Castresana Lab
Animal Biodiversity and Evolution Program 		Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF)
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Jose Castresana
CSIC Research Scientist
Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF)
Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37
08003 Barcelona, Spain


Research Interests

Our main research goal is the application of genomic and bioinformatic analyses to the study and conservation of animal biodiversity. Using next-generation sequencing techniques and advanced bioinformatic tools, we are inferring the population structure, kinship relationships, connectivity patterns, and genomic health in some species of great conservation importance, such as the Pyrenean desman. We also use these modern methodologies to study the population divergence and the speciation process in various species complexes of small mammals in order to obtain a better description of our biological diversity, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula. Finally, we develop free software when necessary to implement novel methods related to the analysis of sequences and genotypes. We are therefore working on the following topics:
  • Conservation Genomics
  • Population Genomics and Speciation
  • Bioinformatics


Selected Publications
  • Escoda, L., and Castresana, J. (2021). The genome of the Pyrenean desman and the effects of bottlenecks and inbreeding on the genomic landscape of an endangered species. Evolutionary Applications doi:10.1111/eva.13249.
    [abstract]
  • Balmori-de la Puente, A., Nores, C., Román, J., Fernández-González, A., Aymerich, P., Gosálbez, J., Escoda, L., and Castresana, J. (2019). Size increase without genetic divergence in the Eurasian water shrew Neomys fodiens. Scientific Reports 9, 17375.
    [abstract]
  • Escoda, L., Fernández-González, A., and Castresana, J. (2019). Quantitative analysis of connectivity in populations of a semi-aquatic mammal using kinship categories and network assortativity. Molecular Ecology Resources 19, 310-326.
    [abstract] [preprint]
  • Hawlitschek, O., Fernández-González, A., Balmori-de la Puente, A., and Castresana, J. (2018). A pipeline for metabarcoding and diet analysis from fecal samples developed for a small semi-aquatic mammal. PLOS ONE 13, e0201763.
    [abstract]
  • Escoda, L., González-Esteban, J., Gómez, A., and Castresana, J. (2017). Using relatedness networks to infer contemporary dispersal: application to the endangered mammal Galemys pyrenaicus. Molecular Ecology 26, 3343-3357.
    [abstract] [preprint]

Last update: May 2021