Microbial Genomics and Evolution
TEAM
CURRENT MEMBERS
Dr Mario López-Pérez (Associate Professor)
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Production and Microbiology at Miguel Hernández University, where I teach Microbiology within the Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences degree programs. My research program is dedicated to uncovering the ecological and evolutionary factors that drive the coexistence and maintenance of high levels of genomic heterogeneity within prokaryotic populations. To achieve this, I employ cutting-edge methodologies, including comparative genomics, transcriptomics, and metagenomics. Over the course of my work, I have developed extensive expertise in bioinformatics, which, combined with high-throughput sequencing and microbial ecology, forms the foundation of my recent research. These techniques are further integrated into a cohesive ecological framework through computational advances and novel modeling approaches, a strategy I refer to as ecogenomics.
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Dr Jose M Haro-Moreno (Assistant Professor)
I work as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Production and Microbiology at Miguel Hernández University, where I mainly teach general and clinical Microbiology in the Degree of Pharmacy. In addition, I have taught courses on metagenomics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT – Russia) and at the University of Costa Rica. Currently, I teach virtually on a semester basis in the Prokaryote Genomics course taught in the Master in Biophysics at MIPT. Since I started my PhD thesis, in 2014, my research has been primarily focused on the microbiome present in the Mediterranean Sea, a representative habitat of a temperate ocean. To that end, I have combined the information obtained through the use of single-cell sequencing, short- and long-read metagenomics, and bioinformatics, to unravel the great micro- and macro-diversity of marine prokaryotes, with the main focus on the flexible genome of the most abundant microbes. These flexible genomic regions have been hard to analyse in the past, and thus we were losing a significant piece of genomic information that is key to understanding the genomic diversity within populations and their ecological adaptations in terms of gene gain and loss.
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Carmen Molina Pardines (PhD Student)
I am a PhD student at Miguel Hernández University, in the Department of Plant Production and Microbiology, under the supervision of Professors Mario López-Pérez and Jose M. Haro-Moreno. Since August 2022, I have been the recipient of a fellowship awarded through the «Ayudas para contratos predoctorales para la formación de doctores/as 2021» (PRE2021-098122). The primary objective of my thesis is to investigate the flexible genome of streamlined microorganisms—organisms with simplified genomes—that are abundant in the ocean, particularly within the Mediterranean water column. To achieve this, I am employing an integrative approach that combines comparative genomics, metagenomics, and bioinformatic analyses, with a focus on third-generation sequencing technologies, specifically PacBio.
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Alicia Campos Lopez (PhD Student)
I am pursuing a PhD at Miguel Hernández University in collaboration with Professor Salvador Almagro-Moreno’s laboratory at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Tennessee, USA. My research focuses on unraveling the evolutionary mechanisms driving the emergence of pathogens in the genus Vibrio, with particular emphasis on Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio vulnificus. Specifically, I aim to understand how these adaptations contribute to pathogenicity and survival across diverse environmental conditions. To achieve this, I employ advanced bioinformatics tools and third-generation sequencing technologies to investigate the genomic changes underlying these adaptive processes.
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Asuncion Turpin Gomez (PhD Student)
I am a PhD student in the Department of Plant Production and Microbiology at Miguel Hernández University, under the supervision of Professors Mario López-Pérez and José M. Haro-Moreno. My research, funded by the project MICRO3GEN (PID2023-150293NB-I00), aims to unravel the evolutionary mechanisms that sustain high levels of microdiversity within microbial species, particularly in the Mediterranean water column, and their capacity to adapt to environmental changes. To achieve this, I employ an integrative approach that combines metagenomics, comparative genomics, environmental data analysis, and computational biology, leveraging third-generation sequencing technologies.
Juan Jose Roda Garcia (Technical assistant)
I have a degree in Environmental Sciences and I am a Senior Technician specialising in Environmental Health. Since 2016 I have been working as a Laboratory Technician in the Technical Support Service for Teaching and Research at the Miguel Hernández University. In this position, I provide comprehensive support to various research projects, including field sampling, DNA extractions and isolation of strains. I also actively participate in the bioinformatics analysis of metagenomic samples, contributing to the advancement of research in the laboratory.
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COLLABORATORS
Salvador Almagro-Moreno, Ph.D.
Dr. Salvador Almagro-Moreno is an Associate Member of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee (USA). His laboratory investigates the emergence and evolution of bacterial pathogens. Dr. Almagro-Moreno’s research focuses on uncovering the molecular mechanisms that enable bacterial pathogens to colonize their various hosts, regulate virulence, and facilitate their transmission. Research in the Moreno Lab has been supported by several funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or the Binational Science Foundation. Dr. Almagro-Moreno has earned numerous accolades such as the NSF CAREER Award, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award, or the Scialog Fellowship on Mitigating Zoonotic Threats.
Dr. Juan Carlos Rodríguez Díaz
Dr. Juan Carlos Rodríguez Díaz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Production and Microbiology at Miguel Hernández University and serves as Head of the Microbiology Section at Dr. Balmis General University Hospital. He earned a PhD in Pharmacy from Complutense University of Madrid and completed his specialization in Clinical Microbiology at the Hospital Clínica Puerta de Hierro in Madrid. Dr. Rodríguez Díaz’s research focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. He is an active researcher at the Instituto Sanitario y Biomédico de Alicante (ISABIAL) and has authored over 200 scientific publications. Additionally, he has contributed to two expert panels for clinical practice guidelines under the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology.
Microbial Genomics and Evolution
VISITING ADDRESS
Universidad Miguel Hernández. Edificio Muhammad Al-Shafra. Dpto. Producción Vegetal y Microbiología.
Ctra. Alicante-Valencia N-332, s/n. San Juan de Alicante, Alicante (Spain) – CP 03550