{"id":1067,"date":"2016-09-27T09:51:22","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T09:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fitness2.mythemecloud.io\/?page_id=406"},"modified":"2025-11-12T10:39:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T13:39:06","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.usp.br\/cattapretalab\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"RESEARCH"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Uncovering how sex, fusion, and evolution intersect in unicellular life<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Illustrative composition, not an experimental image.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sex as an Evolutionary Innovation<\/strong><\/h3>

Sex is one of life\u2019s most profound transitions, a process that reshapes genomes, mixes lineages, and fuels evolution.
Yet, in many microorganisms, it remains elusive, fragmented, or hidden.<\/p>

By studying how single-celled eukaryotes reproduce, we can approach one of biology\u2019s oldest questions: how did sex evolve, and why was it maintained?<\/em><\/p>

Our lab investigates the molecular and evolutionary origins of sexual reproduction through the lens of Leishmania<\/em>, an early-diverging eukaryote that performs its cryptic sexual cycle inside the sand fly vector.<\/p>

By uncovering how fusion and recombination operate in this system, we aim to reveal what sex looked like at the dawn of eukaryotic evolution.<\/p>

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From genes to fusion: decoding sexual reproduction in Leishmania<\/i><\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Dual
Dual infection of the sand fly midgut with GFP- and mCherry-expressing parental strains.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"HAP2-tagged
HAP2-tagged promastigotes expressing mNeonGreen in the thoracic midgut.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Project:<\/strong> Cracking the Cryptic: Tracking Hidden Sex in Leishmania, a Protozoan Parasite<\/em>
Funding:<\/strong> S\u00e3o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)<\/em>
Grant number:<\/strong> 2025\/08431-8<\/p>

Grant period:<\/b>\u00a02025-2030<\/p>

This project investigates how sexual reproduction is initiated, regulated, and executed in Leishmania<\/em>.<\/p>

By combining barcoded loss- and gain-of-function libraries, in vivo sand fly infections, and single-cell multiomic analyses, we identify the molecular markers and pathways that enable fusion, meiosis-like processes, and hybrid formation inside the vector.<\/p>

We then validate the most promising targets through focused genetic manipulation and hybridization assays, linking gene function to parasite differentiation, fitness, and sexuality.<\/p>

Together, these approaches reveal what sex looks like in a primitive eukaryote, exposing its cellular architecture, genetic logic, and evolutionary continuity with the broader eukaryotic lineage.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uncovering how sex, fusion, and evolution intersect in unicellular life Illustrative composition, not an experimental image. Sex as an Evolutionary Innovation Sex is one of life\u2019s most profound transitions, a process that reshapes genomes, mixes lineages, and fuels evolution.Yet, in many microorganisms, it remains elusive, fragmented, or hidden. By studying how single-celled eukaryotes reproduce, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25006,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"full-width","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"on","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-1067","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.usp.br\/cattapretalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.usp.br\/cattapretalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.usp.br\/cattapretalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.usp.br\/cattapretalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25006"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.usp.br\/cattapretalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1067"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.usp.br\/cattapretalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1250,"href":"https:\/\/sites.usp.br\/cattapretalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1067\/revisions\/1250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.usp.br\/cattapretalab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}