Omics' and funcional ecology

High-throughput sequencing techniques have allowed the recovery of an enormous amount of microbial genomic information from environmental metagenomic samples. I have been involved in several projects that used metagenomic data to reconstruct microbial metabolisms and study their potential role in the ecosystem.

As part of the project TRAITS, I analyze the nitrogen cycle in the Arctic Ocean. We used metagenomics and metatranscriptomic samples from March to July to reconstruct the microbial community in samples from the Canadian Arctic. Based on the functional analysis of our data, we see a transition from a community where nitrogen-based chemolithotrophy plays a relevant role during winter, to a chemoorganotrophic community based on the carbohydrates released during the phytoplankton bloom in spring-summer, where different groups specialize in different nitrogen sources. Publications related to this project:

• Nitrogen cycling during an Arctic bloom: from chemolithotrophy to nitrogen assimilation. mBio (2025)
• Picoplankton nitrogen guilds in the tropical and subtropical oceans: From the surface to the deep. Plos One.(2025)

I have also participated in different projects to characterize specific marine microbial groups and communities using metagenomics approaches. For instance, I have been part of the first genomic atlas of syntrophic sulfate-reducing bacteria. In this regards, I have characterized the microbial biofilm community associated to a methanotrophic archaea in the Ginsburg Mud Volcano. I also collaborated in studies investigating the metabolism of deep-sea bacterial clades like Sulfurimonas or Woesiales. Besides, I have been involved in a project characterizing a 2-million years old microbial community recovered from permafrost samples, and a study on microbial fingerprinting of Antarctica water masses. Finally, I recently started to characterize the microbial communities of a Spanish protected wetland. Relevant publications:

• Diversity and metabolism of Woeseiales bacteria, global members of marine sediment communities. The ISME Journal (2020)
• A hydrogenotrophic Sulfurimonas is globally abundant in deep-sea oxygen-saturated hydrothermal plumes. Nature Microbiology (2023)
• Physiological potential and evolutionary trajectories of syntrophic sulfate-reducing bacterial partners of anaerobic methanotrophic archaea. PLoS Biology (2023)
• A 2-million-year-old microbial and viral communities from the Kap København Formation in North Greenland. bioRxiv (2023)
• Microbial Fingerprinting of Marine Water Masses in an Antarctic and Hydrographically Complex Area. Research Square (2025)
• A 16S rRNA amplicon dataset of Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics (2026)
• Anaerobic oxidation of methane supports a minimal microbial community in a subsurface biofilm at Ginsburg Mud Volcano. ISME Communications (2026)