Experimental Evolution of Communities
Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM)

Clara Torres Barcelo

Clara 2015-webPostdoc withMichael Hochberg

Clara.Torres (at) univ-montp2.fr

Research interests:

I study experimental evolution in microbes and I am interested in understanding compensatory evolution, mutation rate, antibiotic resistance and host-parasite dynamics.

My current projects aim to assess the combined effect of phages and antibiotics for bacterial density control and the evolution of resistance. I use the bacterial pathogenPseudomonas aeruginosa,and a panel of antibiotics and infective phages as the experimental system.

Previous research:

I did my PhD in València (Spain) in the group of Santiago F. Elena at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Plant Biology (Polytechnic University of València-Spanish Research Council), using plant viruses as a model to address evolutionary questions. I studied molecular compensatory evolution of the plant virus TEV (Tobacco etch virus).

From the end of 2010 till 2013 I was a postdoctoral fellow with Angus Buckling and Craig MacLean at the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford (UK). I studied the evolutionary aspects of stress responses in the bacteriumP. aeruginosain the presence of antibiotics.

Publications:

  • Torres-Barceló C., Franzon B., Vasse M. and Hochberg M.E. (2016) “Long-term effects of single and combined introductions of antibiotics and bacteriophages on populations ofPseudomonas aeruginosa”.Evolutionary Applications
    doi: 10.1111/eva.12364.
  • Torres-Barceló C.and Hochberg M.E. (2016) “Evolutionary Rationale for Phages as Complements of Antibiotics”.Trends in Microbiology. Jan 16. pii: S0966-842X(15)00302-9.
  • Vasse M.,Torres-Barceló C.and Hochberg M.E. (2015) “Phage selection for bacterial cheats leads to population decline”. Proceedings B282(1818):20152207.
  • Torres-Barceló C., Kojadinovic M., Moxon R.E., MacLean R.C. (2015) “The SOS response increases bacterial fitness, but not evolvability, under a sub-lethal dose of ciprofloxacin”.Proceedings B282(1816):20150885.
  • Torres-Barceló C., Arias-Sánchez F.I., Vasse M., Ramsayer J., Kaltz O. and Hochberg M.E. (2014) “A window of opportunity to control the bacterial pathogenPseudomonas aeruginosacombining antibiotics and phages”.PLOS ONE Sep 26;9(9):e106628.
  • MacLean RC,Torres-Barceló C., Moxon R.E. (2013) “Evaluating evolutionary models of stress-induced mutagenesis in bacteria”Nature Reviews Genetics14, 221-227.F1000 Prime recommendation.
  • Torres-Barceló, C., Gabot G., Oliver A., Buckling A., MacLean R.C. (2013) “A trade-off between oxidative stress resistance and DNA repair plays a role in the evolution of elevated mutation rates in Pseudomonas aeruginosa”Proccedings of the Royal Society B280(1757):20130007.
  • Torres-Barceló, C., Daròs, J.A. and Elena, S.F. (2010). “Compensatory molecular evolution of HC-Pro, and RNA-silencing suppressor from a plant RNA virus”.Molecular Biology and Evolution27: 543-551.
  • Torres-Barceló, C., Daròs, J.A. and Elena, S.F. (2009). “HC-Pro hypo- and hypersuppressor mutants: differences in viral siRNA accumulation in vivo and siRNA binding activity in vitro”.Archives of Virology155: 251-254.
  • Torres-Barceló, C., Martín, S., Daròs, J.A. and Elena, S.F. (2008) “From hypo- to hyper-suppression: Effect of amino acid substitutions on the RNA silencing suppressor activity of Tobacco etch virus HC-Pro”.Genetics180: 1039-1049.
  • Elena, S.F., Agudelo-Romero, P., Carrasco, P., Codoñer, F.M., Martín, S.,Torres-Barceló, C.and Sanjuán, R. (2008) “Experimental evolution of plant RNA viruses”.Heredity100: 478-483.
  • García A., López-Andújar P., Rodríguez J., Montava R.,Torres-Barceló C.and  Buesa J. (2004) “Nasal immunization of mice with a rotavirus DNA vaccine that induces protective intestinal IgA antibodies”.Vaccine23(4): 489-98.

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