Oleg Shchepin
Author Identifiers: Web of Science ResearcherID, Scopus Author ID, Russian Science Citation Index, ORCID iD, Google Scholar
Academic degree, academic title: Ph.D.
Position: Research Scientist
E-mail: OShchepin@binran.ru
Research interests:
- Evolution, ecology, systematics and geography of plasmodial slime molds (Myxomycetes).
Methods: DNA barcoding, DNA metabarcoding (amplicon metagenomics), genotyping (GBS), molecular phylogenetics.
Keywords: Amoebozoa, myxomycetes, protists, hidden diversity, cryptic species, phylogeography, clonality, biogeography
Education and work experience:
2009-2014 — Saint Petersburg State University, Faculty of Biology, Department of Cytology and Histology. Bachelor in Biology. Research project: «Analysis of nuclear ploidy levels in myxamoebae and plasmodia of a myxomycete Lepidoderma chailletii Rostaf. In culture».
2014-2016 — Saint Petersburg State University, Faculty of Biology, Department of Cytology and Histology. Master in Biology. Research project: «Analysis of reproductive structure of populations of two nivicolous myxomycete species».
2016-2020 — V.L. Komarov Botanical Institute RAS, PhD student.
2015-2016 — Bioinformatics Institute, Saint Petersburg, program of additional education «Bioinformatics for Biologists».
2021 — Ph.D. thesis «Hidden diversity of the dark-spored Myxomycetes: Taxonomical and ecological aspects».
2016-2020 — V.L. Komarov Botanical Institute RAS, Laboratory of Systematics and Geography of Fungi, Research Assistant.
2020 – until now — V.L. Komarov Botanical Institute RAS, Laboratory of Systematics and Geography of Fungi, Senior Researcher.
Grants and research projects:
Member of research team:
- 2022-2023. RSF № 22-24-00747 «Reconstruction of «deep phylogeny» of fungi-like protists (Myxomycetes = Eumycetozoa) on the basis of data obtained by the method «genome skimming»».
- 2021-2023. Agreement with the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia No. 075-15-2021-1056 on the topic «Herbarium funds of biological diversity of plants and fungi of the Collection Fund of the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences: modernization, development and networking as a foundation for fundamental research and advances in genetic technology».
- Research program «Ecolan E-15» of the Joint Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Research and Technological Centre «Taxonomic and ecological diversity of mycobiota of tropical forests in Vietnam».
- 2018-2020. RFBR № 18-04-01232 А «DNA-barcoding of myxomycetes (Myxomycetes = Myxogasgtria) and analysis of their hidden diversity on the basis of herbarium collections and metagenomic data».
- 2015-2017. RFBR № 15-29-02622 «The estimation of the «hidden diversity» of higher fungi and myxomycetes in soils of vulnerable natural ecosystems on the base of metagenomic approach and classical molecular analysis».
- 2016-2017. RFBR № 16-34-00510 «Revision of the genus Trichoglossum (Geoglossaceae, Ascomycota) based on comprehensive taxonomic analysis».
- 2014-2016. RFBR № 14-04-01408 «Adaptive strategies of fungus-like protists in extreme conditions of sub-arid ecosystems on example of Inner Asia (Russia)».
- 2013-2015. RFBR № 13-04-00839 «Genetic and ecological aspects of biogeography of nivicolous myxomycetes (Myxomycetes) of alpine and lowland landscapes».
- 2012-2013 RFBR № 12-04-31262 «The importance of the hydrochory in dispersal of plasmodial slime moulds (Myxomycetes) in the intrazonal inundated woods of the South of Siberia».
Other projects:
- MyxoSeq: Information system on the DNA barcodes of myxomycetes – Novozhilov Y.K.
Conferences and workshops:
Organizing committee:
- Biodiversity: Genomics and Evolution (BioGenEvo-2018). Symposium. Russia, Novosibirsk, August 21-24, 2018. Member of the organizing committee.
Attendee:
- 10th International Congress on Systematics and Ecology of Myxomycetes. Costa Rica, Turrialba, February 25-28, 2020. Plenary and poster presentations.
- 4-th Thünen Symposium on Soil Metagenomics. Germany, Braunschweig, December 11-13, 2019. Poster.
- IV (XII) International Botanical Conference of Young Scientists in Saint Petersburg. Russia, Saint Petersburg, April 22-28, 2018. Lecturer at a practical seminar.
- 9th International Congress on Systematics and Ecology of Myxomycetes. Japan, Tanabe, August 18-23, 2017. Oral presentations.
- VIII All-Russian Mycological School-Conference with International Participation «Species Concepts in Fungi: New Outlook at the Old Problems». Russia, Moscow, July 30 – August 5, 2017. Oral presentations.
Editorial activity:
- Editorial board member (Junior Editor) in «Karstenia»
- Editorial board member in «Slime Molds»
Selected publications:
Shchepin O.N., Novozhilov Y.K., Woyzichovski J. et al. Genetic structure of the protist Physarum albescens (Amoebozoa) revealed by multiple markers and Genotyping by Sequencing. Molecular Ecology. 2021. 31(1): 372-390.
Dagamac N.H.A., Bauer B., Woyzichovski J., Shchepin O.N., Novozhilov Y.K., Schnittler M. Where do nivicolous myxomycetes occur? – Modeling the potential worldwide distribution of Physarum albescens. Fungal Ecology. 2021. 53: 1754-5048.
Woyzichovski J., Shchepin O.N., Dagamac N.H.A., Schnittler M. More than just diameter: a workflow for automated image analysis of spore shapes in myxomycetes. PeerJ. 2021. 9: e12471.
Bortnikov F.M., Matveev A.V., Gmoshinskiy V.I., Novozhilov Yu.K., Zemlyanskaya I.V., Vlasenko A.V., Schnittler M., Shchepin O.N. Myxomycetes of Russia: a history of research and a checklist of species. Karstenia. 2020. 58(2): 316-373.
Schnittler M., Dagamac N.H.A., Leontyev D., Shchepin O., Novozhilov Y.K., Klahr A. Quick n’ Cheap – a simplified workflow to barcode plasmodial slime molds (Myxomycetes). Karstenia. 2020. 58(2): 385-392.
Novozhilov Yu.K., Shchepin O.N., Gmoshinskiy V.I., Schnittler M. Myxomycetes of boreal forests of the Laplandskiy State Nature Biosphere Reserve (Kola Peninsula, Russia). Karstenia. 2020. 58(2): 292-315.
Novozhilov Y.K., Shchepin O.N., Schnittler M., Dagamac N.H.A., Alexandrova A.V., Popov E.S., Kuznetsov A.N. Myxomycetes associated with mountain tropical forests of Bidoup Nui Ba and Chu Yang Sin national parks (Dalat Plateau, southern Vietnam). Nova Hedwigia. 2020. 110(1-2): 185-224.
Leontyev D.V., Schnittler M., Stephenson S.L., Novozhilov Y.K., Shchepin O.N. Towards a phylogenetic classification of the Myxomycetes. Phytotaxa. 2019. 399(3): 209-238.
Shchepin O.N., Schnittler M., Erastova D.A., Prikhodko I.S., Borg Dahl M., Azarov D.V., Chernyaeva E.N., Novozhilov Y.K. Community of dark-spored myxomycetes in ground litter and soil of taiga forest (Nizhne-Svirskiy Reserve, Russia) revealed by DNA metabarcoding. Fungal Ecology. 2019. 39: 80-93.
Shchepin O.N., Schnittler M., Dagamac N.H.A., Leontyev D.V., Novozhilov Y.K. Unexplored diversity of the tiniest myxomycetes: evidences from environmental DNA. Plant Ecology and Evolution. 2019. 152(3): 499-506.
Gao Y., Zhang X., He G., Shchepin O.N., Yan S., Chen S. Influence of forest type on dark-spored myxomycete community in subtropical forest soil, China. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 2019. 139: 107606.
Borg Dahl M., Shchepin O.N., Schunk C., Menzel A., Novozhilov Y.K., Schnittler M. A four year survey reveals a coherent pattern between occurrence of fruit bodies and soil amoebae populations for nivicolous myxomycetes. Sсientific Reports. 2018. 8: 11662.
Novozhilov Yu.K., Shchepin O.N., Alexandrova A.A., Popov E.S., Dagamac N.H.A. Altitudinal patterns of diversity of myxomycetes (Myxogastria) across tropical forests of Southern Vietnam. Protistology. 2018. 12(2): 73-80.
Shchepin O.N., Novozhilov Y.K., Schnittler M. Disentangling the taxonomic structure of the Lepidoderma chailletii-carestianum species complex (Myxogastria, Amoebozoa): genetic and morphological aspects. Protistology. 2017. 10(4): 117-129.
Schnittler M., Shchepin O.N., Dagamac N.H., Dahl M.B., Novozhilov Y.K. Barcoding myxomycetes with molecular markers: challenges and opportunities. Nova Hedwigia. 2017. 104(1-3): 323-341.
Novozhilov Y.K., Erastova D.A., Shchepin O.N., Schnittler M., Alexandrova A.V., Popov E.S., Kuznetzov A.N. Myxomycetes associated with monsoon lowland tropical forests in southern Vietnam. Nova Hedwigia. 2017. 104(1-3): 143-182.
Novozhilov Y.K., Schnittler M., Erastova D.A., Shchepin O.N. Myxomycetes of the Sikhote-Alin State Nature Biosphere Reserve (Far East, Russia). Nova Hedwigia. 2017. 104(1-3): 183-209.
Shchepin O.N., Dagamac N.H., Sanchez O.M., Novozhilov Y.K., Schnittler M., Zemlyanskaya I.V. DNA barcoding as a tool for identification of plasmodia and sclerotia of myxomycetes (Myxogastria) appearing in moist chamber cultures. Mycosphere. 2017. 8(10): 1904-1913.
Schnittler M., Erastova D.A., Shchepin O.N., Heinrich E., Novozhilov Y.K. Four years in the Caucasus – observations on the ecology of nivicolous myxomycetes. Fungal Ecology. 2015. 14: 105-115.
Shchepin O.N., Novozhilov Y.K., Schnittler M. Nivicolous myxomycetes in agar culture: some results and open problems. Protistology. 2014. 8(2): 53-61.
Novozhilov Y.K., Mitchell D.W., Okun M.V., Shchepin O.N. New species of Diderma from Vietnam. Mycosphere. 2014. 4(2): 363-454.
Novozhilov Y.K., Okun M.V., Erastova D.A., Shchepin O.N., Zemlyanskaya I.V., Garcia-Carvajal E., Schnittler M. Description, culture and phylogenetic position of a new xerotolerant species of Physarum. Mycologia. 2013. 105(6): 1535-1546.
Novozhilov Y.K., Schnittler M., Erastova D.A., Shchepin O.N., Okun M.V., Heinrich E. Diversity of nivicolous myxomycetes of the Teberda State Biosphere Reserve (Northwestern Caucasus, Russia). Fungal Diversity. 2012. 59: 109-130.