dr Daniel Méndez-Sánchez
Scientific interests
My passion and interests lie in unveiling the secrets of the diversity of protists, mainly ciliates. Their incredible diversity reflects a rich evolutionary history marked by adaptation and colonization of various ecosystems, where interactions with other living forms play a pivotal ecological role. As a morphologically and behaviorally complex lineage, ciliates—with their varied lifestyles—are exceptional models for exploring symbioses across ecosystems, including anoxic habitats, through microscopic and molecular lenses; in other words…
“I am driven to uncover the evolutionary and ecological secrets embedded in the diversity of ciliates, whose complexity and interactions make them perfect gems in the obscure and unwritten book of life.”
Project participations
- Currently – Researcher in the SYMBIOSTART project “Unravelling the establishment of endosymbiosis: quest for intermediate evolutionary stages among microbial eukaryotes,” Principal Investigator Dr hab. Anna Karnkowska
- 2021 – 2023 Principal investigator in START/SCI/095 (Charles University, Czech Republic) project “Methanogenic Archaea as endosymbionts of unrelated free-living anaerobic protists”
- 2020 – 2022 Researcher in the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GAČR project no. 19-19297S) project “New approaches to the important symbiosis: Diversity and dynamics of the relationship of anaerobic protists and intracellular methanogenic archaea”
Internships
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, Japan, supervisor Dr. Filip Husník. September 2022- January 2023
- Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China, supervisor Dr. Xiaozhong Hu, October 2015
Awards
- 2024 – Vakovlk Award for significant PhD publication record, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University
Publications
2026
An extensive morphological and molecular characterization of the neglected class Odontostomatea (Ciliophora) Journal Article
In: Marine Life Science and Technology, 2026.
2025
The end of a winding path: The anaerobic ciliate Spirorhynchus is a member of the class Muranotrichea Journal Article
In: Protist, vol. 179, pp. 126129, 2025.
2024
Methanogenic symbionts of anaerobic ciliates are host and habitat specific Journal Article
In: The ISME Journal, vol. 18, pp. wrae164, 2024.
Bit by bit toward the diversity of metopids: Description of the genus Pidimetopus n. gen. (Ciliophora: Armophorea) Journal Article
In: Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, vol. 71, pp. e13034, 2024.
2023
Morphology, morphogenesis, and molecular characterization of Castula specialis sp. nov. (Ciliophora, Armophorea, Metopida) Journal Article
In: Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, vol. 71, pp. e13014, 2023.
In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, vol. 202, pp. zlad154, 2023.
Rediscovery of remarkably rare anaerobic tentaculiferous ciliate genera Legendrea and Dactylochlamys (Ciliophora: Litostomatea) Journal Article
In: Biology, vol. 12, iss. 5, pp. 707, 2023.
Morphology and phylogenetic position of three anaerobic ciliates from the classes Odontostomatea and Muranotrichea (Ciliophora). Journal Article
In: Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, vol. 70, pp. e12965, 2023.
2022
Diversity and phylogenetic position of Bothrostoma Stokes, 1887 (Ciliophora: Metopida), with description of four new species Journal Article
In: Protist, vol. 173, pp. 125887, 2022.
In: European Journal of Protistology, vol. 82, pp. 125856, 2022.
2021
Conservación y aprovechamiento sustentable de la biodiversidad tropical del sur sureste mexicano. Diversidad de ciliados (Alveolata: Ciliophora) del Parque Nacional Lagunas de Montebello, Chiapas. Book Chapter
In: Chapter 5, pp. 125-156, Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, 2021.
2020
Euplotes octocarinatus Carter 1972 (Ciliophora, Spirotrichea, Euplotidae): considerations on its morphology, phylogeny, and biogeography. Journal Article
In: European Journal of Protistology, vol. 74, pp. 125667, 2020.
2019
Guía de identificación de géneros comunes de ciliados de ambientes dulceacuícolas de México. Book
Las Prensas de Ciencias. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2019, ISBN: 978-607-30-1956-9.
2018
A new subspecies of Oxytricha granulifera (Hypotrichia: Oxytrichidae) from Mexico, with notes on its morphogenesis and phylogenetic position Journal Article
In: Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, vol. 65, iss. 3, pp. 357-361, 2018.
Free-living ciliates from a perturbed marsh in Central Mexico: some notes about taxonomy and ecology. Journal Article
In: Protistology, vol. 12, iss. 4, pp. 173-184, 2018.