Alejandra Rodriguez Verdugo
Assistant Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
School of Biological Sciences
School of Biological Sciences
Ph.D., University of California Irvine, 2014, Biological Sciences
University of California, Irvine
321 Steinhaus Hall
Mail Code: 2525
Irvine, CA 92697
321 Steinhaus Hall
Mail Code: 2525
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
microbial evolution, community ecology, experimental evolution, single-cell biology
Websites
Academic Distinctions
2017 MBE Best Student Paper Award 2016
2016-2018 EMBO Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellowship
2015-2018 Adaptation to a Changing Environment (ACE) Postdoctoral Fellowship
2014 Dr. William F. Holcomb Scholarship
2013 Miguel Velez Scholarship
2012 Chateaubriand Fellowship
2009-2014 UC MEXUS-CONACYT Doctoral Fellowships for Mexican Students
2016-2018 EMBO Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellowship
2015-2018 Adaptation to a Changing Environment (ACE) Postdoctoral Fellowship
2014 Dr. William F. Holcomb Scholarship
2013 Miguel Velez Scholarship
2012 Chateaubriand Fellowship
2009-2014 UC MEXUS-CONACYT Doctoral Fellowships for Mexican Students
Appointments
2015-2018 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Research Abstract
Our lab investigates how interactions between species and their environment shape how microbial communities work. Our ultimate goal is to predict how microbial communities respond to environmental change by gaining general insights into the interplay between ecological and evolutionary dynamics. To achieve this goal, we combine diverse approaches such as experimental evolution of synthetic communities, whole genome sequencing, single-cell physiology and mathematical modelling.
Publications
Rodríguez-Verdugo A., C. Vulin and M. Ackermann. The rate of environmental fluctuations shapes ecological dynamics in a two-species microbial system. Ecology Letters. 22:838-846
Csillery K., A.Rodríguez-Verdugo, C. Rellstab, and F. Guillaume. 2018. Detecting the genomic signal of polygenic adaptation and the role of epistasis in evolution.Molecular Ecology. 27:606-612
A. González-González,S.M. Hug,A. Rodríguez-Verdugo, J.S. Patel and B.S. Gaut. 2017 Adaptive mutations in RNA polymerase and the transcriptional terminator Rho have similar effects on Escherichia coligene expression. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 34(11):2839-2855
Rodríguez-Verdugo, A., J. Buckley, and J. Stapley. 2017. The genomic basis of eco-evolutionary dynamics. Molecular Ecology.26:1456-1464
Rodríguez-Verdugo A., O. Tenaillon, and B.S. Gaut. 2016. First-step mutations during adaptation restore the expression of hundreds of genes.Molecular Biology and Evolution. 33(1):25-39
Rodríguez-Verdugo A., D. Carrillo-Cisneros, A. Gonzalez-Gonzalez, B. S. Gaut, and A. F. Bennett. 2014. Different trade-offs result from alternate genetic adaptations to a common environment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Stated of America.111: 12121-12126
Achaz G., A. Rodríguez-Verdugo, B.S. Gaut, and O. Tenaillon. 2014. The reproducibility of adaptation in the light of experimental evolution with whole genome sequencing. In: Landy C. R. and N. Aubin-Horth, editors. Ecological Genomics: Ecology and the Evolution of Genes and Genomes. Netherlands: Springer. p211-231. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-7347-9_11
Rodríguez-Verdugo A., B.S. Gaut, and O. Tenaillon. 2013. Evolution of Escherichia colirifampicin resistance in an antibiotic-free environment during thermal stress. BMC Evolutionary Biology.13:50. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-50
Tenaillon O., A. Rodríguez-Verdugo, R.L. Gaut, P. McDonald, A.F. Bennett, A.D. Long, and B.S. Gaut. 2012. The molecular diversity of adaptive convergence. Science.335: 457-461
Rodríguez-Verdugo A., V. Souza, L.E. Eguiarte, and A.E. Escalante. 2012. Diversity across seasons of culturable Pseudomonasfrom a dessication lagoon in Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico. International Journal of Microbiology. doi:10.1155/2012/201389
Cerritos R., L.E. Eguiarte, M. Avitia, J. Siefert, M. Travisano, A. Rodríguez-Verdugo, and V. Souza. 2011. Diversity of culturable thermo-resistant aquatic bacteria along an environmental gradient in Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, México. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. 99: 303-318.
Escalante A.E., J. Caballero-Mellado, L. Martínez-Aguila, A. Rodríguez-Verdugo, A. González-González, J. Toribio-Jiménez, and V. Souza. 2009. Pseudomonas cuatrocienegasensissp. nov., isolated from an evaporating lagoon in the Cuatro Ciénegas valley in Coahuila, México. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 59: 1416-1420
Csillery K., A.Rodríguez-Verdugo, C. Rellstab, and F. Guillaume. 2018. Detecting the genomic signal of polygenic adaptation and the role of epistasis in evolution.Molecular Ecology. 27:606-612
A. González-González,S.M. Hug,A. Rodríguez-Verdugo, J.S. Patel and B.S. Gaut. 2017 Adaptive mutations in RNA polymerase and the transcriptional terminator Rho have similar effects on Escherichia coligene expression. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 34(11):2839-2855
Rodríguez-Verdugo, A., J. Buckley, and J. Stapley. 2017. The genomic basis of eco-evolutionary dynamics. Molecular Ecology.26:1456-1464
Rodríguez-Verdugo A., O. Tenaillon, and B.S. Gaut. 2016. First-step mutations during adaptation restore the expression of hundreds of genes.Molecular Biology and Evolution. 33(1):25-39
Rodríguez-Verdugo A., D. Carrillo-Cisneros, A. Gonzalez-Gonzalez, B. S. Gaut, and A. F. Bennett. 2014. Different trade-offs result from alternate genetic adaptations to a common environment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Stated of America.111: 12121-12126
Achaz G., A. Rodríguez-Verdugo, B.S. Gaut, and O. Tenaillon. 2014. The reproducibility of adaptation in the light of experimental evolution with whole genome sequencing. In: Landy C. R. and N. Aubin-Horth, editors. Ecological Genomics: Ecology and the Evolution of Genes and Genomes. Netherlands: Springer. p211-231. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-7347-9_11
Rodríguez-Verdugo A., B.S. Gaut, and O. Tenaillon. 2013. Evolution of Escherichia colirifampicin resistance in an antibiotic-free environment during thermal stress. BMC Evolutionary Biology.13:50. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-50
Tenaillon O., A. Rodríguez-Verdugo, R.L. Gaut, P. McDonald, A.F. Bennett, A.D. Long, and B.S. Gaut. 2012. The molecular diversity of adaptive convergence. Science.335: 457-461
Rodríguez-Verdugo A., V. Souza, L.E. Eguiarte, and A.E. Escalante. 2012. Diversity across seasons of culturable Pseudomonasfrom a dessication lagoon in Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico. International Journal of Microbiology. doi:10.1155/2012/201389
Cerritos R., L.E. Eguiarte, M. Avitia, J. Siefert, M. Travisano, A. Rodríguez-Verdugo, and V. Souza. 2011. Diversity of culturable thermo-resistant aquatic bacteria along an environmental gradient in Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, México. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. 99: 303-318.
Escalante A.E., J. Caballero-Mellado, L. Martínez-Aguila, A. Rodríguez-Verdugo, A. González-González, J. Toribio-Jiménez, and V. Souza. 2009. Pseudomonas cuatrocienegasensissp. nov., isolated from an evaporating lagoon in the Cuatro Ciénegas valley in Coahuila, México. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 59: 1416-1420
Professional Societies
Society for the Study of Evolution
Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=6571
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=6571
Last updated
04/30/2019
04/30/2019