Our lab is currently focus in three major research fields, which combine methodologies of molecular genetics, SSR genotyping, next generation sequencing, bioinformatics, and classical microbiology in culture and in animal models. These fields have both purely theoretic and applicative aspects:
- Environmental and food microbiology – studding the genetics and evolution of Human pathogens, mainly V. vulnificus and V. cholera in food, clinic and environment, using various genomic technologies including Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs), a highly dynamic component of the bacterial genome, important to bacterial pathogenicity and evolution
- Gut microbiome – understanding host-microbial interactions and specifically the role of host’s genetics, as well as the host’s immune system on microbial composition and vice versa, contributing to future application of personalized medicine.
- Yeasts genetics – studding the biodiversity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by isolating, characterizing and mapping natural as well as industrial populations. Development of improved strains via “green” technologies.
