Jason C. Slot

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Jason C. Slot

Professor, Fungal Evolutionary Genomics. Mycology Minor Advisor

2013 -

slot.1@osu.edu

614-688-2122

Office:

481C Kottman Hall, Columbus

Professional Information

Degrees & Credentials:

PhD Biology, Clark University

MAT, Science Education, Boston University

BA, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Boston University

Research Area(s):

Mycology, Evolution, Genomics, Metabolism, Molecular Ecology

Biography:

(View publications under the "Works" tab.

News

Bacterial resistance to copper in the making for thousands of years (OSU news release)

Lab website

Professional Experience

2008-2013 Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept. of Biol. Sci., Vanderbilt University
2003-2008 Ph. D. Biology Department, Clark University
2000-2003 Science Teacher, Framingham High School, Framingham, MA

Research

Fungi are critical players in functioning terrestrial ecosystems, from forests to agriculture. They are the principle decayers of wood and other plant matter. Almost all plants rely on fungi for nutrient acquisition, and many rely upon them for defense against disease and stress. Occasionally, fungi emerge as formidable pathogens of plants and animals, and as toxic agents of food spoilage.

In my lab, we investigate fungal adaptation to these ecological roles at the genomic level. Examples of our research questions are:

How do fungi acquire new metabolic capabilities?
How do fungi adapt to biochemical weapons produced by their plant hosts?
What are the genomic features that indicate good fungi that are turning bad?

To address these questions, we employ comparative and functional genomics techniques in a broad range of fungal species.

Teaching

Science of Fungi: Mycology (PLNTPTH 5040 - Lecture and PLNTPTH 5041 - Lab) - Autumn

Works

Publications

Sahu, N., Indic, B., Wong-Bajracharya, J., Merényi, Z., Ke, H. M., Ahrendt, S., …Slot, J.C,... & Nagy, L. G. (2023). Vertical and horizontal gene transfer shaped plant colonization and biomass degradation in the fungal genus Armillaria. Nature Microbiology, 8(9), 1668-1681. [IF 30.9]
McTaggart, A. R., McLaughlin, S., Slot, J. C., McKernan, K., Appleyard, C., Bartlett, T. L., ... & James, T. Y. (2023). Domestication through clandestine cultivation constrained genetic diversity in magic mushrooms relative to naturalized populations. Current Biology, 33(23), 5147-5159. [IF 10.9]
Scott, K., Konkel, Z., Gluck-Thaler, E., Valero David, G. E., Simmt, C. F., Grootmyers, D., ... & Slot, J. (2023). Endophyte genomes support greater metabolic gene cluster diversity compared with non-endophytes in Trichoderma. Plos one, 18(12), e0289280. [IF 3.7]
Sierra-Patev, S., Min, B., Naranjo-Ortiz, M., Looney, B., Konkel, Z., Slot, J. C., ... & Hibbett, D. (2023). A global phylogenomic analysis of the shiitake genus Lentinula. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(10), e2214076120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2214076120 [IF11.1]
McTaggart, A. R., James, T. Y., Slot, J. C., Barlow, C., Fechner, N., Shuey, L. S., & Drenth, A. (2023). Genome sequencing progenies of magic mushrooms (Psilocybe subaeruginosa) identifies tetrapolar mating and gene duplications in the psilocybin pathway. Fungal Genetics and Biology, 103769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fgb.2022.103769 [IF 3.0]
Meyer, M., & Slot, J. (2023). The Evolution and Ecology of Psilocybin in Nature. Fungal Genetics and Biology, June 2023, 103812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fgb.2023.103812 [IF 3.0]
Gluck-Thaler, Emile; Ralston, Timothy; Konkel, Zachary; Ocampos, Cristhian Grabowski; Ganeshan, Veena Devi; Dorrance, Anne E.; Niblack, Terry L.; Wood, Corlett W.; Slot, Jason C.; Lopez-Nicora, Horacio D.; Vogan, Aaron A. 2022. Giant Starship Elements Mobilize Accessory Genes in Fungal Genomes. Molecular Biology and Evolution Volume 39, Issue 51 Article number msac109
Franco, M. E., Wisecaver, J. H., Arnold, A. E., Ju, Y. M., Slot, J. C., Ahrendt, S., ... & U’Ren, J. M. (2022). Ecological generalism drives hyperdiversity of secondary metabolite gene clusters in xylarialean endophytes. New Phytologist, 233(3), 1317-1330. (with *Konkel, Z. and *Scott, K.)
Slot, J. C., & Kasson, M. T. (2021). Ecology: Fungal mimics dupe animals by transforming plants. Current Biology, 31(5), R250-R252.
Konkel, Z., Scott, K., & Slot, J. C. (2021). Draft Genome Sequence of the Termite-Associated “Cuckoo Fungus,” Athelia (Fibularhizoctonia) sp. TMB Strain TB5. Microbiology Resource Announcements, 10(1).
Gluck-Thaler, E., Cerutti, A., Perez-Quintero, A. L., Butchacas, J., Roman-Reyna, V., Madhavan, V. N., ... & Jacobs, J. (2020). Repeated gain and loss of a single gene modulates the evolution of vascular plant pathogen lifestyles. Science advances, 6(46), eabc4516.
Valero-Jiménez, C. A., Steentjes, M. B., Slot, J. C., Shi-Kunne, X., Scholten, O. E., & van Kan, J. A. (2020). Dynamics in secondary metabolite gene clusters in otherwise highly syntenic and stable genomes in the fungal genus Botrytis. Genome biology and evolution, 12(12), 2491-2507.
Qu, F., Zheng, L., Zhang, S., Sun, R., Slot, J., & Miyashita, S. (2020). Bottleneck, Isolate, Amplify, Select (BIAS) as a mechanistic framework for intracellular population dynamics of positive-sense RNA viruses. Virus Evolution, 6(2), veaa086.
Wang, Y. W., Hess, J., Slot, J. C., & Pringle, A. (2020). De Novo Gene Birth, Horizontal Gene Transfer, and Gene Duplication as Sources of New Gene Families Associated with the Origin of Symbiosis in Amanita. Genome biology and evolution, 12(11), 2168-2182.
Goughenour, K. D., Whalin, J., Slot, J., & Rappleye, C. A. (2020). Diversification of fungal chitinases and their functional differentiation in Histoplasma capsulatum. Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Gluck-Thaler, E., Haridas, S., Binder, M., Grigoriev, I. V., Crous, P. W., Spatafora, J. W., ... & Slot, J. C. (2020). The architecture of metabolism maximizes biosynthetic diversity in the largest class of fungi. Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Farinas, C., Jourdan, P. S., Paul, P. A., Slot, J. C., Daughtrey, M., Devi Ganeshan, V., ... & Peduto Hand, F. (2020). Phlox species show quantitative and qualitative resistance to a population of powdery mildew isolates from the eastern United States. Phytopathology, (ja).
Wolff, P. B., Nielsen, M. L., Slot, J. C., Andersen, L. N., Petersen, L. M., Isbrandt, T., ... & Hoof, J. B. (2020). Acurin A, a novel hybrid compound, biosynthesized by individually translated PKS-and NRPS-encoding genes in Aspergillus aculeatus. Fungal Genetics and Biology, 103378.
Farinas, C., Gluck-Thaler, E., Slot, J. C., & Hand, F. P. (2019). Whole-Genome Sequence of the Phlox Powdery Mildew Pathogen Golovinomyces magnicellulatus Strain FPH2017-1. Microbiology resource announcements, 8(36), e00852-19.
Slot, J.C. and Gluck-Thaler, E. (2019). Metabolic gene clusters, fungal diversity, and the generation of accessory functions. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development.
Armaleo, D., Müller, O., Lutzoni, F., Andrésson , Ó., Blanc, G., Bode , H., Collart, F., Dal-Grande , F., Dietrich, F., Grigoriev, I., Joneson, S., Kuo , A., Larsen , P., Logsdon-Jr. , J., Lopez , D., Martin, F., May, S., McDonald, T., Merchant, S., Miao, V., Morin , E., Oono, R., Pellegrini , M., Rubinstein, N., Sanchez-Puerta, M., Savelkoul , E., Schmitt, I., Slot , J., Soanes , D., Szövényi, P., Talbot , N., Veneault-Fourrey, C., Basil Xavier. (in press). The lichen symbiosis re-viewed through the genomes of Cladonia grayi and its algal partner Asterochloris glomerata. BMC Genomics.
Boyce, Greg R., Emile Gluck-Thaler, Jason C. Slot, Jason E. Stajich, William J. Davis, Tim Y. James, John R. Cooley et al. "Psychoactive plant-and mushroom-associated alkaloids from two behavior modifying cicada pathogens." Fungal ecology 41 (2019): 147-164.
Olarte, R. A., Menke, J., Zhang, Y., Sullivan, S., Slot, J. C., Huang, Y., ... & Bushley, K. E. (2019). Chromosome rearrangements shape the diversification of secondary metabolism in the cyclosporin producing fungus Tolypocladium inflatum. BMC genomics, 20(1), 120.
Ewing, C. J., Hausman, C. E., Pogacnik, J., Slot, J., & Bonello, P. (2018). Beech leaf disease: An emerging forest epidemic. Forest Pathology, e12488. doi.org/10.1111/efp.12488
Gluck‐Thaler, E., Vijayakumar, V., & Slot, J. C. (2018). Fungal adaptation to plant defenses through convergent assembly of metabolic modules. Molecular ecology, 27:24, 5120-5136. doi.org/10.1111/mec.14943
Blei, F.; Fricke, J.; Wick, J.; Slot, J.C.; Hoffmeister, D. (2018). Iterative L-tryptophan methylation in Psilocybe evolved by sub-domain duplication. ChemBioChem, 19:20, 2160-2166. doi.org/10.1002/cbic.201800336
Reynolds, H.; Vijayakumar, V.; Gluck-Thaler, E.; Korotkin, H.; Matheny, P.; Slot, J.C. (2018). Horizontal gene cluster transfer increased hallucinogenic mushroom diversity. Evolution Letters, 2 (2), 88-101. doi:10.1002/evl3.42
Gluck-Thaler, E.; Slot, J.C. (2018). Specialized plant biochemistry drives gene clustering in fungi. ISME Journal, 1-12. doi:10.1038/s41396-018-0075-3
Slot, J.C. (2018). Fungal Ecology. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences 1-10. Based in part on the previous version (2001) by Hawksworth, D.L. doi.org/10.1002/9780470015902.a0000356.pubSipos, G., A. N. Prasanna, M. C. Walter, E. O’Connor, B. Bálint, K. Krizsán, B. Kiss, J. Hess, T. Varga, J. C. Slot, R. Riley, B. Bóka, D. Rigling, K. Barry, J. Lee, S. Mihaltcheva, K. LaButti, A. Lipzen, R. Waldron, N. M. Moloney, C. Sperisen, L. Kredics, C. Vágvölgyi, A. Patrignani, D. Fitzpatrick, I. Nagy, S. Doyle, J. B. Anderson, I. V. Grigoriev, U. Güldener, M. Münsterkötter, and L. G. Nagy. (2017). Genome Expansion and Lineage-Specific Genetic Innovations in the Forest Pathogenic Fungi Armillaria. Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Slot, J. C. (2017). Fungal Gene Cluster Diversity and Evolution. Advances in Genetics.
Nagy, L. G., Tóth, R., Kiss, E., Slot, J., Gácser, A., & Kovács, G. M. (2017). Six Key Traits of Fungi: Their Evolutionary Origins and Genetic Bases. Microbiology spectrum, 5(4).
Reynolds, H. T., Slot, J. C., Divon, H. H., Lysøe, E., Proctor, R. H., & Brown, D. W. (2017). Differential retention of gene functions in a secondary metabolite cluster. Mol Biol Evol, msx145.
Riley R, Haridas S, Wolfe KH, Lopes MR, Hittinger CT, Göker M, Salamov AA, Wisecaver JH, Long TM, Calvey CH, Aerts AL, Barry KW, Choi C, Clum A, Coughlan AY, Deshpande S, Douglass AP, Hanson SJ, Klenk HP, LaButti KM, Lapidus A, Lindquist EA, Lipzen AM, Meier-Kolthoff JP, Ohm RA, Otillar RP, Pangilinan JL, Peng Y, Rokas A, Rosa CA, Scheuner C, Sibirny AA, Slot JC, Stielow JB, Sun H, Kurtzman CP, Blackwell M, Grigoriev IV, Jeffries TW. Comparative genomics of biotechnologically important yeasts. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Aug 30;113(35):9882-7.
Reynolds, Hannah T., Hazel A. Barton, and Jason C. Slot. "Phylogenomic analysis supports a recent change in nitrate assimilation in the White-nose Syndrome pathogen, Pseudogymnoascus destructans." Fungal Ecology 23 (2016): 20-29.
Staehlin, Benjamin M, Gibbons, John G, Rokas, Antonis, O'Halloran, Thomas V, Slot, Jason C.. 2016. Evolution of a Heavy Metal Homeostasis/Resistance Island Reflects Increasing Copper Stress in Enterobacteria. GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION 8: 811-826

Gluck-Thaler, E, Slot, JC. "Dimensions of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Eukaryotic Microbial Pathogens." PLOS Pathogens. Vol. 11, no. 10. (Oct 2015): 1-7. (7.56).
Elmore, M Holly, Kriston L McGary, Jennifer H Wisecaver, J.C. Slot, David M Geiser, Stacy Sink, Kerry O'Donnell, and A Rokas. (2015) Clustering of two genes putatively involved in cyanate detoxification evolved recently and independently in multiple fungal lineages. Genome Biology and Evolution 7 (3): 789–800.
Wisecaver, J.H., J.C. Slot, A. Rokas. (2014) The Evolution of Fungal Metabolic Pathways. PLoS Genetics 10 (12): e1004816.
Greene, GH, McGary, KL, Rokas, A, Slot, JC. 2014. Ecology drives the distribution of specialized tyrosine metabolism modules in fungi. Genome Biology and Evolution 6: 121-132.
McGary, K. L., J. C. Slot, and A. Rokas. (2013) The Physical Linkage of Metabolic Genes in Fungi is an Adaptation against the Accumulation of Toxic Intermediate Compounds. Proc Nat Acad Sci 110(28), 11481–11486.
Campbell, M.A., M. Staats, J.A.L. van Kan, A. Rokas and J.C. Slot. 2013, Repeated loss of an anciently horizontally transferred gene cluster in Botrytis. Mycologia 105:1126-113.
Bradshaw, R.E., J. C. Slot, G. G. Moore, P. Chettri, P. J.G.M. de Wit, K. C. Ehrlich, A. R. D. Ganley, M. A. Olson, A. Rokas, I. Carbone, M. P. Cox. (2013) Fragmentation of an Aflatoxin-Like Gene Cluster in a Forest Pathogen. New Phytol 198:525-35.
Gibbons, J. G., L. Salichos, J. C. Slot, D.C. Rinker, K.L. McGary, J.G. King, M. A. Klich, D. L. Tabb, W. H. McDonald, and A. Rokas. (2012). The evolutionary imprint of domestication on microbe genome variation and function. Curr Biol 22:1-7.
Zhang, H., A. Rokas and J. C. Slot. (2012). Two Different Secondary Metabolism Gene Clusters Occupied the Same Ancestral Locus in Fungal Dermatophytes. PLoS ONE 7: e41903
League, G., J. C. Slot, and A. Rokas. (2012) The ASP3 locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae originated by horizontal gene transfer from Wickerhamomyces. FEMS Yeast Res Online early: DOI: 10.1111/j.1567-1364.2012.00828.x.
Floudas, D., (and 70 others, inc. J. C. Slot) (2012). The Paleozoic Origin of Enzymatic Lignin Decomposition Reconstructed from 31 Fungal Genomes. Science 336: 1715.
Stergiopoulos, I., Y.A. Kourmpetis, J. C. Slot, F.T. Bakker, P.J.G.M. De Wit, and A. Rokas. (2012) In silico characterization and molecular evolutionary analysis of a novel superfamily of fungal effector proteins. Mol Biol Evol 29(11): 3371-3384.
Campbell, M. A., A. Rokas, and J. C. Slot. (2012). Horizontal transfer and death of a fungal secondary metabolic gene cluster. Gen Biol Evol 4(3), 289–293.
Slot, J. C. and A. Rokas. 2011. Horizontal transfer of a large and highly toxic secondary metabolite gene cluster between fungi. Curr Biol 21(2).
Slot, J. C. and A. Rokas. 2010. Multiple GAL pathway gene clusters evolved independently and by different mechanisms in fungi. Proc Nat Acad Sci 107(22) 10136-10141.
Slot, J. C., K. N. Hallstrom, P. B. Matheny, K. Hosaka, G. Mueller, D. L. Robertson, and D. S. Hibbett. 2010. Phylogenetic, structural and functional diversification of nitrate transporters in three ecologically diverse clades of mushroom forming fungi. Fungal Ecology 3(3):160-177.
Slot, J. C., and D. S. Hibbett. 2007. Horizontal Transfer of a Nitrate Assimilation Gene Cluster and Ecological Transitions in Fungi: A Phylogenetic Study. PLoS ONE 2:e1097.
Slot, J. C., K. N. Hallstrom, P. B. Matheny, and D. S. Hibbett. 2007. Diversification of NRT2 and the Origin of Its Fungal Homolog. Mol Biol Evol 24:1731-1743.
Matheny, P. B., Z. Wang, M. Binder, J. M. Curtis, Y. W. Lim, R. H. Nilsson, K. W. Hughes, V. Hofstetter, J. F. Ammirati, C. L. Schoch, E. Langer, G. Langer, D. J. McLaughlin, A. W. Wilson, T. Froslev, Z. W. Ge, R. W. Kerrigan, J. C. Slot, Z. L. Yang, T. J. Baroni, M. Fischer, K. Hosaka, K. Matsuura, M. T. Seidl, J. Vauras, and D. S. Hibbett. 2007. Contributions of rpb2 and tef1 to the phylogeny of mushrooms and allies (Basidiomycota, Fungi). Mol Phylogenet Evol 43:430-451.
Matheny, P. B., Curtis, J. M., Hoffstetter, V., Aime, M. C., Moncalvo, J. M., Ge, Z. W., Yang, Z. L., Slot, J. C., et al. 2006. Major clades of Agaricales: a multilocus phylogenetic overview. Mycologia 98(6): 982-995.
James, T. Y., F. Kauff, C. L. Schoch, P. B. Matheny, V. Hofstetter, C. J. Cox, G. Celio, C. Gueidan, E. Fraker, J. Miadlikowska, H. T. Lumbsch, A. Rauhut, V. Reeb, A. E. Arnold, A. Amtoft, J. E. Stajich, K. Hosaka, G. H. Sung, D. Johnson, B. O'Rourke, M. Crockett, M. Binder, J. M. Curtis, J. C. Slot, et al. 2006. Reconstructing the early evolution of Fungi using a six-gene phylogeny. Nature 443:818-822.
Yang, Z. L., P.B. Matheny, Z. Ge, J. C. Slot, and D. S. Hibbett. 2005. New Asian species of the genus Anamika (euagarics, hebelomatoid clade) based on morphology and ribosomal DNA sequences. Mycol Res 109(11):1259-1267

Dimensions of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Eukaryotic Microbial Pathogens

Date published:

Oct 29 2015

Publication type:

Journal article

Our Author(s):

Emile Gluck Thaler, Jason C. Slot

PLoS Pathog 11(10): e1005156. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1005156

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