One way to determine the functions of such novel proteins is by studying their evolutionary origins and comparing their structures with those of their better-characterized relatives. This work is done mostly in silico, involving extensive database mining and phylogenetic analysis. Bioinformatics Because most phylogenetic methodologies were not developed specifically for studying ancient evolutionary questions, I have also been working on developing methods for protein sequence comparison. I am especially interested in developing methods for the objective evaluation of sequence alignments and in studying the effects of amino acid compositional bias on phylogenetic reconstruction. Collaborations Recent work on protozoan systematics is being done in collaboration with a number of different research groups.
Several collaborations are also in progress on the development of phylogenetic methodology.
Publications Baldauf, S. L., and Palmer, J. D. 1993. Keeling, P.J., Baldauf, S.L., Doolittle, W.F., Zillig, W., and Klenk, H.-K. 1996. An infB homolog in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Liu, Q.Y., Baldauf, S.L., and Reith, M.R. 1996. Porphyra purpurea include a novel, developmentally specialized variant.