Publications

2024

17. Marie-C Müller, Martijn Wissink, Priyadarshini Mukherjee, Nicole von Possel, Rafael Laso-Pérez, Sylvain Engilberge, Philippe Carpentier, Jörg Kahnt, Gunter Wegener, Cornelia U Welte, Tristan Wagner. Atomic resolution structures of key enzyme MCR in anaerobic methanotrophy reveal novel and extensive post-translational modifications. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.10.632498 

16. Philip H Woods, Daan R Speth, Rafael Laso-Pérez, Daniel R Utter, S Emil Ruff, Victoria J Orphan. Convergence and horizontal gene transfer drive the evolution of anaerobic methanotrophy in archaea. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.23.595608

15. Juan Rivas-Santisteban, Nuria Fernandez-Gonzalez, Rafael Laso-Pérez, VJavier Tamames, Carlos Pedrós-Alió. (2024). Microbial nitrogen guilds in the oceans: from the bathypelagic to the ocean surface. bioXriv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.05.583471

14. Rafael Laso-Pérez*, Juan Rivas-Santisteban, Nuria Fernandez-Gonzalez, Christopher J Mundy, Javier Tamames, Carlos Pedrós-Alió. (2024) Nitrogen cycling during an Arctic bloom: from chemolithotrophy to nitrogen assimilation. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.27.582273

2023

13. Ranjani Murali, Hang Yu, Daan R Speth, Fabai Wu, Kyle S Metcalfe, Antoine Crémière, Rafael Laso-Pèrez, Rex R Malmstrom, Danielle Goudeau, Tanja Woyke, Roland Hatzenpichler, Grayson L Chadwick, Stephanie A Connon, Victoria J Orphan. (2023) Physiological potential and evolutionary trajectories of syntrophic sulfate-reducing bacterial partners of anaerobic methanotrophic archaea. PLOS Biology 21(9): e3002292. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002292

12. Hanna Zehnle, Rafael Laso-Pérez, Julius Lipp, Dietmar Riedel, David Benito Merino, Andreas Teske, Gunter Wegener. (2023) Candidatus Alkanophaga archaea from Guaymas Basin hydrothermal vent sediment oxidize petroleum alkanes. Nat Microbiology 8, 1199-1212. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01400-3

11. Massimiliano Molari, Christiane Hassenrueck, Rafael Laso-Pérez, Gunter Wegener, Pierre Offre, Stefano Scilipoti, Antje Boetius. (2023) A hydrogenotrophic Sulfurimonas is globally abundant in deep-sea oxygen-saturated hydrothermal plumes. Nat Microbiology 8, 651-665. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01342-w

10. Rafael Laso-Pérez*, Fabai Wu, Antoine Crémière, Daan R Speth, John S Magyar, Kehan Zhao, Mart Krupovic, Victoria J Orphan. (2023) Evolutionary diversification of methanotrophic ANME-1 archaea and their expansive virome. Nat Microbiology 8, 231-245. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01297-4 

9. Antonio Fernandez-Guerra, Guillaume Borrel, Tom O Delmont, Bo Elberling, A Murat Eren, Simonetta Gribaldo, Annika Jochheim, Rasmus A Henriksen, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, Thorfinn S Korneliussen, Mart Krupovic, Nicolaj K Larsen, Rafael Perez-Laso, Mikkel Winther Pedersen, Vivi K Pedersen, Karina K Sand, Martin Sikora, Martin Steinegger, Iva A Veseli, Lars Wörmer, Lei Zhao, Marina Žure, Kurt H Kjær, Eske Willerslev. (2023) A 2-million-year-old microbial and viral communities from the Kap København Formation in North Greenland. bioRxiv 2023.06.10.544454. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.06.10.544454

2022

8. Gunter Wegener, Rafael Laso-Pérez*, Victoria J Orphan, Antje Boetius. (2022) Anaerobic degradation of alkanes by marine archaea. Annual Review of Microbiology 76 (1), 553-577. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-micro-111021-045911

7. Zhuo Zhou, Cui-jing Zhang, Peng-fei Liu, Lin Fu, Rafael Laso-Pérez, Lu Yang, Li-ping Bai, Jiang Li, Min Yang, Jun-zhang Lin, Wei-dong Wang, Gunter Wegener, Meng Li, Lei Cheng. (2022) Non-syntrophic methanogenic hydrocarbon degradation by an archaeal specie. Nature 601, 257-262. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04235-2

6. Grayson L Chadwick, Connor T Skennerton, Rafael Laso-Pérez, Andy O Leu, Daan R Speth, Hang Yu, Connor Morgan-Lang, Roland Hatzenpichler, Danielle Goudeau, Rex Malmstrom, William J Brazelton, Tanja Woyke, Steven J Hallam, Gene W Tyson, Gunter Wegener, Antje Boetius, Victoria J Orphan. (2022) Comparative genomics reveals electron transfer and syntrophic mechanisms differentiating methanotrophic and methanogenic archae. PLOS Biology 20 (1),  e300150. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001508

2020

5. Cedric Jasper Hahn, Rafael Laso-Pérez, Francesca Vulcano, Konstantinos-Marios Vaziourakis, Runar Stokke, Ida Helene Steen, Andreas Teske, Antje Boetius, Manuel Liebeke, Rudolf Amann, Katrin Knittel, Gunter Wegener. (2020) "Candidatus Ethanoperedens," a Thermophilic Genus of Archaea Mediating the Anaerobic Oxidation of Ethan. MBio 11 (2), 10.1128/mbio. 00600-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00600-20

4. Katy Hoffmann, Christina Bienhold, Pier Luigi Buttigieg, Katrin Knittel, Rafael Laso-Pérez, Josephine Z Rapp, Antje Boetius, Pierre Offre. (2020) Diversity and metabolism of Woeseiales bacteria, global members of marine sediment communities. The ISME Journal 14 (4), 1042-1056. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-020-0588-4

2019

3. Rafael Laso-Pérez*, Cedric Hahn, Daan M van Vliet, Halina E Tegetmeyer, Florence Schubotz, Nadine T Smit, Thomas Pape, Heiko Sahling, Gerhard Bohrmann, Antje Boetius, Katrin Knittel, Gunter Wegener. (2019) Anaerobic Degradation of Non-Methane Alkanes by "Candidatus Methanoliparia" in Hydrocarbon Seeps of the Gulf of Mexico. MBio 10 (4), 10.1128/mbio. 01814-1. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.01814-19

2018

2. Rafael Laso-Pérez, Viola Krukenberg, Florin Musat, Gunter Wegener. (2018) Establishing anaerobic hydrocarbon-degrading enrichment cultures of microorganisms under strictly anoxic conditions. Nature Protocols 13 (6), 1310-1330. https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2018.030

2016

1. Rafael Laso-Pérez, Gunter Wegener, Katrin Knittel, Friedrich Widdel, Katie J Harding, Viola Krukenberg, Dimitri V Meier, Michael Richter, Halina E Tegetmeyer, Dietmar Riedel, Hans-Hermann Richnow, Lorenz Adrian, Thorsten Reemtsma, Oliver J Lechtenfeld, Florin Musat. (2016) Thermophilic archaea activate butane via alkyl-coenzyme M formation. Nature 539 (7629), 396-401. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20152

2024

25. Rafael Laso-Pérez, Nuria Fernández González, Juan Rivas, Javier Tamames, Carlos Pedrós-Alió. Microbial nitrogen utilization during an Arctic time series: from chemolithotrophy to nitrogen competition during the bloom. Oral presentation. ISME19 - 19th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology. Cape Town, South Africa. Link: https://x.com/Gecko1990/status/1826626547580895700

24. Cleopatra Collado, Pedro Romero Tena, Gunter Wegener, Rafael Laso-Pérez. A deep-sea methanotrophic biofilm containing a Lokiarchaeum closely related to ''Candidatus Prometheoarchaeum syntrophicum''. Oral presentation. XVIII workshop of the Spanish National Network of Extremophiles at the Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain. WebLink: https://web.ua.es/de/rnme/documentos/libro-con-programa-y-resumenes-redex-v10.pdf

23. Rafael Laso-Pérez, Nuria Fernández González, Juan Rivas, Christopher J. Mundy, Javier Tamames, Carlos Pedrós-Alió. Microbial community succession during an Arctic phytoplankton bloom: from nitrogen to carbon. Invited speaker. Seminar at the Grupo de Oceanografía Biolóxica at the Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain. Link: https://twitter.com/bioloxica/status/1788848955276788003

22. Cleopatra Collado Coomonte, Rafael Laso-Pérez. Metagenomic analysis of the methanotrophic microorganisms from deep-sea biofilm. VII Scientific Workshop from the National Museum of Natural Sciences. Madrid, Spain.

21. Pedro Romero Tena, Rafael Laso-Pérez. Metagenomic sequencing and metabolism from a ''Candidatus Prometheoarchaeum'' species, an archaeon closely related to the last eukaryotic ancestor. VII Scientific Workshop from the National Museum of Natural Sciences. Madrid, Spain. 

20. Rafael Laso-Pérez, Nuria Fernández González, Juan Rivas, Christopher J. Mundy, Javier Tamames, Carlos Pedrós-Alió. Microbial community succession during an Arctic phytoplankton bloom: from nitrogen to carbon. Invited speaker. Seminar at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB-CSIC), Madrid, Spain

2023

19. Rafael Laso-Pérez, Nuria Fernández González, Juan Rivas, Semidan Robaina, Christopher J. Mundy, Javier Tamames, Carlos Pedrós-Alió. Microbial community succession during an Arctic phytoplankton bloom: from nitrogen to carbon. Poster presentation. Gordon Research Conference (GRC) - Applied and Environmental Microbiology.  Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, USA

18. Rafael Laso-Pérez.Deciphering microbial metabolisms combining culture-dependent and -independent methods. Seminar presentation. Research seminars at the MNCN. Madrid, Spain. Weblink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7JISYnLp5g 

17. Rafael Laso Pérez, Nuria Fernández González, Juan Rivas, Semidan Robaina, Christopher J. Mundy, Javier Tamames, Carlos Pedrós-Alió. Microbial community succession during an Arctic phytoplankton bloom: from nitrogen to carbon. Oral presentation. VI Scientific Workshop from the National Museum of Natural Sciences. Madrid, Spain. Weblink: https://hdl.handle.net/10261/305865

2022

16. Rafael Laso-Pérez. Anaerobic degradation of alkanes by Archaea. Archaeal Power Hour - Europe. Oral presentation. Online

2021

15. Rafael Laso-Pérez.  Beyond methane: the expansion of archaeal hydrocarbon metabolism. Oral presentation. XXIX CNB Scientific Workshop. Madrid, Spain.

14. Zhuo Zhou, Cul-Jing.Zhang, Peng-fei Liu, Lin Fu, Rafael Laso-Pérez, Gunter Wegener, Meng Li, Lei Cheng. A single archaeon couples hydrocarbon degradation to methanogenesis. 30th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG). Montpellier, France. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.202134161

13. Hanna Zehnle, Rafael Laso-Pérez, Antje Boetius, Gunter Wegener. Thermophilic Archaea Activate Liquid Alkanes Using Divergent Methyl-Coenzyme M Reductases. 30th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG). Montpellier, France. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.202134206 

12. Rafael Laso-Pérez. Microbes, methane and the ocean. 6th Max Planck Symposium for alumni and early career researchers: Water - more expensive than gold. Oral presentation. Online.

11.  Rafael Laso-Pérez, Abir Haddad, Mischa Bonn, Conny Czymoch. 6th Max Planck Symposium for alumni and early career researchers: Water - more expensive than gold. Round table. Online.

10. Rafael Laso-Pérez, Antoine Crémière, Fabai Wu, Daan R. Speth, Florence Schubotz, John Magyar, Victoria Orphan. Characterization of the archaeal communities involved in methane and hydrocarbon oxidation within hydrothermal environments of the S. Pescadero Basin (Gulf of California). Invited Speaker. Goldschmidt 2021. Online. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7185/gold2021.5373

9. Rafael Laso-Pérez. Beyond methane: the new world of hydrocarbon-degrading archaea. Seminar presentation. Chemical Oceanography, Geology, Geochemistry, and Geobiology Seminar - MIT/WHOI. Online

2018

8. Rafael Laso Pérez, Cedric Hahn, Katrin Knittel, Daan M. van Vliet, Heiko Sahling, Gerdhard Bohrmann, Antje Boetius, Gunter Wegener. Abundant, novel, putative hydrocarbon-degrading archaea inhabit the asphalt volcanoes of the Southern Gulf of Mexico. Poster presentation. ISME17 - 17th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology. Leipzig, Germany.

7. Rafael Laso Pérez, Cedric Hahn, Katrin Knittel, Daan M. van Vliet, Heiko Sahling, Gerdhard Bohrmann, Antje Boetius, Gunter Wegener. Genomic insights of the D-C06 clade: a potential hydrocarbon degrader with a methanogenesis pathway. Poster presentation. Gordon Research Conference/Seminar (GRC/GRS) - Molecular Basis of C1 Metabolism. Newry, ME, USA.

6. Rafael Laso Pérez. Genomic insights into archaea of the D-C06 clade. Oral presentation. It Ma(t)Ter(s) - 2nd PhD Max Planck Conference on Environmental Microbiology. Bremen, Germany

2017

5. Rafael Laso-Pérez. Marine biology research: not everything is blue. Science slam presentation. Visions in Science 2017 - Discovering new perspectives. Berlín, Germany. First prize in the Science Slam

4. Rafael Laso Pérez, Gunter Wegener, Halina E. Tegetmeyer, Florin Musat. Novel archaeal-bacterial consortia use methanogenesis-type enzymes for butane oxidation. Poster presentation. SAME15 - 15th Symposium on Aquatic Microbial Ecology. Zagreb, Croatia.

3. Rafael Laso Pérez, Gunter Wegener, Katrin Knittel, Friedrich Widdel, Florin Musat. Anaerobic degradation of propane and butane in archaeal-bacterial consortia. Oral presentation. It Ma(t)Ter(s) - 1st PhD Max Planck Conference on Environmental Microbiology. Marburg, Germany.

2016

2. Rafael Laso-Pérez, Gunter Wegener, Katrin Knittel, Friedrich Widdel, Katie J. Harding, Viola Krukenberg, Dimitri V. Meier, Michael Richter, Halina E. Tegetmeyer, Dietmar Riedel, Hans-Hermann Richnow, Adrian Lorenz, Thorsten Reemtsma, Oliver J., Lechtenfeld, Florin Musat. Novel archaeal-bacterial consortia use methanogenesis-type enzymes for butane oxidation. Oral (GRS) and poster (GRC) presentation. Gordon Reseach Conference/Seminar (GRC/GRS) - Molecular Basis of C1 Metabolism. Waterville Valley, NH, USA

2014

1. Rafael Laso-Pérez. Effects of climate change in the oceans. Oral presentation.  DAAD scholarship's holder meeting: Climate policies, food security and resources protection in a global world. Braunschwieg, Germany. Program: https://idw-online.de/de/attachmentdata37103.pdf