Phone: (413) 585-3825
Office: Burton Hall 201
Email: lkatz@email.smith.edu
Website:

Courses:

Bio 110 Origins
Bio 152 Genetics, Genomics & Evolution
Bio 154 Biodiversity, Ecology & Conservation
Bio 270 Microbiolal Eukaryotes
Bio  351 Genome Evolution
Bio  507 Graduate Seminar

Research Interests:

Work in the Katzlab aims to elucidate principles of eukaryotic
evolution through phylogenetic reconstruction, community sampling and
analyses of genome evolution. The bulk of eukaryotic diversity is
microbial, with plants, animals and fungi representing only three of
some 60-200 lineages of eukaryotes. Many of these microbial lineages
are understudied, yet the limited data available suggest the
eukaryotic microbes challenge established principles in biology.

We are currently focusing on four aspects of the evolution of
eukaryotic microbes:

1. Assembling the Eukaryotic Tree of Life through Analyses of
    Eukaryotic Microbes
2. Phylogeography of Coastal Choreotrich and Oligotrich Ciliates
3. Molecular Systematics of Ciliates
4. Genome Evolution in Ciliates

Representative Publications (since 2004; * = undergraduate author, # = graduate author)

Peer-reviewed articles

Tekle, Y.I., J.R. Grant, L. O.R. Anderson, J.C. Cole, T. Nerad, and L.A. Katz.  2008.  Phylogenetic placement of diverse amoebae inferred from multigene analyses and assessment of clade stability within ‘Amoebozoa’ upon removal of varying rate classes of SSU-rDNA. Mol. Phylo. Evol. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.11.015.

Parfrey, L.W., D. Lahr and L.A. Katz.  2008.  The dynamic nature of eukaryotic genomes.  Mol. Biol. Evol. 25: 787-794.

Yoon, H-S, J.R. Grant, Y.I. Tekle, M. Wu, B.C. Chao, J.C. Cole, J.M. Logsdon, D.J. Patterson, D. Bhattacharya, and L.A. Katz.  2008. Broadly sampled multigene tree of eukaryotes.  BMC Evol Biol. 8: 14.

Foissner, W., A. Chao and Laura A. Katz.  2008.  Diversity and geographic distribution of ciliates (Protista: Ciliophora).  Biodiv. Conserv. 17: 345-363.

Tilley, S.G., R.L. *Eriksen and L.A. Katz.  2008.  Systematics of dusky salamanders, Desmognathus(Caudata: Plethodontidae) in the mountain and Piedmont regions of Virginia and North Carolina, USA.  Zool. J. Linnean Soc.152: 115-130.

Dunthorn, M.S., W. Foissner, L.A. Katz. 2008.  Molecular phylogenetic analysis of class Colpodea (phylum Ciliophora) using increased taxon sampling.  Mol. Phylo. Evol. 46: 316-327.

Costas, B, G. McManus, M. Doherty and L.A. Katz.  2007.  Use of species-specific primers and PCR to measure the distributions of planktonic ciliates in coastal waters.  Limnol. Oceanog.: Methods 5: 163-173.

Doherty, M., B. Costas, G.B. McManus and L.A. Katz.  2007.  Culture-independent assessment of planktonic ciliate diversity in coastal northwest Atlantic waters.  Aquat. Microb. Ecol. 48: 141-154.

*McGrath, C., R. A. Zufall and L.A. Katz. 2007.  Variation in macronuclear genome content of three ciliates with extensive chromosomal fragmentation: a preliminary analysis. J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 54: 242-246.

*Robinson, T. and L.A. Katz.  2007. Non-Mendelian inheritance of two cytoskeletal genes in the ciliate Chilodonella uncinata.  Mol. Biol. Evol. 24: 2495-2503.

Tekle, Y.I., J.R. Grant, O.R. Anderson, J.C. Cole, T. Nerad, D.J. Patterson and L.A. Katz.  2007.  A multigene analysis of Corallomyxa tenera sp. nov. suggests its membership in a clade that include Gromia, Haplosporidia and Foraminifera.  Protist 158: 457-472.

Zufall, R.A. and L.A. Katz.  2007.  Micronuclear and macronuclear forms of β-tubulin genes in the ciliate Chilodonella uncinata reveal insights into genome processing and protein evolution.  J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 54: 275-282.

Parfrey, L.W., E. *Barbero, E. *Lasser, M. Dunthorn, D. Bhattacharya, D.J. Patterson,  and L.A. Katz.  2006.  Evaluating Support for the Current Classification of Eukaryotic Diversity. PLoS Genet. 2: e220.

Katz, L.A., O.L.O. Snoeyenbos-West and F. P. Doerder. 2006.  Patterns of protein evolution in Tetrahymena thermophila: Implications for estimates of effective population size.  Mol. Biol. Evol. 23: 608-614.

Zufall, R.A., *C. McGrath, S. Muse and L.A. Katz.  2006.   Genome architecture drives protein evolution in ciliates.  Mol. Biol. Evol. 23: 1681-1687.

Katz, L.A., G. B. McManus, O.L.O. Snoeyenbos-West, *K. Pirog, *A. Griffin, and W. Foissner. 2005.  Reframing the Microbial 'Everything is Everywhere' Debate: evidence for high gene flow and diversity in ciliate morphospecies.  Aquat. Microb. Ecol. 41: 55-65.

Zufall, R.A., *T. Robinson and L.A. Katz.  2005.  Evolution of developmentally regulated genome rearrangements in eukaryotes.  J. Exp. Zool. Part B. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 304B: 448-455.

Katz, L.A., *E. Lasek-Nesselquist, J. Bornstein and S.V. Muse.  2004. Dramatic diversity of histone H4 sequences in ciliates.  Mol. Biol. Evol. 21: 555-562.

*McGrath, C. and L.A. Katz.  2004. Genome diversity in microbial eukaryotes.  Trends Ecol. Evol. 19: 32-38.

Snoeyenbos-West, O.L.O., *A. Campbell, J. Cole, D.W. Coats and L.A. Katz.  2004.  Molecular phylogeny of phyllopharyngean ciliates and their group I introns.  J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 51: 441-450.

Book
Katz, L.A. and Bhattacharya, D. (Editors).  2006.  Genome Evolution in Eukaryotic Microbes.  Oxford University Press.

Book chapters:
Katz, L.A. and D. Bhattacharya.  2006.  Introduction.  In "Genome Evolution in Eukaryotic Microbes" L.A. Katz and D. Bhattacharya, eds.  Oxford University Press.

McGrath, C., Zufall, R, and Katz, L.A. 2006.  Genome Evolution in Ciliates.  In "Genome Evolution in Eukaryotic Microbes" L.A. Katz and D. Bhattacharya, eds.  Oxford University Press.

Katz, L.A.  2004.  “Eukaryotic Diversity - a synoptic view.”  Invited chapter (pp. 57-65) in Microbial Diversity & Bioprospecting. A.T. Bull, editor.  ASM Press, Washington D.C.

Other publications:
Katz, L.A.  2007.  Genomes: Epigenomics and the future of genome sciences.  Current Biology 16: R996-997.

Patterson D.J., D. Bhattacharya, J.C. Cole, M.S. Dunthorn, J.M. Logsdon, L.A. Katz and L.W. Parfrey. 2007. Classifying protists. Microbiology Today Feb:44-45.

Bhattacharya, D. and L.A. Katz.  2005. Meeting report - Frontiers in genomics: Insights into protist evolutionary biology, University of Iowa, May 19-21, 2004.  J. Euk. Microbiol. 52: 170-172.