Actinomycete Chemical Ecology Group


Based in Costa Rica, our group integrates microbiology, genomics, metabolomics and natural products chemistry for the study of actinomycetes and their specialised metabolism.

Latest News

Last updated on Nov 5, 2025 1 min read
Welcome Fernanda
Welcome Fernanda

We received a visit from Dr Fernanda Claverias from CB-DAL / Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María as part of a collaboration with Professor Beatriz Cámara. Fernanda received a travel grant from UNU-BIOLAC to complete an internship in our laboratory.

Last updated on Sep 26, 2025 1 min read
4th ISME Lat Conference
4th ISME Lat Conference

Mariana represented our group at the 4th Latin American Congress on Microbial Ecology, ISMELAT2025, held in Mexico. She presented the progress of her thesis project on actinomycetes isolated from beach sand and their putative role in controlling fungi that affect turtle eggs.

Project
Last updated on Aug 20, 2025 1 min read
Metabolomics in Food Science
Metabolomics in Food Science

Douglas participated in the theoretical-practical course ‘Metabolomics in Food Science: From Food Resources to Industrial Processing and Food Intake’, coordinated by Dr Mónica Cala from Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, in collaboration with The Metabolomics Innovation Center (TMIC) in Canada.

Last updated on Sep 26, 2025 1 min read
FEMS 2025
FEMS 2025

Melissa represented our group at FEMS MICRO Milan 2025. She presented the progress of her thesis project on endophytic actinomycetes for the control of fungal diseases in rice crops.

Project
Last updated on Aug 21, 2025 1 min read
Prize!
Prize!

Parra was awarded the best flash talk prize at ISBA2025

Project
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Latest Publications

Macias-Contreras, Natalie Millán-Aguiñaga, Jonathan Parra Villalobos, Katherine R. Duncan (2025). Assessing the effect of temperature on Rhodococcus metabolite production. Macias-Contreras, M. I., Millán-Aguiñaga, N., Parra, J., & Duncan, K. R. (2025). Assessing the effect of temperature on Rhodococcus metabolite production. Microbiology, 171(8), 001598..

DOI

Mitja M. Zdouc, Jonathan Parra Villalobos, ..., Roger G. Linington, Tilmann Weber, Marnix H. Medema (2024). MIBiG 4.0: advancing biosynthetic gene cluster curation through global collaboration. Zdouc, M. M., Blin, K., Louwen, N. L., Navarro, J., Loureiro, C., Bader, C. D., … & Kang, S. (2025). MIBiG 4.0: advancing biosynthetic gene cluster curation through global collaboration. Nucleic Acids Research, 53(D1), D678-D690..

DOI

Ella F. Poynton, Jeffrey A. Van Santen, Matthew Pin, Marla Macias Contreras, Emily McMann, Jonathan Parra Villalobos, Brandon Showalter, Liana Zaroubi, Katherine R. Duncan, Roger G. Linington (2024). The Natural Products Atlas 3.0: extending the database of microbially derived natural products. Poynton, E. F., van Santen, J. A., Pin, M., Contreras, M. M., McMann, E., Parra, J., … & Linington, R. G. (2025). The Natural Products Atlas 3.0: extending the database of microbially derived natural products. Nucleic Acids Research, 53(D1), D691-D699..

DOI

Bonnie Whatmough, Neil A. Holmes, Barrie Wilkinson, Matthew I. Hutchings​, Jonathan Parra Villalobos, Katherine R. Duncan (2024). Microbe Profile: Pseudonocardia: antibiotics for every niche. Whatmough, B., Holmes, N. A., Wilkinson, B., Hutchings, M. I., Parra, J., & Duncan, K. R. (2024). Microbe Profile: Pseudonocardia: antibiotics for every niche. Microbiology, 170(9), 001501..

DOI

Jonathan Parra Villalobos, Scott A. Jarmusch, Katherine R. Duncan (2024). Multi-omics analysis of antagonistic interactions among free-living Pseudonocardia from diverse ecosystems. Parra, J., Jarmusch, S. A., & Duncan, K. R. (2024). Multi‐omics analysis of antagonistic interactions among free‐living Pseudonocardia from diverse ecosystems. Environmental Microbiology, 26(6), e16635..

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