POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH
My current research aims at understanding how microbial species in the ocean remain cohesive through the exchange of homologous genes.
Resolving Species Boundaries in Marine Bacteria and Archaea
The establishment of a species concept in bacteria and archaea is challenging due to their asexual reproduction. This means that the traditional Biological Species Concept (BSC) used to define species in plants and animals is not applicable to microbes. This limitation has hindered our ability to study the evolution of microbial species. Luckily, we know bacteria and archaea share homologous genes among close relatives. Thus, we can use these patterns of homologous recombination between closely-related microbes to define species.
My current postdoctoral project is focused on defining the trends of homologous recombination in key marine bacterial and archaeal lineages, e.g., SAR11, Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus, and Ca. Marinimicrobia, among others. These marine clades are some of the most abundant organisms on Earth and they have relevant roles in the functioning of the ocean. Establishing a systematic and biologically meaningful concept of species in microbes is essential to study their evolution and how populations change over time.
My current postdoctoral project is focused on defining the trends of homologous recombination in key marine bacterial and archaeal lineages, e.g., SAR11, Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus, and Ca. Marinimicrobia, among others. These marine clades are some of the most abundant organisms on Earth and they have relevant roles in the functioning of the ocean. Establishing a systematic and biologically meaningful concept of species in microbes is essential to study their evolution and how populations change over time.
My research is currently funded by a Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Marine Microbial Ecology.
FUTURE RESEARCH AT UCSB
The research of my group at UCSB will be broadly focused on understanding the evolutionary processes that led to the emergence and diversification of life on Earth, and how life continues evolving today.
(1) Evolutionary Relationships of Bacteria and Archaea across the Tree of Life
Phylogenetic trees are powerful tools that help us build hypotheses of the sequence of diversification events and the evolutionary relationships among organisms. Phylogenetic trees of microbes are built using DNA sequences and computational methods. They are of particular interest when studying early life on Earth because we can infer what the most ancient bacterial and/or archaeal clades are, when these clades first diversified, the environmental conditions that prevailed at the time of their diversification, or how the Last Common Ancestor potentially looked like.
Despite their great implications, the reconstruction of early evolutionary events through phylogenomics is quite challenging because evolution often makes the traces of these events very blurry in the DNA.
My lab will be interested in the development of rigorous tree reconstruction strategies and pipelines that help us get insights into the evolutionary events leading to the diversification of ancient bacteria and archaea.
Despite their great implications, the reconstruction of early evolutionary events through phylogenomics is quite challenging because evolution often makes the traces of these events very blurry in the DNA.
My lab will be interested in the development of rigorous tree reconstruction strategies and pipelines that help us get insights into the evolutionary events leading to the diversification of ancient bacteria and archaea.
(2) Shedding Light on the Processes and Events that led to the Diversification of Life on Earth
Microbes have profoundly changed the geochemistry of our planet. One of the most representative examples is the Great Oxidation Event (GOE, ~2.4 Ga ago). During this period of Earth's history, oxygen became available for the first time in the atmosphere and the ocean. The GOE was the result of the metabolic activities of photosynthetic Cyanobacteria and represents a turning point in the evolutionary history of our planet.
On today's Earth, microbes are the only drivers of processes like nitrogen fixation, and the entire biosphere relies on nitrogen fixers to incorporate nitrogen into biogeochemical cycles. A comprehensive understanding of the origin of life as we know it today requires the study of how the processes that allow life on Earth first emerged.
A key focus of my group will be the understanding of how relevant metabolic pathways emerged and diversified across the Tree of Life of bacteria and archaea.
On today's Earth, microbes are the only drivers of processes like nitrogen fixation, and the entire biosphere relies on nitrogen fixers to incorporate nitrogen into biogeochemical cycles. A comprehensive understanding of the origin of life as we know it today requires the study of how the processes that allow life on Earth first emerged.
A key focus of my group will be the understanding of how relevant metabolic pathways emerged and diversified across the Tree of Life of bacteria and archaea.
(3) Exploring the Microbial Diversity of Environments that Resemble Early Earth
Bacteria and archaea are extremely ancient (~3.8 Ga or older!). They were the first life forms on our planet and their metabolic activities have deeply changed our world. The nature of early life on Earth remains obscure due to the poor representation of bacteria and archaea in the fossil record. If we are interested in learning about the nature of early life on Earth, we need to study how ancient microbes inhabiting modern environments have evolved since their origin! These microbes can be found in special environments like microbial mats, which were prevalent on early Earth! Another environment that can provide hints about ancient microbial life is the ocean.
We can learn about the timing of emergence of these ancient microbes and the environmental conditions that prevailed on Earth at the time of their diversification by combining genomic data and computational methods.
One of my lab's research line will be the recovery of high-quality genomes from key environments to learn about the nature of early life on Earth.
We can learn about the timing of emergence of these ancient microbes and the environmental conditions that prevailed on Earth at the time of their diversification by combining genomic data and computational methods.
One of my lab's research line will be the recovery of high-quality genomes from key environments to learn about the nature of early life on Earth.