Fraser MacLeod

Postdoc

Fraser is a Postdoc in the Baum Lab, whose research addresses theories surrounding an archaeal origin of Eukaryotes. Fraser previously completed his PhD on the uncovering the evolutionary and ecological significance of Archaea in microbial mat systems, using a combination of bioinformatic and cultivation-based approaches. His work has involved developing new techniques to identify, image and isolate living Archaea from within anaerobic microbial mat environments. Now joining the Baum Lab, Fraser’s ecology work has now been complemented with a new cell biology spin. Fraser has produced enrichment cultures of several members of the evolutionary significant Asgard Archaea and identified characteristics with serious implications for the structure of the tree of life. Fraser hopes this work will challenge the traditional distinctions of Archaea and Eukaryotes, and discredit the concept that Archaea are in any way “simple cells”.

Publications

MacLeod, F., Kindler, G. S., Wong, H. L., Chen, R., & Burns, B. P. (2019). Asgard archaea: diversity, function, and evolutionary implications in a range of microbiomes. AIMS microbiology, 5(1), 48.

Nobs, S. J.*, MacLeod, F. I.*, Wong, H. L., & Burns, B. P. (2022). Eukarya the chimera: eukaryotes, a secondary innovation of the two domains of life?. Trends in Microbiology, 30(5), 421-431.

Wong, H. L., MacLeod, F. I., White, R. A., Visscher, P. T., & Burns, B. P. (2020). Microbial dark matter filling the niche in hypersaline microbial mats. Microbiome, 8, 1-14.

Chen, R., Wong, H. L., Kindler, G. S., MacLeod, F. I., Benaud, N., Ferrari, B. C., & Burns, B. P. (2020). Discovery of an abundance of biosynthetic gene clusters in shark bay microbial mats. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, 1950.

Reinold, M., Wong, H. L., MacLeod, F. I., Meltzer, J., Thompson, A., & Burns, B. P. (2019). The vulnerability of microbial ecosystems in a changing climate: potential impact in Shark Bay. Life, 9(3), 71.

Kindler, G. S., Wong, H. L., Larkum, A. W., Johnson, M., MacLeod, F. I., & Burns, B. P. (2022). Genome-resolved metagenomics provides insights into the functional complexity of microbial mats in Blue Holes, Shark Bay. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 98(1), fiab158.