Jonatan Martin Rodriguez

My field of expertise is bacterial physiology and I am a recognized expert in
the biology of bacteria of the genus Shewanella. My research lines focus 
on three inter-related areas:
1-Respiration-induced biofilm formation (RIBF).
2-Genomics of Shewanella spp.
3-Antibiotic resistance from a One-Health perspective.

Grants after PhD completion:

2022 Karolinska Institutet Junior Investigator Award for SDG-related 
research.
2022 Längmanska Kulturfonden: BA22-0537 (main applicant).
2021 ERA-NET Project /PARRTAE/ - Probing Antibiotic Residues and Resistance
Transfer in Aquatic Environments (Reference Number: ID 351, participating
researcher).
2020 Karolinska Institutet Research Foundation: 2020‐01556 (main
applicant).
2020 Hans Dahlbergs Stiftelse (main applicant).
2020 Längmanska Kulturfonden: BA20-0736 (main applicant).
2019 Anna and Gunnar Vidfelts Fond for Biological Research: 2019-051 (main
applicant).
2019 Lars Hiertas Minne Stiftelse: FO19-0293 (main applicant).
2019 Längmanska Kulturfonden: BA19-1128 (main applicant).
2018 Lars Hiertas Minne Stiftelse: FO2018-0196 (main applicant).
2018 Hans Dahlbergs Stiftelse (main applicant).
2018 Karolinska Instituet Research Foundation Grant: FS-2018:0007 (main
applicant).
2016 FEMS Research grant: RG-2015-0084 (main applicant).
Commissions of trust:
2022 Guest Editor for Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology,  
Rising Stars in Biofilms 2022.
2020 Curator for the Shewanella spp. MLST database available at PubMLST 
https://pubmlst.org/shewanella/
2017 Guest Editor for Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, special issue
on ‘Recent advances in anti-biofilm strategies’.
Review board member of Frontiers in Microbiology, Frontiers in Cellular
and Infection Microbiology, and Microorganisms

2016 - PhD, Biomedical Sciences. University of La Laguna (Spain).
2012 - MSc Biotechnology. University of La Laguna (Spain).
2011 - MSc Oceanography. University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain).
2008 - BSc + MSc Industrial Engineering, esp. Chemistry. University of Las
Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain).

Biofilm physiology: Respiration-induced biofilm formation (RIBF)
My research focuses on the association between respiration phenomena and
bacterial colonization of biotic and abiotic substrata through biofilm
formation. I try to unravel the physiological and signalling mechanisms
linking these two prima facie unrelated processes.
In the marine indigenous bacterium and emerging pathogen /Shewanella algae/,
my research has shown a strain-specific association between respiration of
alternative electron acceptors and biofilm formation, and I have demonstrated
that it is the anaerobic reduction of these compounds that triggers
downstream events leading to surface colonization. Our efforts are now
focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating this response,
with a special focus on taxis and c-di-GMP signaling.
I have expanded this respiration-biofilm tandem interplay to other bacterial
models (uropathogenic Escherichia coli), where I have been able to find 
associations with implications in infectivity. I currently explore the
role of respiratory nitrate utilization in biofilm-related processes in
other E. coli pathotypes. 
Genomics
New times bring new technologies, and whole genome sequencing has
revolutionized many ‘gold standards’ in classic microbiology. I am
interested in gaining a deeper understanding on S. algae/Shewanella spp. diversity and 
evolution through genome sequence analysis to correlate genomic composition
with phenotypic diversity and niche occupation. While doing so, we are also making 
efforts to shed light on the taxonomy of Shewanella spp. We plan to apply similar approaches to gain a better understanding on the colonization of organ niches by distinct strains of human-associated microorganisms. 
Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistance is a global threat, perhaps one of the most important
challenges for humankind in the coming decades. I am interested in the
environmental dimension of this phenomenon and the transmission of antibiotic
resistance determinants from environmental to pathogenic bacteria. I
currently lead projects that interrogate host specificity of mobile elements
in Shewanella spp. and Vibrio spp. in aquatic environments, both in the 
water column and in sediments. Efforts are also devoted to determining levels
of antibiotic residues and relating them to the presence and transmission of
mobile genetic elements including antibiotic resistance determinants.

-Supervision of diverse BSc and MSc theses in Sweden and abroad.
-Co-supervision of 2 PhD candidates (ongoing).
>200 h of teaching (Microbiology) at different levels (BSc, MSc, PhD courses,
laboratory courses, etc.), including opponent in B. Sc. and M. Sc. programs
in Sweden and abroad.
-8 weeks of pedagogical training in Sweden.
-Accredited competence as Senior Lecturer (Assoc. Prof.) by the National
Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation of Spain (approximately
equivalent to Docentur).