Elisabeth Christine Hehenberger, PhD

Job Position: Group leader - Laboratory of Genomics and Diversity of Protists

Contact details

Phone: +420 38 777 5478
E-mail: elisabeth.hehenberger@paru.cas.cz
Room: nová budova 5. patro

Curriculum vitae

Current Position:

Lumina Quaeruntur Group Leader                                                                                                                 since 01/2022

Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre CAS, Czech Republic                                                                                            

 

Professional Experience:

Postdoctoral Research Fellow                                                                                                                  08/2021 – 12/2021

Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre CAS, Czech Republic

Dr. Martin Kolisko

Postdoctoral Research Fellow                                                                                                                  11/2017 – 07/2021

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, USA / GEOMAR Kiel, Germany                                 full-time maternity leave:

Prof. Alexandra Worden                                                                                                                             01/2020 – 09/2020

Postdoctoral Research Fellow                                                                                                                  08/2012 – 10/2017

Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Canada

Prof. Patrick Keeling

 

Education:

Ph.D. Plant Developmental Biology                                                                                                       05/2007 – 11/2011

Department of Biology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Prof. Claudia Köhler

 

Fellowships and Awards:

Lumina Quaeruntur Award of the Czech Academy of Sciences                                                     01/2022 – 12/2026

Exploring the diversity of host-symbiont relationships in dinoflagellates on genomic and metabolic levels to improve our understanding of early plastid evolution. 5-year grant to establish research group.                                                      

Swiss National Science Foundation. Comparative genomics of tertiary                                          08/2012 – 07/2013

endosymbiosis in dinoflagellates with diatom plastids. Postdoctoral Fellowship. EUR 42’500.

 

Publications:

Cooney, E. C., Holt, C. C., Hehenberger, E., Adams, J. A., Leander, B. S. and Keeling, P. J. (2024). Investigation of heterotrophs reveals new insights in dinoflagellate evolution. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 196, 108086.

Harbeitner, R. C., Wittmers, F., Yung, C. C. M., Eckmann, C. A., Hehenberger, E., Blum, M., Needham, D. M. and Worden, A. Z. (2024). Gradients of bacteria in the oceanic water column reveal finely-resolved vertical distributions. PLOS ONE 19(4): e0298139.

Hehenberger, E., Boscaro, V., James, E., Hirakawa, Y., Trznadel, M., Mtawali, M., Fiorito, R., del Campo, J., Karnkowska, A., Kolisko, M., Irwin, N. A. T., Mathur, V., Scheffrahn, R. and Keeling P. (2023) New Parabasalia symbionts Snyderella spp. and Daimonympha gen. nov. from South American Rugitermes termites and the parallel evolution of a cell with a rotating "head". J Euk Microbiol. 70:e12987.

Holt, C. C.^†, Hehenberger, E.^†, Tikhonenkov, D. V., Jacko-Reynolds, V. K. L., Okamoto, N., Cooney, E. C., Irwin, N. A. T. and Keeling, P. (2023) Multiple parallel origins of parasitic Marine Alveolates. Nat Commun. 14: 7049. ^† These authors contributed equally

Cho, A., Tikhonenkov, D. V., Hehenberger, E., Karnkowska, A., Mylnikov, A. P. and Keeling, P. J. (2022) Monophyly of diverse Bigyromonadea and their impact on phylogenomic relationships within stramenopiles. Mol Phylogenet Evol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107468.

​Decelle, J., Kayal, E., Bigeard, E., Gallet, B., Bougoure, J., Clode, P., Schieber, N., Templin, R., Hehenberger, E., Prensier, G., Chevalier, F., Schwab, Y. and Guillou, L. (2022) Intracellular development and impact of a marine eukaryotic parasite on its zombified microalgal host. ISME J. 16: 2348–2359

Wittmers, F., Needham, D. M., Hehenberger, E., Giovannoni, S. J. and Worden, A. Z. (2022) Genomes from uncultivated Pelagiphages reveal multiple phylogenetic clades exhibiting extensive auxiliary metabolic genes and cross-family multi-gene transfers. mSystems. 7(5):e0152221.

Hamilton, M., Mascioni, M., Hehenberger, E., Bachy, C., Yung, C., Vernet, M. and Worden, A. Z. (2021) Spatiotemporal variations in Antarctic protistan communities highlight phytoplankton diversity and seasonal dominance by a novel cryptophyte lineage. mBIO. 12(6):e0297321.

Singh, R. A., Boscaro, V., James, E. R., Karnkowska, A., Kolisko, M., Gavelis, G. S., Okamoto, N., del Campo, J., Fiorito, R., Hehenberger, E., Irwin, N. A. T., Mathur, V., Scheffrahn, R. H. and Keeling, P. J. (2021). Characterization of new cristamonad species from kalotermitid termites including a novel genus, Runanympha. Sci Rep. 11(7270).

Hehenberger, E., Eitel, M., Fortunato, S. A.V., Miller, D. J., Keeling, P. J. and Cahill, M. A. (2020). Early eukaryotic origins and metazoan elaboration of MAPR family proteins. Mol Phylogenet Evol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106814.

Tikhonenkov, D. V. †, Mikhailov, K. V. †, Hehenberger, E., Karpov, S. A., Prokina, K. I., Esaulov, A. S., Belyakova, O. I., Mazei, Y. A., Mylnikov, A. P., Aleoshin, V. V. and Keeling, P. J. (2020). New lineage of microbial predators adds complexity to reconstructing the evolutionary origin of animals. Curr Biol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.061. † These authors contributed equally

Tikhonenkov, D. V., Hehenberger, E., Esaulov, A. S., Belyakova, O. I., Mazei, Y. A., Mylnikov, A. P. and Keeling, P. J. (2020). Insights into the origin of metazoan multicellularity from predatory unicellular relatives of animals. BMC Biol. 18(39).

Faktorová, D. [...] Hehenberger, E.  [...] Lukeš, J. (2020). Genetic tool development in marine protists: emerging model organisms for experimental cell biology. Nat Methods. 17: 481–494.

Cooney, E. C., Okamoto, N., Cho, A., Hehenberger, E., Richards, T. A., Santoro, A. E., Worden, A. Z., Leander, B. S., Keeling, P. J. (2020) Single cell transcriptomics of ABEDINIUM reveals a new early-branching dinoflagellate lineage. Genome Biol Evol. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaa196.

Hehenberger, E., Gast, R. J. and Keeling, P. J. (2019). A kleptoplastidic dinoflagellate and the tipping point between transient and permanent plastid endosymbiosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 116(36): 17934-17942.

Gawryluk, R. M. R.†, Tikhonenkov, D. V.†, Hehenberger, E., Husník, F., Mylnikov, A. P. and Keeling, P. J. (2019). Non-photosynthetic predators are sisters to red algae. Nature. 572(7768): 240-243. † These authors contributed equally

Mathur, V.†, Kolisko, M.†, Hehenberger, E., Irwin, N. A. T., Leander, B. S., Kristmundsson, Á., Freeman, M. A. and Keeling, P. J. (2019). Multiple independent origins of apicomplexan-like parasites. Curr Biol. 29(17): R836-R839. † These authors contributed equally

Needham, D. M. [...] Hehenberger, E. [...] Worden, A. Z. (2019). A distinct lineage of giant viruses brings a rhodopsin photosystem to unicellular marine predators. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 116(41): 20574-20583.

Needham, D. M., Poirier, C., Hehenberger, E., Jiménez, V., Swalwell, J. E., Santoro, A. E. and Worden, A. Z. (2019). Targeted metagenomic recovery of four divergent viruses reveals shared and distinctive characteristics of giant viruses of marine eukaryotes. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 374: 20190086.

Strassert, J. F., Hehenberger, E., del Campo, J., Okamoto, N., Kolisko, M., S. J., Richards, T. A., Worden, A. Z., Santoro, A. E. and Keeling, P. J. (2018). Phylogeny, evidence for a cryptic plastid, and distribution of Chytriodinium parasites (Dinophyceae) infecting copepods. J Euk Microbiol. doi:10.1111/jeu.12701.

Irwin, N. A. T., Tikhonenkov, D. V., Hehenberger, E., Mylnikov, A. P., Burki, F. and Keeling, P. J. (2018). Phylogenomics supports the monophyly of the Cercozoa. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 130: 416-423.

Hehenberger, E., Tikhonenkov, D. V., Kolisko, M., del Campo, J., Esaulov, A. S., Mylnikov, A. P. and Keeling, P. J. (2017). Novel freshwater predators reshape holozoan phylogeny and reveal the presence of a two-component signalling system in the ancestor of animals. Curr Biol. 27(13): 2043–50.

Strassert, J. F., Karnkowska, A., Hehenberger, E., del Campo, J., Kolisko, M., Okamoto, N., Burki, F., Janouškovec, J., Poirier, C., Leonard, G., Hallam, S. J., Richards, T. A., Worden, A. Z., Santoro, A. E. and Keeling, P. J. (2017). Single cell genomics of uncultured marine alveolates shows paraphyly of basal dinoflagellates. ISME J., ismej2017167.

Hehenberger, E., James, E. R., del Campo, J., Buckland-Nicks, J. A., Reimchen, T. E., and Keeling P. J. (2017). Fish parasite dinoflagellates Haidadinium ichthyophilum and Piscinoodinium share a recent common ancestor. J Euk Microbiol. doi:10.1111/jeu.12430.

del Campo, J., James, E. R., Hirakawa, Y., Fiorito, R., Irwin, N. A. T., Mathur, V., Kolisko, M., Boscaro, V., Hehenberger, E., Karnkowska, A., Scheffrahn, R. H. and Keeling, P. J. (2017). Pseudotrichonympha leei, Pseudotrichonympha lifesoni, and Pseudotrichonympha pearti, new species of parabasalian flagellates and the description of a rotating subcellular structure. Sci Rep. 7(1):16349.

Boscaro, V., James, E. R., Fiorito, R., Hehenberger, E., Karnkowska, A., del Campo, J., Kolisko, M., Irwin, N. A. T., Mathur, V., Scheffrahn, R. H. and Keeling, P. J. (2017). Molecular characterization and phylogeny of four new species of the genus Trichonympha (Parabasalia, Trichonymphea) from lower termite hindguts. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 67(9): 3570-75.

Hehenberger, E., Burki, F., Kolisko, M. and Keeling, P. J. (2016). Functional relationship between a dinoflagellate host and its diatom endosymbiont. Mol Biol Evol. 33(9): 2376-90.

del Campo, J., Guillou, L., Hehenberger, E., Logares, R., López-García, P. and Massana, R. (2016). Ecological and evolutionary significance of novel protist lineages. Eur J Protistol. 55(A): 4-11.

Hehenberger, E., Imanian, B., Burki, F. and Keeling, P. J. (2014). Evidence for the retention of two evolutionary distinct plastids in dinoflagellates with diatom endosymbionts. Genome Biol Evol. 6(9): 2321-34.

Burki, F., Imanian, B., Hehenberger, E., Hirakawa, Y., Maruyama, S. and Keeling, P. J. (2013). Endosymbiotic gene transfer in tertiary plastid-containing dinoflagellates. Eukaryot Cell. 13(2): 246-55.

Probst, O. C., Karayel, E., Schida, N., Nimmerfall, E., Hehenberger, E., Puxbaum, V. and Mach, L. (2013). The mannose 6-phosphate-binding sites of M6P/IGF2R determine its capacity to suppress matrix invasion by squamous cell carcinoma cells. Biochem J. 451(1): 91-9.

Hehenberger, E., Kradolfer, D. and Kohler, C. (2012). Endosperm cellularization defines an important developmental transition for embryo development. Development. 139(11): 2031-2039.

Weinhofer, I., Hehenberger, E., Roszak, P., Hennig, L. and Kohler, C. (2010). H3K27me3 profiling of the endosperm implies exclusion of polycomb group protein targeting by DNA methylation. Plos Genetics 6: e1001152.

Publications