Research Interests
I’ve been mostly interested in understanding the evolutionary trajectory of the genomic regions governing mating type identity in fungi. In the past years, special attention has been given to a deep-branching lineage of the Basidiomycota that includes the red-pigmented yeasts of the genera Rhodotorula and Sporobolomyces. I identified for the first time in this lineage the two independent sets of genes governing sexual reproduction, along with their allocation to the genomic region that governs sexual identity (MAT locus). At Heitman’s lab, I will be focusing on a fungal lineage that includes both the pathogenic Cryptococcus species complex as well as non-pathogenic Cryptococcus and Kwoniella species. Taking advantage of the current state-of-the-art of long-read sequencing, we will be able to study with detail the evolution of the mating-type chromosomes and how/when “supergenes” evolved by linkage of the two mating type loci controlling pre- and post-mating compatibility in many basidiomycetes. In addition, we will address outstanding questions such as how chromosomal length polymorphisms are maintained in sexual reproducing organisms that undergo a series of orchestrated steps to promote faithful chromosome pairing and segregation during meiosis? and, secondly, what are the causes and consequences of chromosomal rearrangements and other structural variants affecting natural populations and speciation? Other interests include several topics related with yeast ecology and diversity and the impact of horizontal gene transfer in shaping fungal secondary metabolism.