Dr Ana Riesgo Gil

Grants

Venom Evolution in Nemerteans: Connecting Functional Morphology, Gene Expression and Proteome through Spatial Omics
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: H2020 Excellent Science
Total value £179,947.01 (to Museum £179,947.01)
Dates: 2019 - 2021

DNA barcoding as a tool to detect sponge bio-invasion in Brazilian harbours
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
Total value £18,240 (to Museum £18,240)
Dates: 2017 - 2018

A laboratory culture of Tethya wilhelma - an ideal testbed for sponge physiology,
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: Royal Society
Total value £10,699 (to Museum £10,699)
Dates: 2017 - 2018

Genetic diversity of corals and sponges in Colombia as a tool for conservation’
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
Total value £50,400 (to Museum £50,400)
Dates: 2017 - 2018

SponGES - Deep-sea Sponge Grounds Ecosystems of the North Atlantic: an integrated approach towards their preservation and sustainable exploitation’
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: H2020 Societal Challenges
Total value £9,994,302.75 (to Museum £484,685)
Dates: 2016 - 2020

Early evolution of multicellular sponges - a bioenergetic and bio-fluid mechanical approach for understanding evolutionary adaptation to animal filter-feeding in the sea
Role: Principal investigatorRiesgo A, Wörheide G, Nielsen C, Fenchel T, Erik Meyer K, H. Walter J, T. Eriksen N, Funch P, Canfield D, Ulrik Riisgård H
Funding: Villum Foundation
Dates: 2015 - 2019

Venom Evolution in Nemerteans: Connecting Functional Morphology, Gene Expression and Proteome through Spatial Omics
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: H2020 Excellent Science
Total value £179,947.01 (to Museum £179,947.01)
Dates: 2019 - 2021

Publications

Plese B, Kenny NJ, Rossi ME, Cárdenas P, Schuster A, Taboada S, Koutsouveli V, Riesgo A (2021) Mitochondrial evolution in the Demospongiae (Porifera): Phylogeny, divergence time, and genome biology. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 155 : 107011 - 107011. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.107011

Riesgo A, Taboada S, Pérez-Portela R, Melis P, Xavier JR, Blasco G, López-Legentil S (2019) Genetic diversity, connectivity and gene flow along the distribution of the emblematic Atlanto-Mediterranean sponge Petrosia ficiformis (Haplosclerida, Demospongiae). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 19 (1) : doi: 10.1186/s12862-018-1343-6

Koutsouveli V, Taboada S, Moles J, Cristobo J, Ríos P, Bertran A, Solà J, Avila C, Riesgo A (null) Insights into the reproduction of some Antarctic dendroceratid, poecilosclerid, and haplosclerid demosponges. PLOS ONE, 13 (2) : e0192267 - e0192267. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192267

Kenny NJ, de Goeij JM, de Bakker DM, Whalen CG, Berezikov E, Riesgo A (2018) Towards the identification of ancestrally shared regenerative mechanisms across the Metazoa: A Transcriptomic case study in the Demosponge Halisarca caerulea. Marine Genomics, 37 : 135 - 147. doi: 10.1016/j.margen.2017.11.001

Burguera D, Marquez Y, Racioppi C, Permanyer J, Torres-Méndez A, Esposito R, Albuixech-Crespo B, Fanlo L, D’Agostino Y, Gohr A, Navas-Perez E, Riesgo A, Cuomo C, Benvenuto G, Christiaen LA, Martí E, D’Aniello S, Spagnuolo A, Ristoratore F, Arnone MI, Garcia-Fernàndez J, Irimia M (null) Evolutionary recruitment of flexible Esrp-dependent splicing programs into diverse embryonic morphogenetic processes. Nature Communications, 8 (1) : doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01961-y

Riesgo A, Burke EA, Laumer C, Giribet G (2017) Genetic variation and geographic differentiation in the marine triclad Bdelloura candida (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Maricola), ectocommensal on the American horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus. Marine Biology, 164 (5) : doi: 10.1007/s00227-017-3132-y

Álvarez-Campos P, Giribet G, San Martín G, Rouse GW, Riesgo A (2017) Straightening the striped chaos: systematics and evolution of Trypanosyllis and the case of its pseudocryptic type species Trypanosyllis krohnii (Annelida, Syllidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 179 (3) : 492 - 540. doi: 10.1111/zoj.12443

Kenny NJ, de Goeij JM, de Bakker DM, Whalen CG, Berezikov E, Riesgo A (2017) Ancestrally Shared Regenerative Mechanisms Across the Metazoa: A Transcriptomic Case Study in the Demosponge Halisarca caerulea. bioRxiv, 160689 - 160689. doi: 10.1101/160689

Álvarez-Campos P, Giribet G, Riesgo A (2017) The Syllis gracilis species complex: A molecular approach to a difficult taxonomic problem (Annelida, Syllidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 109 : 138 - 150. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.036

MELIS P, RIESGO ANA, TABOADA S, MANCONI R (null) Coping with brackish water: A new species of cave-dwelling Protosuberites Porifera: Demospongiae: Suberitidae) from the Western Mediterranean and a first contribution to the phylogenetic relationships within the genus. Zootaxa, 4208 (4) : 349 - 349. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4208.4.3

Riesgo A, Pérez-Portela R, Pita L, Blasco G, Erwin PM, López-Legentil S (2016) Population structure and connectivity in the Mediterranean sponge Ircinia fasciculata are affected by mass mortalities and hybridization. Heredity, 117 (6) : 427 - 439. doi: 10.1038/hdy.2016.41

Pérez-Portela R, Cerro-Gálvez E, Taboada S, Tidu C, Campillo-Campbell C, Mora J, Riesgo A (2016) Lonely populations in the deep: genetic structure of red gorgonians at the heads of submarine canyons in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. Coral Reefs, 35 (3) : 1013 - 1026. doi: 10.1007/s00338-016-1431-2

Gold DA, Grabenstatter J, de Mendoza A, Riesgo A, Ruiz-Trillo I, Summons RE (2016) Sterol and genomic analyses validate the sponge biomarker hypothesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113 (10) : 2684 - 2689. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1512614113

Pérez-Portela R, Turon X, Riesgo A (2016) Characterization of the transcriptome and gene expression of four different tissues in the ecologically relevant sea urchinArbacia lixulausing RNA-seq. Molecular Ecology Resources, 16 (3) : 794 - 808. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.12500

Alvarez-Campos P, Riesgo A, Hutchings P, Martin GS (2015) The genus Syllis Savigny in Lamarck, 1818 (Annelida, Syllidae) from Australia. Molecular analysis and re-description of some poorly-known species. ZOOTAXA, 4052 (3) : 297 - 331.

Taboada S, Riesgo A, Blasco G, Solà J, Xavier JR, López-Legentil S (2015) Development of 10 microsatellite markers for the Atlanto-Mediterranean sponge Petrosia ficiformis. Conservation Genetics Resources, 7 (4) : 895 - 897. doi: 10.1007/s12686-015-0496-5

Riesgo A, Taboada S, Avila C (2015) Evolutionary patterns in Antarctic marine invertebrates: An update on molecular studies. Marine Genomics, 23 : 1 - 13. doi: 10.1016/j.margen.2015.07.005

Riesgo A, Maldonado M, López-Legentil S, Giribet G (2015) A Proposal for the Evolution of Cathepsin and Silicatein in Sponges. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 80 (5-6) : 278 - 291. doi: 10.1007/s00239-015-9682-z

Riesgo A, Taboada S, Sánchez-Vila L, Solà J, Bertran A, Avila C (null) Some Like It Fat: Comparative Ultrastructure of the Embryo in Two Demosponges of the Genus Mycale (Order Poecilosclerida) from Antarctica and the Caribbean. PLOS ONE, 10 (3) : e0118805 - e0118805. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118805

Taboada S, Riesgo A, Bas M, Arnedo MA, Cristobo J, Rouse GW, Avila C (null) Bone-Eating Worms Spread: Insights into Shallow-Water Osedax (Annelida, Siboglinidae) from Antarctic, Subantarctic, and Mediterranean Waters. PLOS ONE, 10 (11) : e0140341 - e0140341. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0140341

Álvarez-Campos P, Fernández-Leborans G, Verdes A, San Martín G, Martin D, Riesgo A (2014) The tag-along friendship: epibiotic protozoans and syllid polychaetes. Implications for the taxonomy of Syllidae (Annelida), and description of three new species ofRhabdostylaandCothurnia(Ciliophora, Peritrichia). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 172 (2) : 265 - 281. doi: 10.1111/zoj.12168

Riesgo A, Blasco G, Erwin PM, Pérez-Portela R, López-Legentil S (2014) Optimization of 14 microsatellite loci in a Mediterranean demosponge subjected to population decimation, Ircinia fasciculata. Conservation Genetics Resources, 6 (2) : 301 - 303. doi: 10.1007/s12686-013-0137-9

Riesgo A, Farrar N, Windsor PJ, Giribet G, Leys SP (2014) The Analysis of Eight Transcriptomes from All Poriferan Classes Reveals Surprising Genetic Complexity in Sponges. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 31 (5) : 1102 - 1120. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msu057

Ludeman DA, Farrar N, Riesgo A, Paps J, Leys SP (2014) Evolutionary origins of sensation in metazoans: functional evidence for a new sensory organ in sponges. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 14 (1) : doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-14-3

Riesgo A, Novo M, Sharma PP, Peterson M, Maldonado M, Giribet G (2014) Inferring the ancestral sexuality and reproductive condition in sponges (Porifera). Zoologica Scripta, 43 (1) : 101 - 117. doi: 10.1111/zsc.12031

Riesgo A, Peterson K, Richardson C, Heist T, Strehlow B, McCauley M, Cotman C, Hill M, Hill A (2014) Transcriptomic analysis of differential host gene expression upon uptake of symbionts: a case study with Symbiodinium and the major bioeroding sponge Cliona varians. BMC Genomics, 15 (1) : doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-376

Pérez‐Portela R, Riesgo A (2013) Optimizing preservation protocols to extract high‐quality RNA from different tissues of echinoderms for next‐generation sequencing. Molecular Ecology Resources, 13 (5) : 884 - 889. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.12122

Novo M, Riesgo A, Fernández-Guerra A, Giribet G (2013) Pheromone Evolution, Reproductive Genes, and Comparative Transcriptomics in Mediterranean Earthworms (Annelida, Oligochaeta, Hormogastridae). Molecular Biology and Evolution, 30 (7) : 1614 - 1629. doi: 10.1093/molbev/mst074

Hill MS, Hill AL, Lopez J, Peterson KJ, Pomponi S, Diaz MC, Thacker RW, Adamska M, Boury-Esnault N, Cárdenas P, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Danka E, De Laine B-O, Formica D, Hajdu E, Lobo-Hajdu G, Klontz S, Morrow CC, Patel J, Picton B, Pisani D, Pohlmann D, Redmond NE, Reed J, Richey S, Riesgo A, Rubin E, Russell Z, Rützler K, Sperling EA, di Stefano M, Tarver JE, Collins AG (null) Reconstruction of Family-Level Phylogenetic Relationships within Demospongiae (Porifera) Using Nuclear Encoded Housekeeping Genes. PLoS ONE, 8 (1) : e50437 - e50437. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050437

Leys SP, Riesgo A (2012) Epithelia, an Evolutionary Novelty of Metazoans. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution, 318 (6) : 438 - 447. doi: 10.1002/jez.b.21442

Novo M, Riesgo A, Roldán C, Giribet G, Díaz Cosín DJ (2012) A place for nourishment or a slaughterhouse? Elucidating the role of spermathecae in the terrestrial annelid Hormogaster elisae (Clitellata: Opisthopora: Hormogastridae). Zoomorphology, 131 (2) : 171 - 184. doi: 10.1007/s00435-012-0151-6

RIESGO ANA, PÉREZ‐PORRO AR, CARMONA S, LEYS SP, GIRIBET G (2012) Optimization of preservation and storage time of sponge tissues to obtain quality mRNA for next‐generation sequencing. Molecular Ecology Resources, 12 (2) : 312 - 322. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03097.x

Riesgo A, Andrade SCS, Sharma PP, Novo M, Pérez-Porro AR, Vahtera V, González VL, Kawauchi GY, Giribet G (2012) Comparative description of ten transcriptomes of newly sequenced invertebrates and efficiency estimation of genomic sampling in non-model taxa. Frontiers in Zoology, 9 (1) : 33 - 33. doi: 10.1186/1742-9994-9-33

Riesgo A, Villamor A, Becerro M (2011) Ultrastructure of the gametogenesis of the common Mediterranean starfish,Echinaster (Echinaster) sepositus. Invertebrate Reproduction & Development, 55 (3) : 138 - 151. doi: 10.1080/07924259.2011.558182

Riesgo A (2010) Phagocytosis of sperm by follicle cells of the carnivorous sponge Asbestopluma occidentalis (Porifera, Demospongiae). Tissue and Cell, 42 (3) : 198 - 201. doi: 10.1016/j.tice.2010.03.001

Riesgo A, Pérez-Portela R, Larissa Arroyo N (2010) Halacarid mites (Acari: Halacaridae) associated with a North Atlantic subtidal population of the kelpLaminaria ochroleuca. Journal of Natural History, 44 (11-12) : 651 - 667. doi: 10.1080/00222930903528222

Maldonado M, Riesgo A, Bucci A, tzlerb KR (2010) Revisiting silicon budgets at a tropical continental shelf: Silica standing stocks in sponges surpass those in diatoms. Limnology and Oceanography, 55 (5) : 2001 - 2010. doi: 10.4319/lo.2010.55.5.2001

Maldonado M, Riesgo A (2009) Gametogenesis, embryogenesis, and larval features of the oviparous sponge Petrosia ficiformis (Haplosclerida, Demospongiae). Marine Biology, 156 (10) : 2181 - 2197. doi: 10.1007/s00227-009-1248-4

RIESGO ANA, MALDONADO M (null) An unexpectedly sophisticated, V-shaped spermatozoon in Demospongiae (Porifera): reproductive and evolutionary implications. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 97 (2) : 413 - 426. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2009.01214.x

Riesgo A, Maldonado M, Durfort M (2008) Occurrence of somatic cells within the spermatic cysts of demosponges: A discussion of their role. Tissue and Cell, 40 (6) : 387 - 396. doi: 10.1016/j.tice.2008.03.005

Riesgo A, Maldonado M (2008) Differences in reproductive timing among sponges sharing habitat and thermal regime. Invertebrate Biology, 127 (4) : 357 - 367. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-7410.2008.00128.x

Maldonado M, Riesgo A (2008) Reproductive output in a Mediterranean population of the homosclerophoridCorticium candelabrum(Porifera, Demospongiae), with notes on the ultrastructure and behavior of the larva. Marine Ecology, 29 (2) : 298 - 316. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2008.00244.x

Riesgo A, Taylor C, Leys SP (null) Reproduction in a carnivorous sponge: the significance of the absence of an aquiferous system to the sponge body plan. Evolution & Development, 9 (6) : 618 - 631. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-142x.2007.00200.x

Maldonado M, Riesgo A (2007) Intra-epithelial spicules in a homosclerophorid sponge. Cell and Tissue Research, 328 (3) : 639 - 650. doi: 10.1007/s00441-007-0385-7

Riesgo A, Maldonado M, Durfort M (2007) Dynamics of gametogenesis, embryogenesis, and larval release in a Mediterranean homosclerophorid demosponge. Marine and Freshwater Research, 58 (4) : 398 - 398. doi: 10.1071/mf06052

Rützler K, Maldonado M, Piantoni C, Riesgo A (2007) Iotrochota revisited: a new sponge and review of species from the western tropical Atlantic (Poecilosclerida:Iotrochotidae). Invertebrate Systematics, 21 (2) : 173 - 173. doi: 10.1071/is06040

Maldonado M, Carmona MC, Echeverría Y, Riesgo A (2005) The environmental impact of Mediterranean cage fish farms at semi-exposed locations: does it need a re-assessment?. Helgoland Marine Research, 59 (2) : 121 - 135. doi: 10.1007/s10152-004-0211-5

Courses taught

Postgraduate: NHM/BBSRC Short Course: Integrating molecules with taxonomy and systematics: an introductory molecular phylogenetics course for species identification and evolutionary analysis

Postgraduate: NERC Short Course: An introductory molecular phylogenetics course: molecular diagnostics for species identification and evolutionary analysis