WHAT WE DO

Current research areas in the Archibald Lab include the following:

Long-read DNA sequencing for enhanced genome assembly. Over the past two years we have been using Oxford Nanopore technology to generate telomere-to-telomere genome assemblies for diverse eukaryotic microbes.

Representative publications

Matthey-Doret, C., Colp., M. J., Escoll Guerrero, P., Thierry, A., Curtis, B. A., Sarrain, M., Gray, M.W., Lang B.F., Archibald, J. M., Buchrieser, C., & Koszul, R. 2022. Chromosome-scale assemblies of Acanthamoeba castellanii genomes provide insights into Legionella pneumophila infection-related chromatin re-organization. Genome Res. 32, 1698-1710.

Filloramo, G. V., Blanche, E., Curtis, B. A., & Archibald, J. M. 2021. Re-examination of two diatom reference genomes using long-read sequencing. BMC Genomics. 22:379.

Laboratory tools for the study of gene transfer. With funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, we are developing genetic tools with which to study endosymbiotic and lateral gene transfer in microbial eukaryotes (mainly single-celled amoebae). This includes traditional transformation approaches as well as genome editing using CRISPR-cas9 technology.

Comparative genomics and bioinformatics. The Archibald Lab has a long-standing interest in the evolution of eukaryotic cells and their endosymbiotically-derived organelles (mitochondria and chloroplasts). We study genomes sampled from across the tree of life using bioinformatic tools in order to understand (i) the mechanisms and frequency of lateral gene transfer (LGT) between eukaryotes and prokaryotes; (ii) the extent to which eukaryotic viruses are agents of LGT; and (iii) how endosymbionts integrate with their hosts at the cellular, molecular and biochemical level. Much of this work is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Representative publications

Blais, C. & Archibald, J. M. 2021. The past, present and future of the Tree of Life. Curr Biol. 31, R311-329.

Sibbald, S. J., Eme, L., Archibald, J. M. & Roger, A. J. 2020. Lateral gene transfer mechanisms and pan-genomes in eukaryotes. Trends Parasitol. 36, 927-941.

Tanifuji, G., Cenci, U., Moog, D., Dean, S., Nakayama, T., David, V., Fiala, I., Curtis, B. A., Sibbald, S.J., Onodera, N.T., Colp, M., Flegontov, P., Johnson-MacKinnon, J., McPhee, M., Inagaki, Y., Hashimoto, T., Kelly, S., Gull, K., Lukeš, J., and Archibald, J. M. 2017. Genome sequencing reveals metabolic and cellular interdependence in an amoeba-kinetoplastid symbiosis. Scientific Rep. 7, 11688.

Curtis, B. A., [71 authors] & Archibald, J. M. 2012. Algal genomes reveal evolutionary mosaicism and the fate of nucleomorphs. Nature. 492, 59-65.