Laura Núñez Pons

I conducted my PhD at the University of Barcelona, Spain (November 2012) on chemical ecology, defensive metabolites and bioactive natural products from Antarctic sponges, soft corals and ascidians. Part of my Thesis was performed in Italy (Marine Natural Products Lab at ICB-CNR, Pozzuoli, Napoli) and Antarctica (field work), among other locations. After my PhD I decided I wanted to “warm up” and also desired to expand the topic of my research towards the fascinating and complex coral reef ecosystems. I intend to apply molecular biology, microscopy and chemo-analytical tools to study the functional role of microbial symbiosis in holobiont physiology, enviromental adaptations and in ecological interactions in coral reefs. Currently I am working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Gates Lab. in the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) University of Hawai'i at Manöa. International collaborations have additionally established the initiation of several projects on the fields of : coral bleaching using Aiptasia pulchella as model organism; the description of the sponge fauna in Kane’ohe Bay through morphological and barcoding taxonomy; ecological studies with bioeroding sponge species, their coral substrata, and their microbial associated communities; and also the description of a new emerging disease found in common Antarctic sea stars.

My research interests include the study of the biological and ecological bases controlling the dynamics of the live rock forming coral reef frameworks, initiating from the molecular comprehension of the processes that take place. I am very interested on approaching the participation of the symbiotic microbiome (Bacteria, Archaea, Fungi, Symbiodinium) in the dynamics and health of reef communities to understand the role of the associated microorganism partners, by evaluating: microbial community shifts under different enviromental and competitive conditions (including Climate Change mimicking), production of allelochemicals (chemical defenses, and signaling compounds in general by host and/or symbionts), and involvement of microorganisms in the photobiology (photoprotection, photosynthetic metabolic exchange) and physiology (including calcification and decalcification – bioerosion) of relevant reef holobionts..