Dr. Alejandro Manzano Marín
Senior Scientist at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science
Research Profiles
Social Media
Publications Overview
Animals are thriving with microbial life, often establishing intimate symbiotic relationships with their tiny companions. When these persist over evolutionary time, they bring about deep changes to both the hosts and their symbionts. Since his early studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and subsequent PhD at the University of Valencia (Spain), Alejandro has been exploring the impact of symbiotic interactions on the biology and evolution of hosts and symbionts at the genomic, metabolic, and morphological levels. His research deals with animal-microbe symbioses, with a focus on two animal systems with nutrient-restricted diets: aphids and blood-feeding leeches. He approaches the study of these organisms using genomic, microscopic, and evolutionary methods.
Research Projects
Team Members
- Dr. Pegah Kalatehjari | Postdoc
Publications
Rogowska-van der Molen MA, Manzano-Marín A, Postma JL, Coolen S, van Alen T, Jansen RS et al. From Eggs to Guts: Symbiotic Association of Sodalis nezarae sp. nov. with the Southern Green Shield Bug Nezara viridula. FEMS microbiology ecology. 2025 Mar 4;101(3):fiaf017. Epub 2025 Feb 12. doi: 10.1101/2024.10.18.619066, 10.1093/femsec/fiaf017
Willemsen A, Manzano-Marín A, Horn M. Novel high-quality amoeba genomes reveal widespread codon usage mismatch between giant viruses and their hosts. Genome Biology and Evolution. 2025 Jan 6;17(1):evae271. doi: 10.1101/2024.09.23.614596, 10.1093/gbe/evae271
Jousselin E, d’acier AC, Clamens AL, Galan M, Cruaud C, Barbe V et al. Discordance between mitochondrial, nuclear, and symbiont genomes in aphid phylogenetics: who is telling the truth? Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 2024 Aug 26;201(4):zlae098. doi: 10.1101/2024.04.12.589189, 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae098
Sosa-Jiménez VM, Kvist S, Manzano-Marín A, Oceguera-Figueroa A. Discovery of a novel symbiotic lineage associated with a hematophagous leech from the genus Haementeria. Microbiology Spectrum. 2024 Jun 6;12:e04286-23. doi: 10.1101/2023.12.21.572949, 10.1128/spectrum.04286-23
Manzano-Marín A, Kvist S, Oceguera-Figueroa A. Evolution of an Alternative Genetic Code in the Providencia Symbiont of the Hematophagous Leech Haementeria acuecueyetzin. Genome Biology and Evolution. 2023 Sept 10;15(9):evad164. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evad164