Dr. Juan José González Plaza

DNA isolation, preparation of DNA for several downstream applications (16S amplicon sequencing, library construction), construction of small-insert metagenomic libraries (directly contributed in 7 out of 8 libraries), functional screening of metagenomic libraries, isolation of resistant clones and characterization by restriction and gel analysis, qPCRs of antibiotic resistance genes, bioinformatics analysis of sequenced clones, manuscript writing.

Research stay in the framework of WINAR Project, as part of my postdoctoral fellowship at RBI (Zagreb, Croatia)(fellowship from 01/04/2016 to 31/03/2018). Carried out qPCR assays through Taqman probes, learning and applying the plasmid transfer technique (biparental and triparental conjugations), characterization of strains by DGGE methodology, and Southern Blotting.

Viral diagnostic procedures through PCR and RT-qPCR (WNV, CHIKV, TBEV), ELISA tests for Pentraxins, cultivated and maintained human primary macrophages and Vero cells, and studied a time-course effect of measles on macrophages through Ocelloscope (Phillips). Designed the logo for HANTA-INNATE project.

Paternity testing through ABI3500, RT-qPCR, general molecular biology techniques, DNA isolation from human blood and tissue samples (Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma tumour samples), mentored a student to present a small scientific project for a subject degree

Research tasks in a Type 1 Diabetes project, involving different techniques in Molecular Biology as DNA isolation and genotyping.

Key objectives of this role were: • To perform experiments required for the completion of our group's tasks at Oleagen Project. • To assist in the development of a plant-pathogen interaction study. • To lecture undergraduate students in the labwork of Molecular Genetics. Other responsibilitites included: • Crafting of figures for a publication. • Design of posters for international conferences. • Edition of a scientific paper. • In silico validation of oligonucleotides.

The main topic of my thesis was the identification of candidate genes that potentially determine the architecture the olive tree. I have used techniques of Molecular Biology, Genomics and Bioinformatics to perform my research.