The Gile Lab

Protist diversity, evolution, & symbiosis
Arizona State University - Tempe, AZ USA





Research

What are Protists?

Microbial eukaryotes, as protists are sometimes called, can be found in all kinds of habitats on Earth. They can be primary producers (algae), grazers (eating bacteria), predators (eating other protists), or live on or within multicellular hosts as mutualists, commensals, or parasites. The very first eukaryotes were protists, and all of the multicellular lineages (e.g., animals, plants, fungi) have evolved from protist lineages. Many, or perhaps most, protists are associated with symbiotic bacteria that provide fixed nitrogen or fixed carbon or some other metabolic benefit. Symbiosis has played a pivotal role in eukaryotic evolution by providing us with mitochondria and plants with chloroplasts. The Gile lab studies protist diversity and evolution from both morphological and molecular and perspectives, including microbiomics, comparative genomics, and phylogenetics. We are currently working on protists from hot springs, marine plankton, and the hindguts of wood-feeding termites.

PLASTID EVOLUTION

One of the most ancient and important symbioses of all is the establishment of plastids. Beginning over 1 billion years ago, when a host cell failed to digest its cyanobacterial food, an association between two single celled organisms gradually became a new, single organism. In the Gile lab we study the gene transfer and protein targeting that enabled the transition from symbiosis to new organism. We also study the loss of photosynthesis, which has happened many times in various lineages without loss of the plastid itself. Despite the importance of photosynthesis to life on earth, we do not fully understand how many times endosymbiosis has led to a new photosynthetic eukaryotic lineage, yet another topic of research in the Gile lab.

TERMITE PROTIST DIVERSITY

A major research focus in the Gile lab is the fascinating symbiosis occurs between termites and the protists that live in their hindguts. The termites rely on these protists to help them digest wood, and in return, the protists have a safe microcosm where they have flourished, evolving to become larger and morphologically more complex over about 150 million years of coevolution. Because most termite species have not yet had their hindgut communities investigated, the vast majority of symbiotic protist species are still unknown to science. We apply microscopy and molecular and computational techniques to study these protists, with particular interests in phylogeny, morphological convergence, genome evolution, and coevolution with their hosts.

people

Gillian Gile, PhD

  • Associate Professor i

Jonathon Hileman

  • PhD Candidate

Nicole Coots

  • PhD Candidate

Kali Swichtenberg

  • PhD Candidate

Chandra Dey

  • PhD Student

Daniel Jasso-Selles

  • Research Specialist

Ezhan Mirza

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Maya Willis

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Anthony Tullo

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Samantha Ronalds

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Verina Wang

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Lab Alumni

Francesca de Martini, PhD

  • Currently: Residential Faculty - Biology, Mesa Community College

Gregory Gavelis, PhD

  • Postdoctoral Fellow i
    Currently: Bioinformatician, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Stephen Taerum, PhD

  • Postdoctoral Fellow i
    Currently: Postdoctoral fellow, Triplett Lab, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Samantha Montoya

  • 4+1 Master’s Student

Viola Sanderlin

  • Master’s Student i

Bradley Bobbett

  • Undergraduate Researcher
    Currently: Clinical laboratory technician, ASU Biodesign Institute

Jordyn Shevat

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Xyonane Segovia

  • Undergraduate Researcher
    Currently: Research Lab Coordinator, Phan Lab, ASU

Tina Piarowski

  • Undergraduate Researcher
    Currently: Cell Biology, Stem Cells, and Development PhD program, University of Colorado at Denver

Keana Nguyen

  • Undergraduate Researcher
    Currently: Clinical research coordinator, ASU Biodesign Institute

Cherise Stotts

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Erin Avilucea

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Shaurya Aggarwal

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Trevor Merrell

  • Undergraduate Researcher
    Currently: Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Radcliff, Kentucky

Katalina Freeman

  • Undergraduate Researcher
    Currently: Physician Assistant and Captain, US Army

Mikaela Garcia

  • Undergraduate Researcher
    Currently: Master’s Student, Master of Public Health Program, University of Arizona Phoenix

Evan Mee

  • PhD Student i
    Currently: Bioinformatics specialist at TGen

Bailey Bressee

  • Post-baccalaureate researcher
    Currently: PhD student at Idaho State University

Emma Hammond

  • Undergraduate researcher

Maya Gaylor

  • Undergraduate Researcher
    Currently: Molecular Technologist, Caris Life Sciences

Michael Breed

  • PhD Student

Israa Jahan

  • Undergraduate Researcher

LeAnn Nguyen

  • 4+1 Master's Student

Noah Sharma

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Shaniya Deo

  • Undergraduate Researcher and LEAP Scholar

Serena Aguilar

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Molly McNamara

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Kelsi McAnally

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Keerthana Nukala

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Armaan Hernández

  • Undergraduate Researcher

Join!

The Gile lab has openings for graduate students and postdocs to work on protist diversity and evolution in termite hindguts or other environments. If you are interested in studying protists or symbiosis, please contact Dr. Gile ggile@asu.edu.

ASU

Contact

Office

Phone: 480-727-4761
Room: LSE 607

Lab

Phone: 480-727-4295
Room: LSE 604