Jason Slot received his B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1996, and an M.A. in Science Education in 2000 from Boston University. Slot taught high school science before returning for a Ph.D. at Clark University, awarded in 2008 (advisor, Prof. David Hibbett), focusing on the molecular evolution of nitrate assimilation mechanisms in fungi. Dr. Slot conducted postdoctoral research on the evolution of fungal metabolic gene clusters at Vanderbilt University with Prof. Antonis Rokas, and the role of horizontal gene transfer in fungal evolution. Dr. Slot joined the Department of Plant Pathology at Ohio State in 2013.

 

The Slot lab at The Ohio State University focuses on the identification and characterization of fungal ecological adaptations using comparative and evolutionary genomics methods. One line of research is to identify catabolic gene clusters that facilitate the endophytic and plant pathogenic lifestyles by providing resistance to plant defense compounds. An additional line of research in the laboratory is the modeling the diversification of membrane-bound transporter function, specifically for fungi involved in nutritional mutualisms with plants.