Match tier Confirmed
Presence Current · Arkansas
Last published 2025
Sources OpenAlex · ORCID
Refreshed 2026-08-15

Elizabeth C. Ruck

Affiliation confirmed via AI analysis of OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources.

High Impact

Post doctoral fellow

Also affiliated: The University of Texas at Austin (2008–2012)

Postdoc Researcher

20 h-index 50 pubs 1,415 cited

  • Diatoms
  • Phylogeny
  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Genome, Plastid
  • Biological Evolution
  • Salinity
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Gene Duplication
  • Genomics
  • Transcriptome
  • Genome
  • Adaptation, Physiological
  • Cell Wall
  • Morphogenesis
  • DNA, Ribosomal

Biography and Research Information

OverviewAI-generated summary

Elizabeth C. Ruck's research focuses on the genomics and evolution of diatoms, microscopic algae that play significant roles in aquatic ecosystems. Her work investigates how these organisms adapt to environmental gradients, particularly salinity, and explores the evolutionary pathways leading to changes in their metabolic capabilities, including the loss of photosynthesis.

Ruck has published extensively on diatom phylogenomics, utilizing genomic data to resolve evolutionary relationships and understand the genetic basis of adaptation. Her publications examine topics such as strain-specific transcriptional responses to environmental conditions, the genetic insights gained from nonphotosynthetic diatom genomes, and the processes driving marine-freshwater transitions in diatom lineages. She also studies the biogeography of diatoms, including the spread of invasive species.

Her research network includes frequent collaborators from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, such as Andrew J. Alverson, Wade R. Roberts, Eveline Pinseel, and Teofil Nakov. With an h-index of 20 and over 1,400 citations, her work is recognized as highly cited within its field. Ruck maintains an active laboratory website to share her research findings.

Metrics

  • h-index: 20
  • Publications: 50
  • Citations: 1,415

Selected Publications

  • Reference genome for the benthic marine diatom <i>Psammoneis japonica</i> : Bacterial associations and repeat‐driven genome size evolution in diatoms (2025)
    Journal of Phycology DOI OpenAlex
  • Genome‐Wide Adaptation to a Complex Environmental Gradient in a Keystone Phytoplankton Species (2025)
    Molecular Ecology 7 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Phylogenomics reveals the slow-burning fuse of diatom evolution (2025)
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 13 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Dataset from: Resolving marine–freshwater transitions by diatoms through a fog of gene tree discordance (2023)
    Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) DOI OpenAlex
  • Supporting data for Bryłka et al., 2023 Gene duplication, shifting selection, and functional diversification of silicon transporter proteins in marine and freshwater diatoms. (2023)
    Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) DOI OpenAlex
  • Dataset from: Resolving marine–freshwater transitions by diatoms through a fog of gene tree discordance (2023)
    Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) DOI OpenAlex
  • Supporting data for Bryłka et al., 2023 Gene duplication, shifting selection, and functional diversification of silicon transporter proteins in marine and freshwater diatoms. (2023)
    Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) DOI OpenAlex
  • Gene Duplication, Shifting Selection, and Dosage Balance of Silicon Transporter Proteins in Marine and Freshwater Diatoms (2023)
    Genome Biology and Evolution DOI OpenAlex
  • Local adaptation of a marine diatom is governed by genome-wide changes in diverse metabolic processes (2023)
    bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) 8 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Local adaptation of a marine diatom is governed by genome-wide changes in diverse metabolic processes (2023)
    Åbo Akademi University Research Portal 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • Resolving Marine–Freshwater Transitions by Diatoms Through a Fog of Gene Tree Discordance (2023)
    Systematic Biology 23 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Resolving marine–freshwater transitions by diatoms through a fog of discordant gene trees (2022)
    bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) 3 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Strain-specific transcriptional responses overshadow salinity effects in a marine diatom sampled along the Baltic Sea salinity cline (2022)
    The ISME Journal 38 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Strain-specific transcriptional responses overshadow salinity effects in a marine diatom sampled along the Baltic Sea salinity cline (2022)
    Flanders Marine Institute (Flanders Marine Institute) 3 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • The genome of a nonphotosynthetic diatom provides insights into the metabolic shift to heterotrophy and constraints on the loss of photosynthesis (2021)
    Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) DOI OpenAlex

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Collaboration Network

41 Collaborators 25 Institutions 9 Countries

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