Johann Peter Gogarten

Johann Peter Gogarten is a German-American biologist studying the early evolution of life. Born in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, he studied plant physiology and membrane transport with Friedrich-Wilhelm Bentrup in Tübingen and Giessen. In 1987 he moved to the US as a postdoc to work with Lincoln Taiz at UC Santa Cruz. He currently is Distinguished Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT.

Johann Peter Gogarten
Born
CitizenshipUS
EducationDiplom, 1982, University of Tübingen
Dr. rer. nat., 1986, University of Gießen
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Tübingen
University of Gießen
UC Santa Cruz
University of Connecticut
Websitej.p.gogarten.uconn.edu


Gogarten rooted the tree of life using an ancient gene duplication.[1] He was also one of the pioneers to recognize the importance and the extent of horizontal gene transfer and its role in microbial evolution.[2][3]

Gogarten’s current focus is the evolution of homing endonuclease utilizing parasitic genetic elements (inteins)[4] and the intertwining of selection occurring on the gene, population and the community level (multilevel selection, Unit of selection).

J. Peter Gogarten was selected as a recipient of a 2009 Fulbright scholarship, a member of the CT Academy of Science and Engineering, and fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Gogarten, J P; Kibak, H; Dittrich, P; Taiz, L; Bowman, E J; Bowman, B J; Manolson, M F; Poole, R J; Date, T; Oshima, T; Konishi, J; Denda, K; Yoshida, M (1989). "Evolution of the vacuolar H+-ATPase: implications for the origin of eukaryotes". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 86 (17): 6661–6665. Bibcode:1989PNAS...86.6661G. doi:10.1073/pnas.86.17.6661. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 297905. PMID 2528146.
  2. ^ Hilario, Elena; Gogarten, Johann Peter (1993). "Horizontal transfer of ATPase genes — the tree of life becomes a net of life". Biosystems. 31 (2–3). Elsevier BV: 111–119. Bibcode:1993BiSys..31..111H. doi:10.1016/0303-2647(93)90038-e. ISSN 0303-2647. PMID 8155843.
  3. ^ Gogarten, J. Peter; Doolittle, W. Ford; Lawrence, Jeffrey G. (1 December 2002). "Prokaryotic Evolution in Light of Gene Transfer". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 19 (12). Oxford University Press (OUP): 2226–2238. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a004046. ISSN 0737-4038. PMID 12446813.
  4. ^ Swithers, Kristen S; Senejani, Alireza G; Fournier, Gregory P; Gogarten, J Peter (2009). "Conservation of intron and intein insertion sites: implications for life histories of parasitic genetic elements". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 9 (1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 303. Bibcode:2009BMCEE...9..303S. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-303. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 2814812. PMID 20043855.
[edit]