MARK A. FARMER
Professor and Head
Ph.D., 1988
Rutgers University
RESEARCH
The origin and evolution of eukaryotic cells is one of the most exciting yet poorly understood phenomena in all of cell biology. Using techniques such as electron microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy my research focuses on the structural similarities between protists (protozoa, algae, zoosporic fungi) and how these relate to the evolution of these organisms. The endosymbiotic theory suggests that chloroplasts and mitochondria are derived from captured prokaryotic cells. Presently my research is centered on identifying and understanding those protists that may be similar to the ancestors of all present-day eukaryotes. One result of this work has been to challenge long held beliefs about the relationships between various parasitic protozoa (trypanosomes, trichomonads, Giardia etc.) and free living protists. These findings will help not only in our understanding of parasitic organisms but more importantly they will help us to understand some of the basic cellular processes of eukaryotic cells.
| CONTACT INFORMATION |
| (706) 542-3383, farmer@cb.uga.edu |
| SEE ALSO |
| The Euglenoid Project "Putting Organisms in Their Places" Biomedical & Health Sciences Institute |
OF NOTE
- "Using Protists to Teach Evolution""Intelligent Design Lecture - Freshman College Summer Experience"
- President—International Society of Evolutionary Protistology, 2001-2002
- "Intelligent Design lecture - Willson Center Science for the Humanities. January 18, 2007""The Blind Biochemist and the Evolution of the Cilium"
- "Morphological Seperation of the Euglenoid Genera Trachelomonas and Strombomonas (Euglenophyta) Based on Lorica Development and Posterior Strip Reduction1."
- "Diversity, Nomenclature, and Taxonomy of Protists"
- "The New Higher Level Classification of Eukaryotes with Emphasis on the Taxonomy of Protists"
- Farmer CV
SUPPORT STAFF
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| Christina Castlejohn | |
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tinkie@uga.edu |
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| Kathryn Morris | |
Grad Student | |
katy007@uga.edu |
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| Sarah Winger | |
Grad Student | |
sjardeleza@plantbio.uga.edu |
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REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Triemer, R.E. & Farmer, M.A. (2007). A decade of euglenoid molecular phylogenetics. In: Unravelling the algae: the past, present and future of algal systematics. (Brodie, J. & Lewis, J. eds). Systematics Association Series, CRC Press. (In Press).
Sina M. Adl, Brian S. Leander, Alastair G. B. Simpson, John M. Archibald, O. Roger Anderson, David Bass, Samuel S. Bowser, Guy Brugerolle, Mark A. Farmer, Sergei Karpov, Martin Kolisko, Chris Lane, Louise A. Lewis, Jean Lodge, David G. Mann, Richard M. McCourt, Ralf Meisterfeld, Leonel Mendoza, Georges Merinfeld, Øjvind Moestrup, Sharon E. Mozley-Standridge, Alexey V. Smirnov, Frederick Spiegel. 2007. Diversity, Nomenclature and Taxonomy of Protists. Systematic Biology. 56:684-689.
Nudelman, M.A., Leonardi, P.I., Conforti, V., Farmer, M.A. and Triemer, R.E. 2006. Fine structure and taxonomy of Monomorphina aenigmatica comb. nov. (Euglenophyta). Journal of Phycology 42:194-202.
Adl*, M.S., Simpson*, A.G.B., Farmer*, M.A., Andersen, R.A., Anderson, O.R., Barta, J.R., Bowser, S.S., Brugerolle, G., Fensome, R.A., Fredericq, S., James, T.Y., Karpov, S., Kugrens, P., Krug, J., Lane, C.E., Lewis, L.A., Lodge, J., Lynn, D.H., Mann, D.G., McCourt, R.M., Mendoza, L., Moestrup, Ø., Mozley-Standridge, S.E., Nerad, T.A., Shearer, C.A., Smirnov, A.V., Spiegel, F.W., and Taylor, F. J. R. 2005. The new higher level classification of eukaryotes with emphasis on the taxonomy of protists. J Euk Microbiol 52:399-451. * = co-first authors.