Dr. Shauna Murray
- Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
- Room: 357A, Biological Sciences
- Phone: (+61 2) 9385 3382
- Fax: (+61 2) 9385 1483
- email: s.murray@unsw.edu.au
Professional Experience
- 2003- 2005 Australian Biological Resources Study Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Sydney
- 2004 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellow, University of Tokyo
- 2006 – 2007 Research Associate, University of Sydney
- 2008 – Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellow, University of NSW
Research Contribution
My expertise is in phylogenetic, systematic and molecular analysis of eukaryotes, particularly marine eukaryotic microbes. I am particularly interested in the evolution of toxins and toxicity in microbial dinoflagellates, which causes substantial damage to aquaculture and fishing industries worldwide. My current project is on the evolution of the gene cluster encoding saxitoxin, a potent neurotoxin, in eukaryotic dinoflagellates and prokaryotic cyanobacteria. I am conducting this in collaboration with Professor Brett Neilan and colleagues in his laboratory (neilan.babs.unsw.edu.au).
Previously, in phylogenetic studies of a group of ecologically important microbial eukaryotes, the dinoflagellates, I discovered three new genera and 9 new species. Using a novel approach to their phylogenetic analysis, taking into account structural features of the ribosomal RNA sequences that were previously overlooked, I showed the new genera to be unusually evolutionarily distinctive protists. Dinoflagellates have been found to contain a genome up to 100 times the size of the human genome, and may be particularly susceptible to acquiring novel functionally significant genes via lateral gene transfer from other organisms.
In studying these questions, collaborators and I have been awarded over $560,000 in competitive grant funding from agencies the ABRS, ARC, and JSPS since 2003, and have also worked closely with industry partners the NSW DPI (Fisheries), and aquaculture monitoring agencies. I have collaborated with scientists from the University of Sydney (Prof David Patterson, Dr Frank Seebacher), University of Tasmania (Dr Gustaaf Hallegraeff, Dr Chris Bolch), University of Copenhagen, Denmark (Dr Mårten Flø Jørgensen), University of Tokyo, Japan (Dr Yukio Nagahama, Dr Yasuwo Fukuyo), Senckenberg Institute, Germany (Dr Mona Hoppenrath), Cawthron Institute, New Zealand (Dr Lesley Rhodes), and Flinders University (Dr Bob Moore), and several others.
Honours & Awards
- 2003- 2005, Secretary for Australasian Society for Phycology and Aquatic Botany
- 2006, Conference convenor, ASPAB Annual conference
- Invited and fully funded Visiting Lecturer, The molecular evolution of toxic algae at the University Kebangsaan, Malaysia, 2006
- Invited and fully funded Visiting Lecturer, Protistology at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Massachussets, USA, 2005.
Active Research Projects
- Detection of Toxin Gene Clusters in Dinoflagellates
- Role of Toxin Secondary Metabolite Gene Clusters and Their Significance for the Use of Phylogenetic Comparative Methods
Publications
- Schwartz T, Murray S, Seebacher F (2008)
- Novel reptilian uncoupling proteins: molecular evolution and gene expression during cold acclimation.
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B 275, 979–985
- Glibert, P.M. et al., (2008)
- Ocean urea fertilization for carbon credits poses high ecological risks
- Marine Pollution Bulletin 56 (2008) 1049–1056
- Murray S, Nagahama Y, Fukuyo Y. (2007)
- A phylogenetic study of benthic spine-bearing prorocentroids, including Prorocentrum fukuyoi sp. nov.
- Phycological Research. 55:91-101
- Murray S, de Salas M, Luong-Van J, Hallegraeff G. M. (2007)
- A phylogenetic study of Gymnodinium dorsalisulcum comb. nov. from tropical Australian coastal waters (Dinophyceae).
- Phycological Research.55: 176-182
- Seebacher F, Murray S. (2007)
- Transient receptor potential ion channels control thermoregulatory behaviour in reptiles.
- PLoS One, 2(3): e281. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000281
- Murray, S. (2007)
- Phylogenetics, molecular biology and ecological impacts of a group of unusual protists: the dinoflagellates.
- In: Seckbach, J, (ed) Extremophilic Algae, Cyanobacteria and non-photosynthetic Protists: From Prokaryotes to Astrobiology. Springer Verlag.
- Murray S, Hoppenrath M, Preisfeld A, Larsen J, Yoshimatsu S, Toriumi S, Patterson D. J. (2006)
- Phylogeny of Rhinodinium broomeense gen. et sp. nov., a thecate, marine sand-dwelling dinoflagellate.
- Journal of Phycology. 42: 934–942
- Murray S, Hoppenrath, M, Larsen, J, Patterson, D. J. (2006)
- Bysmatrum teres sp. nov., a new sand-dwelling dinoflagellate from north-western Australia.
- Phycologia. 45(2):161-167
- Murray S, Flø Jørgensen M, Ho S. Y. W., Patterson, D. J., Jermiin, L. S. (2005)
- Improving the analysis of dinoflagellate phylogeny based on rDNA.
- Protist. 156:269-286
- Flø Jørgensen M, Murray S, Daugbjerg N (2004)
- A new genus of athecate interstitial dinoflagellates, Togula gen. nov., previously encompassed within Amphidinium sensu lato – inferred from light and electron microscopy and phylogenetic analyses of partial LSU rDNA sequences.
- Phycological Research. 52:284-299
- Murray S, Flø Jørgensen, M, Daugbjerg, N. Rhodes, L (2004)
- Amphidinium revisited II. Resolving species boundaries in the Amphidinium operculatum species complex (Dinophyceae) including the descriptions of Amphidinium trulla sp. nov. and Amphidinium gibbosum comb. nov.
- Journal of Phycology 40:366-382
- Flø Jørgensen, M, Murray, S, Daugbjerg, N. (2004)
- Amphidinium revisited I. Redefinition of Amphidinium (Dinophyceae) based on cladistic and molecular phylogenetic analyses.
- Journal of Phycology 40:351-365
- Murray, S. and Patterson, D. J. (2004)
- Cabra matta, gen. nov. sp. nov., a new heterotrophic benthic dinoflagellate.
- European Journal of Phycology 39:229-234
- Lenzen M, Dey C. J., Murray S. (2004)
- Historical accountability and cumulative impacts: the treatment of time in corporate sustainability reporting.
- Ecological Economics 51:237-250