Comparative Genomics

BIOINFORMATICS AND GENOMICS

GROUP LEADER:
Toni Gabaldón (ICREA Research Professor)

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS:
Cinta Pegueroles, Rosa Fernández, Uciel Chorostecki

STUDENTS:
Ernst Thür, Laia Carreté, Miguel Angel Naranjo, Veronica Mixao, Hrant Hovhannisyan, Ewa Kiezopolska

TECHNICIANS:
Marina Marcet-Houben, Ester Saus, Susana Iraola, Jesse Willis

Summary

The research interests of the group are focused around the use of comparative genomics and phylogenomics to study the origin, evolution and function of complex biological systems. This includes understanding how specific biochemical pathways, protein complexes or cellular organelles have emerged and evolved as well as using this evolutionary information to gain insight into their function. Through collaborations with experimental groups we apply comparative genomics to discover new mechanisms and genes involved in interesting processes, especially those of clinical relevance (see lines of research). On the technical side, our work often involves the development of new bioinformatics tools and algorithms that we make available to the community.

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Research Projects

  • Host-Microbiome interactions in health and disease
    We use state of the art metagenomics approaches to understand host-microbiome interactions in health and disease. We have a particular focus on the role of the fungal component of the microbiome
  • Comparative genomic of fungal pathogens
    By comparing genomes of different species and strains we want to understand what genomic re-arrangements underlie the emergence of pathogenesis.
  • Phylogenomics and genome evolution
    We combine the development of original algorithms to treat phylogenomic data with its application to gain knowledge on problems of biological relevance
  • Evolution of the eukaryotic cell
    We use large-scale evolutionary analyses to investigate the origin and evolution two most widespread organelles for which an endosymbiotic origin has been proposed: mitochondria and peroxisomes.

Selected Publications

Carreté L, Ksiezopolska E, Pegueroles C, Gómez-Molero E, Saus E, Iraola S, Loska D, Bader O, Fairhead C, Gabaldón T.
“Patterns of genomic variation in the opportunistic pathogen Candida glabrata suggest the existence of mating and a secondary association with humans.”
Current Biology, 28(1):15-27.e7 (2017).

Rendón-Anaya M, Montero-Vargas JM, Saburido-Álvarez S, Vlasova A, Capella-Gutierrez S, Ordaz-Ortiz JJ, Aguilar OM, Vianello-Brondani RP, Santalla M, Delaye L, Gabaldón T, Gepts P, Winkler R, Guigó R, Delgado-Salinas A, Herrera-Estrella A.
“Genomic history of the origin and domestication of common bean unveils its closest sister species.”
Genome Biol, 18(1):60 (2017).

Echeverz M, García B, Sabalza A, Valle J, Gabaldón T, Solano C, Lasa I.
“Lack of the PGA exopolysaccharide in Salmonella as an adaptive trait for survival in the host.”
PLoS Genet, 13(5):e1006816 (2017).

Masgrau A, Battola A, Sanmartin T, Pryszcz LP, Gabaldón T, Mendoza M.
“Distinct roles of the polarity factors Boi1 and Boi2 in the control of exocytosis and abscission in budding yeast.”
Mol Biol Cell, 28(22):3082-3094 (2017).

Mixão V, Gabaldón T.
“Hybridization and emergence of virulence in opportunistic human yeast pathogens.”
Yeast. 35(1):5-20 (2017).