Metagenomics | M. Vázquez Rosas Landa

Community assembly across environmental change

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Microbial communities are extraordinarily diverse, but ecosystem function depends on only a subset of the organisms and metabolic capacities present at any given time. My research asks how environmental history, dispersal, disturbance, and species interactions determine which communities assemble, which persist, and whether independent communities converge on similar ecological functions.

I use mangrove sediments and other coastal microbial ecosystems as natural experiments because they combine strong environmental gradients with disturbance and restoration. By integrating genome-resolved metagenomics, comparative community analyses, and ecological theory, we test whether recovery requires the return of the original taxa or can emerge through alternative community configurations that rebuild equivalent functional capacities.

This work provides the ecological foundation for a broader goal: identifying general and testable rules that explain when microbial community assembly is deterministic, when it is historically contingent, and how those trajectories shape ecosystem recovery.

Ecosystem function and recovery

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Ecosystem recovery does not necessarily require the return of the original microbial community. Different taxa may reorganize after disturbance while maintaining, losing, or rebuilding the metabolic functions that support biogeochemical processes. My research examines this distinction between taxonomic recovery and functional recovery, and asks when alternative community configurations can sustain similar ecosystem functions.

Mangrove restoration provides a powerful system for testing these ideas. We compare conserved, degraded, and recovering environments across sediment depths and geographic regions to determine how microbial and viral communities, metabolic pathways, and biogeochemical functions change during restoration. Genome-resolved metagenomics allows us to connect functional potential to specific microbial populations and to investigate how mobile genetic elements and viruses may contribute to ecological adaptation and functional change.

The goal is to identify measurable signatures of functional recovery that go beyond taxonomic similarity. By understanding which functions are restored, which organisms carry them, and how robust those functions are across alternative community states, we can develop a more mechanistic framework for evaluating ecosystem restoration and resilience.

Prediction & Microbiome Engineering

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A central goal of my research is to move from describing microbial diversity toward understanding the principles that make microbial community trajectories predictable.

I am interested in how genomic potential, ecological interactions, environmental filtering, disturbance, and community history combine to determine whether microbial functions emerge, persist, recover, or reorganize. I use environmental microbiomes as complex natural systems in which these processes can be studied across spatial, temporal, and ecological gradients.

This research integrates genome-resolved metagenomics, comparative genomics, ecological modeling, bioinformatics, and experimental approaches. We also develop computational tools and genomic resources that make it possible to characterize previously undescribed microbial and viral diversity and connect that diversity to ecological function.

In the longer term, I aim to test whether principles derived from natural microbial communities can be used to predict community responses and guide the design or selection of microbiomes with desired functions. Rather than treating microbiome engineering as a purely technological problem, my approach begins with ecological and evolutionary mechanisms: understanding what allows a community and its functions to assemble and remain stable before attempting to intervene.

Impact of seasonal flooding and hydrological connectivity loss on microbial community dynamics in mangrove sediments of the southern Gulf of Mexico

Mon, 05 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Exploring novel alkane-degradation pathways in uncultured bacteria from the North Atlantic Ocean

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000