Eunsoo Kim and Aaron Heiss

Associate Curator, Protist Collection
Principal Investigator, Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics
Associate Professor, Richard Gilder Graduate School 

Dr. Eunsoo Kim studies the evolution and ecology of single-celled eukaryotic flagellates. Her long-term research goals are the investigation of: the diversity and genomics of those modern-day microbial eukaryotes that are keys to understanding the early evolution of eukaryotic life; symbiosis as a driver of evolutionary innovation; and the origin and evolution of plastids (chloroplasts). Dr. Kim is particularly interested in understanding the environmental conditions and molecular processes that fostered the origin of the first photosynthetic eukaryotes by the process of endosymbiosis between free-living cyanobacteria and pre-green eukaryotic hosts. This evolutionary event, thought to have occurred during the early or mid- Proterozoic era, fundamentally changed the trajectory of life on Earth, but many questions about this cellular merging process remain. Inferring such an ancient event in the history of life requires a synthetic strategy that encompasses systematics, genomics, physiology, biochemistry, and biogeochemistry. Current projects in the Kim lab are comparative genomics and morphology of several key flagellate taxa in order to infer traits of pre-green ancestors of land plants and green algae; culturing and sequencing of green algae that invade into amphibian cells; and microscopic and genomic characterization of bacterial endosymbionts living in photosynthetic flagellates. The Kim lab employs a broad range of experimental approaches including isolation and culture methods, fluorescence and electron microscopy, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), environmental DNA sequencing, and next generation sequencing.

• Official AMNH page for Eunsoo Kim

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Post-doctoral Researcher

Dr. Aaron A. Heiss studies eukaryotes, organisms whose cells have nuclei and other internal structures (unlike bacteria). We are eukaryotes, as are most familiar forms of life: all animals, plants, and fungi. But there are many other lineages of eukaryotes, most of which are primarily or exclusively microbial, called "protists". Dr Heiss's research explores the diversity of protists, both investigating the differences between "kingdom-scale" lineages and discovering features in common between them, some of which may have been characteristics of the last common ancestor to all eukaryotes. His primary activities are: (1) Discovery and description of new eukaryotic microbes. (2) Preparation and sequencing of RNA and DNA from particularly interesting organisms, and evolutionary analysis of sequence data, both for the generation of evolutionary trees and for investigation of genetically-determined traits. (3) Computer-based modelling of subcellular anatomy of eukaryotic cells, determined through high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Dr Heiss focuses on organisms that have no known close relatives, which may prove to be the key to resolving questions about the (currently poorly known) relationships among eukaryotes in general.

• Official AMNH page for Aaron Heiss