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Isabel Gordo Lab

Evolutionary Biology

Isabel Gordo Lab

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Isabel Gordo

Group Leader

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Evolutionary Biology

The capacity of bacteria to adapt to novel environments is astonishing. Everyday billions of mutations occur in the collection of bacteria that colonize the intestine of a human. These microbes are known as the gut microbiota. The Evolutionary Biology Lab is interested in understanding evolution of the bacteria that inhabit the species rich ecosystem inhabiting the gut. We focus on the intrahost evolution of focal bacteria strains that are typical colonizers of the gut microbiota of mammals. The research group combines theoretical models, namely models of evolutionary genetics, and empirical work, namely experimental evolution in vivo. We use these methods to quantify the tempo and mode of bacterial evolution in the intestine of immune-competent and immune-compromised hosts. Overall, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of the major evolutionary forces that shape variation in bacterial populations colonizing the gut microbiota ecosystem.

Funders

Microbiota Evolution

We study the process of bacteria adaptation, driven by mutation or horizontal gene transfer, in the context of ecosystems, specifically the gut microbiota, in health and in disease. We use laboratory mice, which are models for diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and obesity, and focus on the bacteria species Escherichia coli, which is a common species colonizing the mammalian gut.

Theoretical modelling

We develop theoretical models of adaptative evolution and test those models against genomic and phenotypic data obtained from experimentally adapted bacterial populations.

Antibiotic Resistance

We quantify the fitness costs of specific antibiotic resistance mechanisms in the context of the gut microbiota, and study which mutations are responsible for compensating for the cost of antibiotic resistances.

2023-2028: “Evolution in the gut in health and disease”, ERC Advanced Grant ERC-2022-ADG 101096203

Barreto HC, I. Gordo. (2023) Intrahost evolution of the gut microbiota. Nat Rev Microbiol https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-023-00890-6

Frazão N, A. Konrad, M Amicone, E Seixas, D Güleresi, M Lässig, and I Gordo (2022) Two modes of evolution shape bacterial strain diversity in the mammalian gut for thousands of generations. Nature Communications13, 5604.

Cardoso LL, Durão P, Amicone M, Gordo I (2020) Dysbiosis individualizes the fitness effect of antibiotic resistance in the mammalian gut. Nature Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1235-1

Moura-de-Sousa J, Balbontin R, Durão P, I Gordo (2017) Multi-drug Resistant Bacteria Compensate for the Epistasis between Resistances. PLoS Biology 15 (4), e2001741.

Barroso-Batista J, Demengeot J, Xavier KB, I Gordo (2015) Adaptive immunity increases the pace and predictability of evolutionary change in commensal gut bacteria. Nature Communications. 6:8945. (Winner of the Gilbert S. Omenn Prize 2015)

Barroso-Batista J, Sousa A, Lourenço M, Bergman M-L, Sobral D, Demengeot J, Xavier KB, I Gordo (2014) The First Steps of Adaptation of Escherichia coli to the Gut Are Dominated by Soft Sweeps. PLoS Genetics10(3): e1004182. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1004182. (Paper won the PloS Genetics Research Prize 2015)

Miskinyte M, A Sousa, R Ramiro, JA. Moura de Sousa, J Kotlinowskie, I Caramalho, S Magalhães, M Soares and I Gordo (2013) The genetic basis of Escherichia coli pathoadaptation to macrophages. PloS Pathogens. 9 (12), e1003802. (Highlighted in Faculty 1000)

Sousa A., Magalhães S and I Gordo Cost of antibiotic resistance and the geometry of adaptation (2012). Molecular Biology and Evolution 29(5):1417-28.

Trindade S, Sousa A, Xavier KB, Dionisio F, Ferreira MG and I Gordo (2009) Positive epistasis drives the acquisition of multidrug resistance, Plos Genetics 5(7):e1000578.

Perfeito L, L. Fernandes, C. Mota and I Gordo (2007) Adaptive mutations in bacteria: high rate and small effects. Science 317:813-15. (Highlighted in Nature)

A complete list of publications can be found here.

SELECTED HONORS

2020: Vice-Chair of ERC panel LS8

2020: Elected Member of the European Academy of Microbiology

2019: Director of the Postdoctoral Programme Biology by Numbers

2018: Deputy Director for Science, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência

2017: Elected Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization – EMBO

2017: Council Member of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health

2016: Non-North American Vice-President of the Society for the Study of Evolution

2016: Panel Member of the ERC Grants evaluation – ERC-2016-CoG – LS8

2014: Panel Member of the ERC Grants evaluation – ERC-2014-CoG – LS8

2014: Founder and President of the Portuguese Society for Evolutionary Biology