Assistant Professor Ying Chang worked on the phylogenetics of bryophytes and early land plant evolution for her MSc at the National University of Singapore and PhD at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. She expanded her interest in phylogenetics and evolution to the world of mycology during her postdoctoral research at UBC and at Oregon State University, USA. She studied the evolution of the early diverging fungal lineages, including chytrids and the earliest terrestrial fungi of zygomycetes. She worked on the phylogenomics of these fungal groups and on the characterisation of the genomic signatures associated with various fungal life styles (e.g. saprotrophs and symbiotrophs). Her current research interests can be broadly grouped into three directions: 1) The origin and evolution of plant-fungus associations and to their functional roles in the ecosystems; 2) The link between genome contents and ecological functions of fungi; 3) The genomic adaptions of fungi found in marine environments (e.g. open sea and mangroves).

Asst Prof Chang’s current research interests can be broadly grouped into three directions: 1) The origin and evolution of plant-fungus associations and to their functional roles in the ecosystems; 2) The link between genome contents and ecological functions of fungi; 3) The genomic adaptions of fungi found in marine environments (e.g. open sea and mangroves).

• Mycology
• Bryology
• Comparative genomics
• Phylogenomics
• Metagenomics

Chang, Y., S. Sekimoto, D. Rochon, Y. Wang., I. Grigoriev, J. E. Stajich, J. W. Spatafora. Phylogenomic analyses of Olpidium reveal hard polytomies of the backbone of Kingdom Fungi. 2021. Scientific Reports 11: 1-12.

Li Y., J. Steenwk, Y. Chang, Y. Wang, T. Y. James, J. E. Stajich, J. W. Spatafora, M. Groeneward, C. W. Dunn, C. T. Hittinger, X-X Shen, A. Rokas. A genome-scale phylogeny of Fungi: insights into early evolution, radiations, and the relationship between taxonomy and phylogeny. 2021. Current Biology 31: 1653-1665.

Tabima, J. F., I. Trautman, Y. Chang, Y. Wang, Y. Wang, S. Mondo, A. Kuo, A. Salamov, I. V. Grigoriev, J.E. Stajich, J.W. Spatafora. Phylogenomic analyses of non-Dikarya fungi support horizontal gene transfer driving diversification of secondary metabolism in the amphibian gastrointestinal symbiont, Basidiobolus. 2020. G3: Genes, Genomes and Genetics 120: 3417-3433.

Myers J. M., A. E. Bonds, R. A. Clemons, N. A. Thapa, D. R. Simmons, D. Carter-House, J. Ortanez, P. Liu, A. Miralles-Durán, A. Desirò, J. E. Longcore, G. Bonito, J. E. Stajich, J. W. Spatafora, Y. Chang, L. M. Corrochano, A. Gryganskyi, I. V. Grigoriev, T. Y. James. 2020. Survey of Early-Diverging Lineages of Fungi Reveals Abundant and Diverse Mycoviruses. mBio 11: e02027-20.

Bell, D., W. K. Gerelle, Q. Lin, S. Joya, Y. Chang, Z. N. Taylor, C. J. Rothfels, A. Larsson, J. C. Villarreal, F-W Li, L. Pokorny, P. Szövényi, B. Crandall-Stotler, L. deGeronimo, D. Beerling, M. Deyholos, M. von Konrat, S. Ellis, T. Chen, D. Stevenson, J. D. Palmer and S. W. Graham. 2020. Organellomic datasets confirm a cryptic consensus on (unrooted) land-plant relationships, and provide new insights into bryophyte molecular evolution. 2020. American Journal of Botany 107: 91-115.

One Thousand Plant Transcriptomes (1KP) Initiative. One thousand plant transcriptomes and the phylogenomics of green plants. 2019. Nature 574: 679-685.

Davis, W. J., K. R. Amses, G. L. Benny, D. Carter-House, Y. Chang, I. Grigoriev, M. E. Smith, J. W. Spatafora, J. E. Stajich, T. Y. James. Genome-scale phylogenetic analyses reveal a monophyletic Zoopagales (Zoopagomycota, Fungi) with predacious taxa evolving from mycoparasite ancestors. 2019. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 133: 152-163.

Chang, Y., A. Desirò, H. Na, L. Sandor, A. Lipzen, A. Clum, K. Barry, I. Grigoriev, F. Martin, J. Stajich, M. Smith, G. Bonito, Spatafora, J.W. Phylogenomics of Endogonaceae and evolution of mycorrhizae within Mucoromycota. 2019. New Phytologist 222: 511-525.

Spatafora, J. W., Y. Chang, G. L. Benny, K. Lazarus, M. E. Smith, M. L. Berbee, G. Bonito, N. Corradi, I. Grigoriev, A. Gryganskyi, T. Y. James, K. O’donnell, R. W. Roberson, T. N. Taylor, J. Uehling, R. Vilgalys, M. M. White, And J. E. Stajch. 2016. Zygomycete Genealogy Of Life (Zygolife): a phylum-level phylogenetic classfication of zygomycete fungi based on genome-scale data. Mycologia 108: 1028-1046.

Chang, Y., S. Wang, S. Sekimoto, A. Aerts, C. Choi, A. Clum, K. LaButti, E. Lindquist, C.Y. Nagn, R. A. Ohm, A. Salamov, I. V. Grigoriev, J. W. Spatafora and M. L. Berbee. 2015. Phylogenomic analyses indicate that early fungi evolved digesting cell walls of algal ancestors of land plants. Genome Evolution and Biology 7: 1590-1601.

Chang, Y., and S. W. Graham. 2014. Patterns of clade support along the backbone of moss phylogeny. Cladistics 30: 590-606.

Chang, Y., and S. W. Graham. 2011. Inferring the higher-order phylogeny of mosses (Bryophyta) and relatives using a large, multigene plastid data set. American Journal of Botany 98: 839-849.

Chang, Y., and S. W. Graham. 2011. Bryophyte-specific primers for retrieving plastid genes suitable for phylogenetic inference. American Journal of Botany 98: e109-e113.

Akiyama, H., Y. Chang, T. Yamaguchi, and B. C. Tan. 2011. Yakushimabryum longissimum (Pylaisiadelphaceae) gen. & sp. nov., from the Yakushima Island, Japan. Journal of Bryology 33: 42-49.

Akiyama, H., Y. Chang, and B. C. Tan. 2010. Clastob.

• Scientific Inquiry 2