My academic formation is biochemistry. I did my thesis under Prof. Manuel Pérez Alonso's guidance, which led to the identification of the Drosophila gene muscleblind, the founder member of the Muscleblind-like (MBNL) family of alternative splicing regulators with critical roles in human genetic diseases such as myotonic dystrophy. After 6 years of postdoctoral training in Mary Baylies' laboratory at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, in 2001 I returned to Spain with a Ramón y Cajal research contract and started my independent research career at the University of Valencia where my overarching goal is to understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis and to discover therapeutic targets and innovative treatments of human genetic diseases, with a particular focus in myotonic dystrophy. To this end, we use human samples and animal and cell models to understand the molecular basis of disease, perform drug repurposing screenings, and evaluate the activity of oligonucleotide-based drugs. We actively seek a close relationship with clinical researchers and biotech companies.

As a university student (Universitat de València, UV), I belonged to the research team awarded with the prize “Certamen de Jóvenes Investigadores” with a proposal about polymorphisms associated with alcoholism (1993). I got my degree in Biology (1993) and my dissertation about Usher syndrome” (1998) was awarded as the best doctoral thesis by ONCE - UV. With this study, I initiated my career on genetics of rare Mendelian diseases. The main scientific contributions were the characterization of genetic bases of Usher syndrome in clinical series and the estimate of prevalence in Spain. My postdoctoral period started in the Unit of Congenital Bleeding Disorders at the University Hospital La Fe (1998-2003), where I got a fellowship from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII). I collaborated on research lines focused on genetics of hemophilia A and B, coagulation FVII deficiency and von Willebrand disease as a postdoctoral researcher. I participated in the genetic study of cohorts of Spanish patients with several coagulopathies. In 2003, I moved to the Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia – CSIC where I collaborated with open research lines focused on genetics of ataxias, peripheral neuropathies and movement disorders. I described for the first time the genetic bases of an ultrare disease: uroconase deficiency. I started as a group leader with my Miguel Servet I (MSI, 2009-15), and with the first grants, I initiated my own research lines. In 2014, I was evaluated and obtained the MSII contract as PI (2015-18). My group provided new data to better understand the disease mechanism of Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 4C (CMT4C); to characterize genetics associated with CMT and generate genetic tools for diagnosis; to discover junctophilin as a genetic modifier of CMT2K; and to establish MORC2 as a new gene involved in CMT2Z. I initiated new lines focused on the molecular bases and biomarkers for NBIA (Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation) and Wilson’s disease (WD). I participated in the development of a new clinical scale for NBIA patients as well as the description of the genetic bases. My group reported the genetics of clinical series of WD and detected a miRNA profile as biomarkers (patent).

During these years as MS researcher and group leader, I got projects funded by public or private institutions such as ISCIII, IRDiRC, CNAG, Foundation La Marató TV3, Foundation Ramón Areces, Foundation Per Amor a l'Art, AFM-Téléthon and EASIGenomics. Recently, I was awarded with my sixth national public project funded by the ISCIII (PI24-00017).

Technological development activities, in 2012, I moved my MSI contract to the Hospital U. La Fe where I created the Neurogenetics Platform, a service in which we offered genetic analysis of rare hereditary neuropathies. In 2013, I moved to the CIPF where, do I ran my own group and also worked in the Service of Genomics and Translational Genetics (SGGT), in which I carried out genetic analysis of rare neuropathies. In 2016, we generated a gene panel for hereditary peripheral neuropathies that we traded in the service. I was the SGGT’s director from 2015 until its closing in 2021.

In 2024, I obtained a teaching position in the Genetics Department of the University of Valencia where I currently carry out my teaching and research activities.

I work close with PAOs (patient advocacy organizations): (1) I belong to the scientific board of the Spanish PAOs on Wilson disease (AEFE Wilson) and ataxias (FEDAES), and I usually collaborate in meetings with others (ADIBI, ASVAH). (2) I am the chair-woman of AITER (consortium with 15 institutions for the Translational Research in Rare Diseases in Valencia). (3) I organize since 2016, the National Conference of Female Researchers in Rare Diseases, which binds science, women and rare diseases, and aims to bring science about rare diseases made by women closer to citizens.

I have a degree in Chemistry specialising in Biochemistry from the Universitat de València (UV, 1994). I spent 5 months in the Goerlaeus laboratories of the University of Leiden (Netherlands). After graduating, I joined the Department of Genetics of the UV, where I did my doctoral thesis with an FPI Scholarship from the Generalitat Valenciana, obtaining my doctorate in 1999. During that period, I made a short stay (1996) at the Institute of Biotechnology of Cuernavaca (Mexico). I have done postdoctoral stays in different centers of recognized prestige, IATA (CSIC) (1999). Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (UV) (1999-2002) and EMBL (Grenoble, France, 2002-2004), with a Specialization Scholarship in International Organizations. Later I joined the Department of Genetics of the UV, with a postdoctoral fellowship Carmen and Severo Ochoa (2007-2009) and from 2009 to 2012 with a contract as a Senior Research Technician. In 2012 I competed and obtained a position as Associate Professor Dr and in 2017 as University Professor.

TEACHING ACTIVITY: Since 1996 I have taught in 21 different subjects, covering undergraduate or undergraduate students from second to master's degree. I have taught these classes in 2 degrees (Biology and Chemistry) and in 6 different degrees: Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences (· BCB, 5), Biotechnology (BT, 5), Biology (Biol, 1), Double Degree Law-Criminology and Degree in Criminology (DC or C, 4) and in two master's degrees: Master in Molecular, Cellular and Genetic Biology (1) and Master in Bioinformatics (2).  I am currently coordinator of external internships of students in companies for the Degree in Biotechnology and I have the Quality Mention as a tutor of these practices. Since March 2018 I am Vice-Dean of Innovation and Quality of the Faculty of Biology. I have directed 13 final degree projects in the degrees of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology and Criminology, 6 Master's Final Projects, and the Doctoral Thesis of Dr. López-Galiano: Identification of miRNAs with predictive value as biomarkers of biotic and abiotic stress in plants of agronomic interest. 26.03.2021 and I am co-directing another. I have recognized three five-year teaching periods

EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION ACTIVITIES: Since 2018 I have participated in 12 teaching innovation projects with 6 participations in congresses or educational days

RESEARCH CAREER: In my research career I have mainly addressed the field of pathogen-host interactions from a multitude of approaches, both in terms of the range of organisms (bacteria-insects, phages-bacteria, insects-plants, viruses-humans) and the type of approach, from purely molecular and basic research (phage structures, protein-protein interactions or biochemical characterization of the mode of action of toxins) to those of clinical or field application.  I have recognized three six-year periods of research. In 2014, I participated in the Potato Beetle genome annotation project, within the i5k initiative: genome sequencing of 5000 arthropods.

TRANSFER ACTIVITY: I am co-inventor of two patents: P0201030569- Increase in the expression of recombinant sequences in eukaryotes and ES27176855- Peptide and pharmaceutical compositions of the same for use as an antimicrobial and in the treatment of cancer. I have participated in the Innosalud (2020) and Innotransfer (2020,  2021) programs  .

PEER REVIEW AND EVALUATION ACTIVITIES Since 2009 I have participated as a reviewer in: Letters in  Applied Microbiology, Journal of Applied Microbiology, Cells, Plant Cell Reports, IJMS, BAOJ Biotechnology ... I participate as an external Evaluator for the National Agency for Evaluation and Foresight (ANEP) since 2015, for the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE) since 2019 (21 business projects evaluated) and for the UV-Ministry of Universities, for the evaluation of the University Requalification System program (2021).

DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES. Member of the Organizing Committee of Climathon-Burjassot 2019 (Climate Kick-UV), and Hackaton AgrotecUV (2021). Member of the organizing committee and the scientific congress  (Innocampus-Explora project) Innocovid19 (2020) and Innofuturo (2021 ).

PhD in Pharmacy from the Universitat de València (1991), I did a postdoctoral stay of more than 3 years at the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics (University of Utah, USA). After 15 years dedicated to the study of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae from almost any point of view (study of the cell wall, model system for the study of human tumor suppressor genes, analysis of stress and contamination in brewing yeast or global gene expression in wine yeasts), I joined the field of bacterial genomic evolution, in which I have been working since 2001 as a member of the Evolutionary Genetics group of the Universitat de València, where I am currently Full Professor of Genetics.

I do my research at the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint collaborative center Universitat de València - CSIC. Since 2001, my work has been mainly devoted to the study of the genome of endosymbiotic bacteria, which live inside specialized cells of insect with restricted diets (such as aphids, weevils or mealybugs), to understand the relationship between these bacteria and their hosts, the bacterial genome reduction in these conditions, and its consequences for the inferred metabolic network. As a complement to these studies, I have also been involved in studies on the definition of the minimal genome, essential for the maintenance of a living cell, and its implications in the field of Synthetic Biology.

In recent years, our consolidated model system to study symbiotic interactions is the German cockroach Blattella germanica. Cockroaches are specially interesting because two symbiotic systems coexist in each individual, an obligate endosymbiont and a complex gut microbiota. We have developed strategies to better understand the implication of each sytem in the host welfare, and their putative crosstalk. More recently, we are focusing on the host mechanisms to control the symbionts, with special interest in antimicrobial peptides and microRNAs.

Current research projects

- Host-symbiont communication and its utility in biological pest and pathogen control (SYMB-CONTROL, PID2021-128201NB-I00; co-financed MICIN-UEFEDER-AEI, EU and Spain)
- Temperature and antibiotics stress: effects on phage bacteria interactions in the gut microbiota of Blatella germanica (CIPROM/2021/042; Generalitat Valenciana, Spain).
- RNA communication across kingdoms: new mechanisms and strategies in pathogen control (exRNA-PATH, CA20110; COST action, EU)

Recent and selected publications

Cazzaniga, M., R. Domínguez-Santos, J. Marín-Miret, R. Gil, A. Latorre, C. García-Ferris (2023). Exploring gut microbial dynamics and symbiotic interaction in Blattella germanica using rifampicin. Biology 12:955. doi: 10.3390/biology12070955

Latorre, A., R. Domínguez-Santos, C. García-Ferris, R. Gil (2022). Of cockroaches and symbionts: recent advances in the characterization of the relationship between Blattella germanica and its dual symbiotic system. Live 12: 290. doi: 10.3390/life12020290

Garzón, M.J., M. Reyes-Prieto, R Gil (2022). The minimal translation machinery: what we can learn from naturally and experimentally reduced genomes. Front. Microbiol. 13:858983. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.858983

Solana, J., E. Garrote-Sánchez, R. Gil (2021). DELEAT: gene essentiality prediction and deletion design for bacterial genome reduction. BMC Bioinformatics 22:444. doi: 10.1186/s12859-021-04348-5

Domínguez-Santos R, A.E. Pérez-Cobas, P. Cuti, V. Pérez-Brocal, C. García-Ferris, A. Moya, A. Latorre, R. Gil (2021). Interkingdom gut microbiome and resistome of the cockroach Blattella germanica. mSystems 6:e01213-20. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.01213-20

Reyes-Prieto, M., R. Gil, M. Llabrés, P. Palmer-Rodríguez, A. Moya (2021). The metabolic building blocks of a minimal cell. Biology, 10:5. doi: 10.3390/biology10010005

Gil, R., A. Latorre (2019). Unity makes strength: a review on mutualistic symbiosis in representative insect clades. Life 9: 21; doi:10.3390/life9010021.

Gil, R., C. Vargas-Chavez, S. López-Madrigal, D. Santos-García, A. Latorre, A. Moya (2018). Tremblaya phenacola PPER: An evolutionary beta-gammaproteobacterium collage. ISME J. 12:124-135. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2017.144

López-Madrigal, S., R. Gil (2017). Et tu, Brute? Not even intracellular mutualistic symbionts escape horizontal gene transfer. Genes 8:247. doi: 10.3390/genes8100247

Lloréns-Rico, V., J. Cano, T. Kamminga, R. Gil, A. Latorre, W. H. Chen, P. Bork, J. I. Glass, L. Serrano, M. Lluch-Senar (2016). Bacterial antisense RNAs are mainly the product of transcriptional noise. Sci. Adv. 2:e1501363. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1501363

Klein, A., L. Schrader, R. Gil, A. Manzano-Marín, L. Flórez, D. Wheeler, J. H. Werren, A. Latorre, J. Heinze, M. Kaltenpoth, A. Moya, J. Oettler (2016). A novel intracellular mutualistic bacterium in the invasive ant Cardiocondyla obscurior. ISME J. 10:376-388. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2015.119

Gil, R., J. Peretó (2015). Small genomes and the difficulty to define minimal translation and metabolic machineries. Front. Ecol. Evol. 3:123. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00123

López-Madrigal, S., A. Latorre, A. Moya, R. Gil (2015). The link between independent acquisition of intracellular gamma-endosymbionts and concerted evolution in Tremblaya princeps. Front. Microbiol. 6:642. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00642

Gil, R. (2014). The minimal gene-set machinery. In Encyclopedia of Molecular Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine: Synthetic Biology, 2nd edition. Meyers RA (ed.). Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. pp. 1-36. doi: 10.1002/3527600906.mcb.20130079

López-Madrigal, S., A. Beltrà, S. Resurrección, A. Soto, A. Latorre, A. Moya, R. Gil (2014). Molecular evidence for ongoing complementarity and horizontal gene transfer in endosymbiotic systems of mealybugs. Front. Microbiol. 5:449. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00449

Oakeson, K. F.*, R. Gil*, A. L. Clayton, D. M. Dunn, A. C. von Niederhausern, C. Hamil, A. Aoyagi, B. Duval, A. Baca, F.J. Silva, A. Vallier, D. G. Jackson, A. Latorre, R. B. Weiss, A. Heddi, A. Moya, C. Dale (2014). Genome degeneration and adaptation in a nascent stage of symbiosis. Genome Biol. Evol. 6:76-93. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evt210 *Equal contribution.

López-Madrigal, S., A. Latorre, M. Porcar, A. Moya, R. Gil (2013). Mealybugs nested endosymbiosis: going into the ‘matryoshka’system in Planococcus citri in depth. BMC Microbiol. 13:74. doi: 10.1186/1471-2180-13-74

Moya, A., R. Gil, A. Latorre., J. Peretó, M.P. Garcillán-Barcia, F. de la Cruz (2009). Towards minimal bacterial cells: evolution versus design. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 33:225-235. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2008.00151.x

Moya, A., J. Peretó, R. Gil, A. Latorre (2008). Learning how to live together: genomic insights into prokaryote-animal symbioses. Nature Rev. Genet. 9:218-229. doi:10.1038/nrg2319 

Tamames, J.*, R. Gil*, A. Latorre, J. Peretó, F.J. Silva, A. Moya (2006). The frontier between cell and organelle: genome analysis of Candidatus Carsonella ruddii. BMC Ecol. Evol. 7:181. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-7-181 *Equal contribution.

T. Gabaldón, J. Peretó, F. Montero, R. Gil, A. Latorre, A. Moya (2007). Structural analyses of a hypothetical minimal metabolism. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. Biol. Sci. 362:1751-1762. doi:  10.1098/rstb.2007.2067

Pérez-Brocal, V., R. Gil, S. Ramos, A. Lamelas, M. Postigo, J. M. Michelena, F. J. Silva, A. Moya, A. Latorre (2006). A small microbial genome: the end of a long symbiotic relationship? Science 314:312-313. doi: 10.1126/science.1130441

Gil, R., F. J. Silva, J. Peretó, A. Moya (2004). Determination of the core of the minimal bacterial gene set. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 68: 518-537. doi: 10.1128/MMBR.68.3.518-537.2004

Gil, R., B. Sabater-Muñoz, A. Latorre, F. J. Silva, A. Moya (2002). Extreme genome reduction in Buchnera spp.: towards the minimal genome needed for symbiotic life. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 4454-4458. doi: 10.1073/pnas.062067299

Fernando Gonzalez Candelas, PhD (University of Valencia, 1987) is Professor of Genetics at the University of Valencia since 2006 and head of the “Evolution and Health” Research Unit at the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology UV-CSIC (I2SysBio) at the same university. In addition, he has a joint appointment at the FISABIO-Public Health through the joint research unit “Infection and Public Health” with the University of Valencia and at the CIBERESP (Centre for Networked Research on Biomedicine – Public Health and Epidemiology).
    My main research interests are in population and evolutionary genetics, molecular and evolutionary epidemiology, molecular systematics and genomics, bioinformatics and conservation biology. I am currently working on the molecular evolutionary epidemiology of different pathogens, mainly RNA viruses, such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and bacteria, such as Legionella pneumophila, Treponema pallidum, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Our basic approach is the analysis of nucleotide sequence variability at different levels, from intrapatient to world-wide samples, and from particular genes to complete genomes, depending on the specific goals of the different projects. Previously I have studied the population and evolutionary biology of Mediterranean endemic Limonium (Plumbaginaceae) species, by using an array of genetic markers (RAPDs, AFLPs, microsatellites, isozymes) and including the analysis of quantitative traits. I have published more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific papers and written two books.