About
Because chytrid fungi diverged early during fungal evolution, I use them to study how fungal cells evolved from ancestors that resembled animal cells. I also seek to understand how and why certain chytrid species are ravaging global amphibian populations and what we can do to stop them.
Awards
- Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research, Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation, 2019.
- Tay Hayashi Lectureship in Cell Physiology, Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole, 2019.
- Pew Biomedical Scholar Class of 2019, Pew Charitable Trust, 2019
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Helen Hay Whitney Foundation, 2010
- Fellowship in Environmental Sciences and Biodiversity, Chang-Lin Tien Scholars, 2007.
Relevant Publications
Prostak, S. M., Robinson, K. A., Titus, M. A., & Fritz-Laylin, L. K. (2021). The actin networks of chytrid fungi reveal evolutionary loss of cytoskeletal complexity in the fungal kingdom. Current Biology: CB, 31(6), 1192–1205.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.001
Fritz-Laylin, L. K., Lord, S. J., & Mullins, R. D. (2017). WASP and SCAR are evolutionarily conserved in actin-filled pseudopod-based motility. The Journal of Cell Biology, 216(6), 1673–1688. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201701074
Fritz-Laylin, L. K., Prochnik, S. E., Ginger, M. L., Dacks, J. B., Carpenter, M. L., Field, M. C., Kuo, A., Paredez, A., Chapman, J., Pham, J., Shu, S., Neupane, R., Cipriano, M., Mancuso, J., Tu, H., Salamov, A., Lindquist, E., Shapiro, H., Lucas, S., … Dawson, S. C. (2010). The genome of Naegleria gruberi illuminates early eukaryotic versatility. Cell, 140(5), 631–642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2010.01.032