Amparo Latorre

Evolutionary genetics

Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva
Universidad de Valencia

E-mail: amparo.latorre@uv.es
Phone: +34 96 354 3649
Fax: +34 96 354 3670

Position

Full Professor of Genetics, Cavanilles Institute for Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia (Spain)

Director of the Cavanilles Institute for Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (ICBiBE)

Education

1986 Ph.D. Genetics, University of Valencia
1978 Licenciado en Ciencias Biológicas, University of Valencia

Major research interests

Evolution of bacterial symbionts of insects (aphids, weevils and cockroaches)
Comparative and Evolutionary Genomics and Metagenomics
Molecular Evolution

Current research projects

Evolutionary genomics of endosymbiotic bacteria of insects
We have sequenced the smallest bacterial genome able to support cellular life (420Kb and 362 protein coding genes) that corresponds to Buchnera aphidicola from the aphid Cinara cedri (B. aphidicola BCc)
We are currently sequencing the genome of Serratia symbiotica, a bacterium that coexists with B. aphidicola BCc in C. cedri

Selected recent publications

Gómez-Valero, L., Silva, F.J., Simon, J.C. and Latorre, A. (2007). Genome reduction of the aphid endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola in a recent evolutionary time scale. Gene 389:87-95
Gómez-Valero, L., Rocha, E.P.C., Latorre, A. and Silva, F.J. (2007). Reconstructing the ancestor of Mycobacterium leprae: The dynamics of gene loss and genome reduction. Genome Research 17: 1178-1185.
Moya, A., Peretó, J., Gil, R. and Latorre, A. (2008). Learning how to live together: Genomic insights into prokaryote-animal symbioses. Nature Reviews Genetics 9: 218-229.
D’Auria, G., Jimenes, N., Peris-Bondia, F., Pelaz, C., Latorre, A. and Moya, A. (2008). Virulence factor rtx in Legionella pneumophila, evidence suggesting it is a modular multifunctional protein. BMC Genomics 9.
Moya, A., Peretó, J., Gil, R. and Latorre, A. (2008). Learning how to live together: genome insights into prokaryote-animal symbioses. Nature Review Genetics 9: 218-229.
Lamelas, A., Pérez-Brocal, V., Gómez-Valero, L., Gosalbes, M.J., Moya, A. and Latorre, A. (2008). Evolution of the secondary symbiont Candidatus Serratia symbiotica in aphid species of the subfamily Lachninae. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 74: 4236-4240.
Gosalbes, M. J., Lamelas, A., Moya, A., Latorre A. (2008). The Striking Case of Tryptophan Provision in the Cedar Aphid Cinara cedri. Journal of Bacteriology 190:6026-6029.
López-Sánchez, M.J., Neef, A., Peretó, J., Patiño-Navarrete, R., Pignatelli, M., Latorre, A. and Moya, A. (2009). Evolutionary convergence and nitrogen metabolism in Blattabacterium strain Bge, primary endosymbiont of the cockroach Blatella germanica. PloS Genetics, 5(11)e1000721.
Peña-Cantero, A., Sentandreu, V. and Latorre, A. (2010). Phylogenetic relationships of the endemic Antarctic benthic hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa): what does the mitochondrial 16S rRNA tell us about it?. Polar Biology 10:28-32.
The International Aphid Genomics Consortium (including * Moya, A., Latorre, A., Martínez, D., Pignatelli, M., Pérez-Brocal, V., Tamames, J., Lloréns, C., Cortés, T., Ortiz-Rivas, B., Tamarit, D., Pechuán, X. and Aguilar, J.). (2010). Genome Sequence of the Pea Aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum.PLoS Biology8 (2). e1000313.
Gerardo, N.M., Altincicek, B., Anselme, C., Atamian, H., Barribeau,S.M., deVos, M., Duncan, E.J.,. Evans, J.D., Gabaldón, T., Ghanim, M., Heddi, A., Kaloshian, I., Latorre, A., Moya, A., Nakabachi, A., Parker, B.J., Pérez-Brocal, V., Pignatelli, M., Rahbé, Y., Ramsey, J., Spragg, C., Tamames, J.,Tamarit, D., Tamborindeguy, C., Vincent-Monegat, C. and Vilcinskas, A.(2010).Immunity and other defense in pea aphids, Acyrtosiphon pisum.Genome Biology11 R21.
Gosalbes, M.J., Latorre, A., Lamelas, A,. and Moya, A. (2010). Genomics of intracellular symbionts in insects.International Journal of Medical Microbiology 300:271-278.
D'Auria, G., Barón-Rodríguez, M.M., Durban-Vicente, A., Moya, A., Rojo, C., Latorre, A. and Rodrigo, M.A.(2010). Unravelling the bacterial diversity found in the semi-arid Tablas de Daimiel Park wetlnad (central Spain). Aquatic Microbial Ecology 59:33-44.
D'Auria, G., Jiménez-Hernández, N., Peris-Bondia, F., Moya, A. and Latorre, A. (2010). Legionella pneumophila pangenome reveals strain-specific virulence factors. BMC Genomics 11:181-194.
Llorens, C.; Futami, R.; Covelli, L., Domínguez-Escribá, L.; Viu, J.M.; Tamarit, D.; Aguilar-Rodrigurez, J.; Vicente-Ripollés, M.; Fuster, G.; Bernet, G.P.; Maumus, F.; Muñoz-Pomer, A.; Sempere, J.M.; Latorre, A. and Moya, A. (2010). The Gypsy database (GyDB) of mobile genetic elements: release 2.0. Nucleic Acid Research 1-5.
Porcar, M.;García-Robles, I.; Domínguez-Escribá, L. and Latorre, A. (2010). Effects of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab and Cry3Aa endotoxins on predatory Coloptera tested through artificial diet-incorporation bioassays. Bulletin of Entomological Research100:297-302.
Neef, A.; Delaye, L.; López-Sánchez, M.J.; Peretó, J.; Latorre, A. and Moya, A. (2010). Stages of Metabolic adaptation of endosymbiotic bacteria.Nova Acta Leopoldina NF378:141-149.
Delaye, L., Gil, R., Peretó, J., Latorre, A. and Moya, A. (2010). Life with a few genes: a survey on naturally evolved reduced genomes.The Open evolutionary Journal 4:12-22.
Pérez-Brocal, V., Latorre, A. and Moya, A. (2010). Extinción por reducción del genoma. Investigación y Ciencia Noviembre:1-7.
Durbán, A., Abellán, J.J., Jiménez-Hernández, N., Ponce, M., Ponce, J., Sala, T., D'Auria, G., Latorre, A. and Moya, A. (2011). Assessing gut microbial diversity from feces and rectal mucosa.Microbial Ecology 61:123-133.
Gosalbes, M.J.; Durbán, A.; Pignatelli, M.; Abellán, J.J., Jiménez-Hernández, Pérez-Cobas, A.E.; Latorre, A. and Moya, A. (2011). Metatranscriptomic approach to analyze the functional human gut microbiota.PLoS ONE6(3): e17447.
Lamelas, A., Gosalbes, M.J., Moya, A. and 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 77:4446-4454.
Pignatelli, M. and Moya, A. (2011). Evaluating the fidelity of de novo short read metagenomic assembly using simulated data. PLoS One 6(5): e19984.
Reimundo, P., Pignatelli, M., Alcaraz, L.D., D’Auria, G., Moya, A. and Guijarro, J.A. (2011). Genome sequence of Lactococcus garvieae UNIUDO74, isolated in Italy from lactococcosis outbreak.Journal of Bacteriology 193(14):3684-5.
Vilanova, C., Hueso,Á., Palanca,C., Marco,G., Pitarch, M,, Otero, E., Crespo, J., Szablowski, J,, Rivera, S,, Domínguez-Escribà, L., Navarro, E., Montagud, A., Fernández de Córdoba, P., González, A., Ariño, J., Moya, A., Urchueguía, J. and Porcar, M. (2011). Aequorin-expressing yeast emits light under electric control. Journal of Biotechnology 152(3):93-5.
Belda, E., Pedrola, L., Peretó, J., Martínez-Blanch, J.F., Montagud, A., Navarro, E., Urchueguía, J., Ramón, D., Moya, A. and Porcar, M. (2011). Microbial diversity in the midguts of field and lab-reared populations of the european corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis. PLoS One 6(6):e21751.
Peris-Bondia, F., Latorre, A., Artacho, A., Moya, A. and D’Auria, G. (2011). The active human gut microbiota differs from the totalmicrobiota. PLoS One6(7): e22448.
López-Madrigal, S., Latorre, A.,Porcar, M., Moya, A. and Gil, R. (2011). Complete Genome Sequence of "Candidatus Tremblaya princeps" Strain PCVAL, an Intriguing Translational Machine below the Living-Cell Status.J Bacteriol 193 (19): 5587-5588.
Lamelas, A., Gosalbes, M.J., Moya, A. and Latorre, A. (2011). The genome of Buchnera aphidicolafrom the aphid Cinara tujafilina provides new clues about the evolutionary history of metabolic losses in bacterial endosymbionts. Applied and Environmental Microbiology doi:10.1128/AEM.00141-11.
Salsera, D., Lo, N., Epis, S., D'Auria, G., Montagna, M., Comandatore, F., Horner, D., Peretó, J., Luciano, A.M., Franciosi, F., Ferri, E., Crotti, E., Bazzocchi, C., Daffonchio, D., Sacchi, L., Moya, A., Latorre, A. and Bandi, C. (2011). Phylogenomic Evidence for the Presence of a Flagellum and cbb3 Oxidase in the Free-Living Mitochondrial Ancestor.Mol Biol Evol doi: 10.1093/molbev/msr159.

Courses taught

Moleculat Genetics (Faculty of Biology)
Genetic Engineering (Faculty of Biology)
Technical of Genetic Analysis Biology (Faculty of Biology)
Origin and Evolution of Genomic Complexity (Graduate programs in ‘Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology’ and ‘Molecular and Evolutionary Genetics’)
Molecular techniques applied to the study of biodiversity (Graduate programs in ‘Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology’ and ‘Molecular and Evolutionary Genetics’)
Molecular markers applied to the study of biodiversity (Graduate programs in ‘Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology’ and ‘Molecular and Evolutionary Genetics’)
Comparative Genomics (Graduate programs in ‘Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology’ and ‘Molecular and Evolutionary Genetics’)

People currently in the Evolutionary Genetics Lab

Andres Moyá Simarro, Professor of Genetics
Fernando González Candelas, Professor of Genetics
Francisco J. Silva Moreno, Professor of Genetics
Rosario Gil García, Associate Professor of Genetics
Ana González Garrido, Associate Professor of Genetics
David Martínez Torres, Associate Professor of Genetics
Juli Peretó Magraner, Associate Professor of Genetics
Diana Barbosa, Associate Professor of Genetics

Carmen M González Doménech, Postdoctoral researcher
Elisa Maiques Fernández, Postdoctoral researcher
Alejandro Oceguera Figueroa, Postdoctoral researcher
Rafael Sanjuán Verdeguer, Postdoctoral researcher

Miquel Barberá Solá, Predoctoral researcher
Pilar Domingo Calap, Predoctoral researcher
Jorge Mariano Collantes Alegre, Predoctoral researcher
Sergio López Madrigal, Predoctoral researcher
Alejandro Manzano, Predoctoral researcher
Vanesa Martínez Díaz, Predoctoral researcher
Rafael Patiño Navarrete, Predoctoral researcher
Bertha Mariana Reyes Prieto, Predoctoral researcher
Diego Santos García, Predoctoral researcher
Vicente Sentandreu Corberá, Predoctoral researcher
Joan Riera, Predoctoral researcher

Pascual Asensi, Informatician
Laura Domínguez Escribà, Research Technician
Silvia Ramos Ortiz, Research Technician
Dolores Sánchez, Financial Technician

Collaborators and lab friends (past & present)

Mailing address

Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva
Universidad de Valencia
c/ Catedrático José Beltrán no. 2

46980 - Paterna
Valencia (Spain)