Prof. Pedro Esteves

I work in biological sciences, with an emphasis on evolutionary biology. My main research topics are comparative immunology, host–pathogen interaction, co-evolution, multigene families, virus evolution, adaptive immunity, innate immunity, immunology, and viral species jump. The major interest of my research group is to study the host–pathogen co-evolutionary processes by monitoring changes in the genetic content of populations of a model species, the European rabbit (O. cuniculus), in relation to two epizootics that have decimated wild populations in the recent past (i.e., myxomatosis and RHD). I am also interested in studying the myxomatosis and RHD that recently jumped to other leporids, for example, the Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis). My main objective is to study the genetic variation at host (rabbit and hares) candidate genes that confer resistance against these diseases because these are the prime candidates for undergoing adaptive evolutionary change. Insights in the actual changes at the molecular level should contribute to a documented evaluation of current models of parasite–host co-adaptation, and of the role of infectious disease in shaping the recent evolution of the rabbit and hare species. Additionally, I am also interested in virus evolution (endogenous and exogenous) and in the evolution of innate and adaptive immune system genes in vertebrates, particularly in bats.