Dr. Alejandro Manzano Marín
I am a Senior Scientist studying the biology and evolution of symbiotic interactions. I did my undergraduate in Genomic Sciences in Mexico at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). During my last year, I performed research on the genomics and evolution of the co-obligate bacterial endosymbiont Serratia symbiotica of the the aphid Cinara tujafilina. During this period, I developed a great interest in both the genomic changes and metabolic adaptations that mutualistic symbiotic bacteria undergo during their evolution towards more intimate associations. Next, I moved to Valencia, Spain to the Cavanilles Institute for Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (ICBIBE), where I got my master’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology and Genetics. Afterwards, I got a Marie Curie ITN Ph.D. Fellowship (Symbiomics) followed by a CONACyT Ph.D. fellowship (Mexico) to do my PhD at the ICBiBE working on the comparative genomics of mutualistic co-obligate di-symbiotic systems in the Lachninae subfamily of aphids. During this period, I investigated the evolution of co-obligate symbiosis, symbiont replacement, and the metabolic bases of symbiont cooperation for the production of essential compounds for their hosts. During my first postdoc (Marie Curie COFUND AgreenSkills+) at INRA UMR 1062 CBGP, I studied multi-partner co-obligate symbioses across aphid species and the role that symbiont turnover has had on the diversification of aphids, particularly in the Cinara genus. This work led to the description of several new di- and tri-symbiotic obligate nutritional symbiotic systems in both Cinara and across the aphid family (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as well as revealed interesting factors underlying these associations. Just recently, I finished my second postdoc (Marie Skłodowska Curie IF LeechSymbio) at the CMESS, studying the genomics and metabolic interactions between strict blood-feeding leeches and their obligate nutritional bacteria.
For more information on the active and past lines of research, check out the first link below ↓↓↓↓
