David Peris, researcher in the Systems Biology on Yeasts of Biotechnological Interest Group, at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA), an institute of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), has been awarded the I Maria Blasco Prize for the best scientific article of the year 2023 for his work Macroevolutionary diversity of traits and genomes in the model yeast genus Saccharomyces, published in Nature Communications. This award aims to recognize the work of Spanish research personnel in Norway.
Dr. Peris and his team have mapped the localities, host organisms and substrates or food sources, along with the evolutionary history and kinship relationships of approximately 1,800 yeast strains Saccharomyces, covering the entire genus, with unprecedented breadth and depth. They generated and analyzed complete genome sequences of 163 strains and cataloged the phenotypic traits of 128 phylogenetically diverse strains, quantifying diversity within and between species and populations, various types of reticulated evolution, such as hybridization, and the influence of ecology on evolution. of these eukaryotic microorganisms.
The study has had a great impact on basic research, as it is one of the most complete analyzes to date of Saccharomyces genomics. “The work we have done allows us to take this genus as a model to understand biodiversity, population structure and macroevolutionary processes in microbial eukaryotes,” explains Dr. Peris.
Access the full article at this link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36139-2
The María Blasco award, promoted by the Association of Spanish Researchers in Norway.
With the aim of disseminating the research carried out by people of Spanish nationality in Norway and promoting the international visibility of their work, the association of Spanish Researchers in Norway (SFNO/IENO), with the support of the Spanish Embassy in Norway , announced in January the I Maria Blasco Prize for the best scientific article published by a Spanish researcher in Norway during the year 2023.
The reward for this award is the payment of the expenses derived from attending a conference to give visibility to their work, with a maximum cost of 15,000 Norwegian crowns.
About David Peris
David Peris obtained his doctorate in Biotechnology from the University of Valencia in 2012. Since 2021 he has been Principal Researcher at the University of Oslo (Norway) where he created the first headquarters of FunGIALab (Fungal Genomics and Industrial Applications Lab). In 2022 he obtained the recognition of Distinguished Researcher and joined IATA where in 2023 he opened the second FunGIALab headquarters within the SBYBI group. Throughout his career, he has led different research projects funded within the H2020 framework of the European Commission and nationals.
PloidYeast, project funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN); and Sacchar2Omics, financed by the Generalitat Valenciana (GVA), within the framework of the GenT CIDEGENT plan, are its most recent projects, which try to exploit and advance the results obtained in the award-winning scientific article.
Dr. Peris has extensive experience in comparative genomics, fungal evolution, high-throughput microbial phenotyping, bioinformatics and biotechnological applications.