belloch@iata.csic.es

I am a MSc (1990) in Biological Sciences (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and PhD (1999) in Microbiology from the Valencia. My first job position was at the Spanish Type Culture Collection (CECT, University of Valencia), initially as yeast curator and later as bacteria curator. My firs postdoc was at the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ, Germany) and my second postdoc was at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC, Spain). Since 2009 I have a scientist position at the IATA-CSIC as head of the Non-conventional Yeast research group and microorganisms bank IATA-YEALI.
My research focus is in the field of Microbiology of Fermented Foods, particularly the description and characterization of yeasts involved in these fermentations, including the selection of starters for these processes from the collection of microorganisms in IATA-YEALI. I have published more than 70 articles in international journals, several book chapters and reports in technical journals. My research focus includes the application of rapid molecular biology techniques for identification of beneficial or contaminant food yeasts and the application of different genetic typing methods for differentiation of yeast strains responsible for a fermentative process. In the last years, my research projects have focused on the microbiology of fermented meat products, especially in the selection of yeast starters for the improvement of the aromatic quality of these products. The microbiology and molecular biology tools I have applied for this purpose have evolved, from classical microbiology cultivation methods for isolation of microorganisms (bacteria and fungi), to the study of the whole microbiota involved in the fermentation and its dynamics along the process, using state-of-the-art massive sequencing methods (NGS Next Generation Sequencing).