GIUV2013-098
Our research group is dedicated to a multi-scale study of evolutionary processes and the application of acquired knowledge to improve the health status of human collectives. This description is necessarily generic and ambiguous, and it focuses on a series of research activities that are detailed below:
Epidemiology and evolution of pathogenic microorganisms. We take advantage of the research capability granting us access to genetic information (gene sequences and genomes) on recent history and evolutionary processes that act and have acted on microorganisms, normally bacteria and viruses, and enable follow-up and monitoring as a way to track the origin of transmission paths, the introduction and expansion of genes and drug-resistant variants, etc.
Evolutionary systems biology. The recent developments in massive sequencing techniques and bioinformatics allow a rebuild of the evolutionary history of organisms, their genes and genomes, as well as that of components formed by all the various systems. The implementation of these methodologies in pathogenic organisms and their hosts makes us reach a better understanding on pathogenesis as well as alternatives and possibilities to...Our research group is dedicated to a multi-scale study of evolutionary processes and the application of acquired knowledge to improve the health status of human collectives. This description is necessarily generic and ambiguous, and it focuses on a series of research activities that are detailed below:
Epidemiology and evolution of pathogenic microorganisms. We take advantage of the research capability granting us access to genetic information (gene sequences and genomes) on recent history and evolutionary processes that act and have acted on microorganisms, normally bacteria and viruses, and enable follow-up and monitoring as a way to track the origin of transmission paths, the introduction and expansion of genes and drug-resistant variants, etc.
Evolutionary systems biology. The recent developments in massive sequencing techniques and bioinformatics allow a rebuild of the evolutionary history of organisms, their genes and genomes, as well as that of components formed by all the various systems. The implementation of these methodologies in pathogenic organisms and their hosts makes us reach a better understanding on pathogenesis as well as alternatives and possibilities to act against them.
Mutation and viral evolution (VIRMUT). A mutation represents the ultimate source for genetic variation and, as such, a key factor that clarifies the great variability and rapid evolution of ARN viruses. In this field, we estimated the virus mutation rate in animals, plants and bacteriophages (RNA as well as DNA ones). As of today, we are working on an in vitro and in vivo mutation rates estimate of different, biomedically relevant human viruses, such as HIV-1 or hepatitis C. With the use of different experimental approximations, we count on being able to detect mechanisms yet unknown in the creation of RNA diversity.
Biologic complexity and robustness. The organisms¿ capacity to withstand mutations (genetic or mutational robustness) determines the strength of natural selection and plays an important role in evolution. With the directed mutagenesis technique, we characterised the distribution of mutational effects based on the biological efficacy of various RNA viruses. This allowed us to observe notoriously low robustness levels. Moreover, our group pointed out the existence of a correlation between epistasis (interaction between genes or loci) and genomic complexity. The Systems Biology currently offers tools that allow to test these predictions.
Experimental evolution of oncolytic viruses. Different RNA viruses show a certain degree of spontaneous selectiveness towards cancer cells, which is convenient in potential candidates for the development of therapeutic applications. The vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is a RNA virus with natural oncolytic activity and it¿s usually used in our laboratory for studies on experimental evolution. The VSV adaptation to different cancer cell lines by experimental evolution will enable the obtainment of potential oncolytics, provided it results in a relevant decrease of its efficacy in primary cells. The virus candidates will be tested in vivo through infections in mice.
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- Estudio de procesos evolutivos y su aplicacion a y en microorganismos normalmente patogenos para actuar en la prevencion y curacion de enfermedades
- Molecular epidemiology.Use of genetic and genomic information of pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria and viruses) to study their spread in human populations and in their natural reservoirs, complementing the tasks of epidemiological care and control.
- Evolutionary Systems Biology.Study of the evolution of complete genomes and the genes present in them, with special emphasis on bacteria and viruses.
- Viral mutation and evolution.Using various experimental approaches, we aim to identify and characterise mechanisms in the generation of RNA virus diversity, and to obtain quantitative estimates of mutation rates in RNA viruses.
- Experimental evolution of viruses.We use viruses as model organisms in the laboratory to study evolutionary processes on an experimental basis.
| Name | Nature of participation | Entity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| FERNANDO GONZALEZ CANDELAS | Director | Universitat de València | |
| Research team | |||
| CONCEPCION GIMENO CARDONA | Member | Universitat de València | |
| MARIA ALMA BRACHO LAPIEDRA | Member | Universitat de València | |
| MIREIA COSCOLLA DEVIS | Member | Universitat de València - CSIC | external researcher - mixed centre |
| RON GELLER PORTUGEZ | Member | Instituto de Biología Integrativa de Sistemas I2Sysbio | researcher |
| IÑAKI COMAS ESPADAS | Collaborator | Fundacion para el Fomento de la Investigacion Sanitaria y Biomedica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO) | trainee research staff |
| ÁLVARO CHINER OMS | Collaborator | Fundacion para el Fomento de la Investigacion Sanitaria y Biomedica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO) | postdoctoral researcher |
| MATTEO NEGRONI | Collaborator | Université de Strasbourg (Francia) | research director |
| LEONOR SANCHEZ BUSO | Collaborator | Fundacion para el Fomento de la Investigacion Sanitaria y Biomedica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO) | researcher |
| PAULA RUIZ RODRIGUEZ | Collaborator | Universitat de València - Estudi General | UVEG PhD student |
| MARTA CABALLER GUAL | Collaborator | Universitat de València | |
| Alejandro Sanz Carbonell | Collaborator | Fundacion para el Fomento de la Investigacion Sanitaria y Biomedica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO) | researcher |
| Lidia Ruiz Roldán | Collaborator | Fundacion para el Fomento de la Investigacion Sanitaria y Biomedica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO) | researcher |
| Lucia Martínez Priego | Collaborator | Fundacion para el Fomento de la Investigacion Sanitaria y Biomedica de la Comunitat Valenciana (FISABIO) | research director |
| Juan Manuel Corpa Arenas | Collaborator | Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera | full university professor |
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- Cavanilles Institute Biodiversity and Evolut. Biol. (ICBBE)
- bacterias; virus; infecciones; brotes; marcadores moleculares; diversidad genética; vigilancia epidemiologica
- phylogenetic trees, molecular evolution
- tasa de mutación; replicación; evolución experimental
- tasa de mutacion; epistasia; mutagenesis dirigida; VSV
