Patricia Montero-Morales

Research interests

Photorhabdus is a genus of entomopathogenic bacteria that are symbiotically associated to Heterorhabditis nematodes. An intriguing characteristic of this bacterial genus is that most of its species are bioluminescent. Although this trait was discovered more than three decades ago already, its biological relevance remains still unclear. My projects therefore aims at investigating the potential of this trait to regulate different physiological and ecologically processes to understand its evolutive and ecological significance.