José Penadés is a microbiologist who studies the emergence and evolution of clinically relevant bacteria. His group is recognised for its understanding of how bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) and other mobile genetic elements mobilise bacterial chromosomal genes, driving bacterial evolution. He discovered the most powerful mode of bacteriophage-mediated gene transfer described to date: lateral transduction. He demonstrated that through this mechanism the mobility of bacterial chromosomes exceeds that of DNA elements classically considered mobile.
He also discovered and characterised the mechanism of transfer of a widespread and clinically important family of genetic elements found in diverse bacterial pathogens: the Phage-Inducible Chromosomal Islands (PICIs). Importantly, his lab revealed that PICIs engage in a novel and more versatile mechanism of gene transfer, related to but different from lateral transduction, which he named lateral cotransduction. These findings deepen our understanding of genetic mobility and its implications for bacterial adaptation and virulence.
Penadés is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a member of the European Academy of Microbiology and the European Molecular Biology Organisation.
Professional position
- Professor of Microbiology, Centre for Bacterial Resistance Biology, Imperial College London
Subject groups
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Molecules of Life
Biochemistry and molecular biology, Molecular microbiology
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Cell Biology
General microbiology (incl bacteriology and virology), Genetics (excluding population genetics)
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Patterns in Populations
Evolution
