaryotic evolution and innovation. It has been achieved by multiple mechanisms, including elaboration of invaginated membranes forming discrete but dynamic intracellular spaces, and formation of cytoskeletal structures that define cell domains, scaffolds and sites of specialised activities. This compartmentalisation enables segregation of cell functions that might otherwise be impractical […]
In addition to targeted investigations of key processes in cell function and evolution, the Waller lab has broad interests in exploring and describing diversity in eukaryotes. These have included: describing new taxa; resolving the relationships amongst eukaryotic lineages using molecular phylogenetics; understanding the role of lateral gene transfer in gain and transmission of function; and characterising […]