he/him/his

Visiting Assistant Professor

Organismal Biology & Ecology

Research Interests

Organisms can be deconstructed into a set of modules at various biological levels. I'm interested in taking an organismal approach to understanding how these modules were assembled in fungi. The Mucoromycota are fungi with limited cell types that can be induced in the laboratory. Cell differentiation in this phylum is usually associated with sexual reproduction. During sexual reproduction their cells undergo serial differentiation to ultimately produce transient cell types that support development of the zygospore. Within the phylum Mucoromycota, the morphology and behavior of sexual structures varies despite the limited number of cells involved in the process. This contrasts with the 3D complex multicellular fruiting bodies of the dikaryan fungi. Investigating the genes which control this process across the mucoromycete phylum will uncover additional components of fungal developmental toolkits and offer insight about how specialized cell types have evolved in the fungal kingdom.

Activities & Interests

Playing with my dogs, figure skating, clarinet and melodica.

Publications

• Divergent Evolution of Early Terrestrial Fungi Reveals the Evolution of Mucormycosis Pathogenicity Factors. Y. Wang, Y. Chang, J. Ortañez, Jesús F Peña, D. Carter-House, N. K Reynolds, M. E Smith, G. Benny, S. J Mondo, A. Salamov, A. Lipzen, J. Pangilinan, J. Guo, K. LaButti, W. Andreopolous, A. Tritt, K. Keymanesh, M. Yan, K. Barry, I. V Grigoriev, J. W Spatafora, J. E Stajich. Genome Biology and Evolution, Volume 15, Issue 4, April 2023, evad046, https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evad046
• Crowdsourced analysis of fungal growth and branching on microfluidic platforms. A. Hopke, A. Mela, F. Ellett, D. Carter-House, F. Peña, J. E. Stajich, et al. PLoS ONE 2021 16(9): e0257823 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257823
• Transcriptional Analysis of Coccidioides immitis Mycelia and Spherules by RNA Sequencing. A. F. Carlin , S. Beyhan, F. Peña, J. E. Stajich, S. Viriyakosol, J. Fierer, and T. N. Kirkland J. Fungi 2021 7:366 https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7050366
• Conserved expression of vertebrate microvillar gene homologs in choanocytes of freshwater sponges. F. Peña, A. Alié, D. J. Richter, L. Wang, N. Funayama, and S. A. Nichols. EvoDevo 2016 7:13 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13227-016-0050-x

Regular Classes

BE107 – Biology of Microbes

BE208 – Ecology

BE309/409 – Independent Research Blocks

BE440 -Special Topics in Organismal Biology and Ecology