Group Leader
Aileen Berasategui
Bio
My lab focuses on the evolution of tripartite interactions among insects, plants, and microbes. We are particularly interested in microbes with dual lifestyles, acting both as plant pathogens and as insect mutualists.
We combine natural history observations and bioassays with advanced microscopy and multi-omic approaches, alongside molecular and functional genetics. Through this multidisciplinary lens, we investigate how these interactions evolve, the genetic basis of host infection, specialization, and symbiosis, and how transitions between pathogenic and mutualistic lifestyles shape genome evolution in both microbes and their associated hosts.
Job history
-
2026 -
Group Leader
The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, UK -
2023 - 2026
Assistant Professor
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands -
2021 - 2023
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany -
2017 - 2021
Postdoctoral Fellow
Emory University, Atlanta, USA -
2012 - 2017
PhD
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
