Raul Gonzalez Pech

Courses

TBD

Research Interests

I am interested in invertebrate-microbe symbioses, their evolution and responses to environmental fluctuations. I mostly focus on the microbial partners, looking at how symbiosis contributes to changes in their genomes and diversification. I work mostly with coral-algal symbioses but currently incorporating microbiome analysis as well. I am also in the process to expand to other symbiotic invertebrates. My research takes advantage of all the information that can be obtained from genomics and other omics approaches, which in turn demands the implementation of bioinformatics tools for data analysis and interpretation.

Selected Publications

Lera-Lozano D, Ruiz Toquica JS, Kratman SA, Holt MW, McIntyre CA, Jones E, Lopez-Victoria M, Ritchie K, Medina M & González-Pech RA. (2025). Genomic potential of crustose coralline algae-associated bacteria for the biosynthesis of novel antimicrobials. Microbial Genomics 11 (7): 001456.

González-Pech RA, Li VY, Garcia V, Boville E, Mammone M, Kitano H, Ritchie KB & Medina M. (2024). The evolution, assembly, and dynamics of marine holobionts. Annual Review of Marine Science 16: 1.

González-Pech RA, Shepherd J, Fuller ZL, LaJeunesse TC & Parkinson JE. (2024). The genome of a giant clam zooxanthella (Cladocopium infistulum) offers few clues to adaptation as an extracellular symbiont with high thermotolerance. BMC Genomics 25: 914.

González-Pech RA, Hughes DJ, Strudwick P, Lewis BM, Booth DJ, Figueira WF, Brigitte Sommer B, Suggett DJ & Matthews J. (2022). Physiological factors facilitating the persistence of Pocillopora aliciae and Plesiastrea versipora in temperate reefs of Southeastern Australia under ocean warming. Coral Reefs 41: 1239-53.

González-Pech RA, Stephens TG, Chen Y, Mohamed AR, Cheng Y, Shah S, Dougan KE, Fortuin MDA, Lagorce R, Burt DW, Bhattacharya D, Ragan MA & Chan CX. (2021). Comparison of 15 dinoflagellate genomes reveal extensive sequence and structural divergence in family Symbiodiniaceae and genus Symbiodinium. BMC Biology 19: 73.

González-Pech RA, Bhattacharya D, Ragan MA & Chan CX. (2019). Genome evolution of coral reef symbionts as intracellular residents. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 34 (9): 799-80.

Liu H, Stephens TG, González-Pech RA, Beltran VH, Lapeyre B, Bongaerts P, Cooke I, Aranda M, Bourne DG, Forêt S, Miller DJ, van Oppen MJ, Voolstra CR, Ragan MA & Chan CX. (2018). Symbiodinium genomes reveal adaptive evolution of functions related to coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Communications Biology 1, 95.

González-Pech RA, Ragan MA & Chan CX. (2017). Signatures of adaptation and symbiosis in genomes and transcriptomes of Symbiodinium. Scientific Reports 7 (1), 15021.

González-Pech RA, Vargas S, Francis WR & Wörheide G. (2017). Transcriptomic resilience of the Montipora digitata holobiont to low pH. Frontiers in Marine Science 4, 403.

Erwin PM, López-Legentil S, González-Pech RA & Turon X (2012) A specific mix of generalists: bacterial symbionts in Mediterranean Ircinia spp. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 79 (3): 619-37.

Complete list at: Google Scholar

Please see faculty member’s CV or website for a complete list of publications and additional information.