Emile Gluck-Thaler
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Genetics
Organisms usually inherit genes from their parents, but genes can also jump sideways between unrelated individuals, even across species. This is called horizontal gene transfer, and it lets an organism gain entirely new traits through contact or proximity rather than inheritance.
- Fields
Genetics
Microbiology & Immunology
Ecology & Evolution
- Topics
horizontal gene transfer
Starships
giant transposons
- Grants
- 3 known grants, through Mar 2031
What they work on
- Determine how rates of horizontal Starship transfer between fungi change in response to different environmental cues, using a newly developed laboratory transfer assay.
- Measure within-species variation in the ability of fungal strains to transmit or receive Starships and identify the genetic basis of these donor and recipient traits.
- Test whether more closely related species in a model fungal genus exchange Starships more often, and whether phylogenetically diverse communities promote more distant transfers.
- Characterize the molecular mechanisms by which giant Starship transposons move, and identify the genetic components required for transfer between individuals, in the model genus Aspergillus.
- Determine whether Starships alter fungal phenotypes relevant to survival, pathogenesis and mutualism, using whole-Starship deletion mutants for reverse genetics.
- Compare transcriptomic, metabolomic and morphological effects of Starship-carried versus chromosomal members of the LaeA-like methyltransferase family, which includes the master regulator of secondary metabolism LaeA, in Aspergillus fumigatus.
- Test whether Starship transfer occurs inside cells rather than outside them and whether stress related to cargo gene function raises transfer rates, using Starships carrying biofilm architecture genes and tracking biofilm formation and low-oxygen growth.
More about the research
In bacteria it is well known. In eukaryotes, the group that includes fungi, plants and animals, there is clear evidence it happens but almost no understanding of how or why, largely because the field has lacked a system in which transfer can be triggered and tested in the lab. The lab's work builds on its discovery that giant mobile pieces of DNA in fungi, called Starships, can carry dozens of genes and move between species both in culture and in nature. Three projects use Starships to work out the rules of fungal gene transfer, the molecular machinery behind it, and what these elements do to fungal traits and disease.
Why it matters
Fungi threaten human health, crops and ecosystems, and strain-to-strain differences make infections such as those caused by Aspergillus fumigatus hard to treat with one-size-fits-all approaches. Understanding how Starships move genes could improve predictions of pathogen emergence, identify Starship-carried genes as possible drug targets, and inform disease mitigation. The ability to move large gene packages between eukaryotes could also aid plant breeding, drug discovery and biotechnology.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Determining the roles of giant Starship transposons in horizontal gene transfer and fungal biology
NIH · Aug 2026 – Mar 2031
Deciphering the ecological and evolutionary rules of fungal horizontal gene transfer
NSF · Sep 2026 – Aug 2030
Investigating the evolutionary origins and consequences of Starship-mediated variation in fungi
NIH · Jul 2026 – Jun 2028
Closest labs
Javier Tabima Restrepo
Clark University, MA·Ecology & Evolution
Reconstruct the evolutionary relationships among Basidiobolus species, using genome sequences from fungal samples collected around the world.
Stephen Dolan
Clemson University, SC·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
Define the molecular basis of communication between Aspergillus fumigatus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, mediated by the toxins gliotoxin and hydrogen cyanide, by co-culturing them in synthetic cystic fibrosis sputum.
Amy Mathers
University of Virginia, VA·Microbiology & Immunology
Determine which transposons, DNA segments that jump between locations, dominate movement of a carbapenemase resistance gene inside bacterial cells, by combining whole-genome sequencing of patient and environmental isolates with new mathematical analyses.
The school
University of Wisconsin-Madison: 91 labs on PI Pages, $1.9B a year on research, 854 research doctorates a year.
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