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The Evolutionary Genetics section of the Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva (University of Valencia, Spain) is devoted to the theoretical, computational, comparative, and experimental study of evolution within the fields of genetics, genomics, microbiology, molecular biology, and population biology. At present, it includes four full professors, four associate professors, four postdocs, and ten PhD students.

Several of its members are also associated to the Join Unit of Genomics and Health, which integrates the University of Valencia and the Centro Superior de Investigación en Salud Pública (CSISP).

Selected recent research

Evolution of animal symbiosis

Symbiosis is a strong factor promoting evolutionary novelty. Its study requires a joint analysis of both the eukaryotic host and its intimately associated microorganisms. To achieve this goal, we use genomic and metagenomic approaches.

Synthetic biology

The tree of life shows a variety of microorganisms with minimal genomes whose study can provide clues for the understanding and enginneering of minimal cells with applications in biomedicine, bioremediation, and biotechnology.

Genetic studies of aphids: Taxonomy and reproductive polyphenism

We are interested in identifying the genes and routes governing the mode of reproduction in aphids (parthenogenesis vs. sexuality).

Molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases

We use modern sequencing, population genetics, and molecular systematics to investigate disease outbreaks and elucidate evolutionary patterns in viruses and other pathogenic organisms.

Genetics and experimental evolution of viruses

Molecular and experimental evolution are combined to seek a better understanding of the origin and maitenance of viral genetic variation, paying special attention to basic mechanisms such as mutation and selection.

Selected recent publications
  • Lamelas A, Gosalbes MJ, Moya A, Latorre A. 2011. New Clues about the Evolutionary History of Metabolic Losses in Bacterial Endosymbionts, Provided by the Genome of Buchnera aphidicola from the Aphid Cinara tujafilina. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 77(13), 4446-4454.
  • Peris-Bondia F, Latorre A, Artacho A, Moya A, D'Auria G. 2011. The active human gut microbiota differs from the total microbiota. PLoS One. 6(7):e22448. [PDF]
  • Belda E, Pedrola L, Peretó J, Martínez-Blanch JF, Montagud A, Navarro E, Urchueguía J, Ramón D, Moya A, Porcar M. 2011. Microbial diversity in the midguts of field and lab-reared populations of the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis. PLoS One. 2011;6(6):e21751 [PDF]
  • Sanjuán R, Bordería AV. 2011. Interplay between RNA structure and protein evolution in HIV-1. Mol Biol Evol. 28(4):1333-8. [PDF]
  • Ortiz-Rivas B, Martínez-Torres D. 2011. Combination of molecular data support the existence of three main lineages in the phylogeny of aphids (Hemiptera:Aphididae) and the basal position of the subfamily Lachninae. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 55(1):305-17. [PDF]
  • Rodríguez-Sánchez B, Alonso M, Catalán P, Sánchez Conde M, González-Candelas F, Giannella M, Bouza E, de Viedma DG. 2011. Genotyping of a nosocomial outbreak of pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009. J Clin Virol. 52(2):129-32. [PDF]
  • Gosalbes MJ, Latorre A, Lamelas A, Moya A. 2010. Genomics of intacellular symbionts in insects. International Journal of Medical Microbiology. 300, 271-278. [PDF]
  • Pignatelli M, Moya A. 2011. Evaluating the fidelity of de novo short read metagenomic assembly using simulated data. PLoS One. 6(5):e19984. [PDF]