Adrián Pinto Tomás nació en 1977 en San José, Costa Rica y realizó estudios profesionales en la Facultad de Microbiología de la Universidad de Costa Rica, graduándose como Licenciado en Microbiología y Química Clínica en el año 2000. Posteriormente realizo estudios de maestría en la Universidad de Costa Rica y se graduó como Máster en Microbiología con énfasis en Biología Celular y Molecular en el año 2002. Durante el periodo 2002-2008 realizó estudios de doctorado en la Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison, inicialmente en el Programa de Patología de Plantas y posteriormente en el Programa de Doctorado en Microbiología, el cual culminó en Diciembre del 2008. A partir de enero del 2009 se reincorporó a la Universidad de Costa Rica como profesor en el Departamento de Bioquímica de la Facultad de Medicina e investigador en el CIEMic.
El Dr. Pinto trabaja en el área de ecología microbiana y estudia las interacciones simbióticas entre insectos sociales y microorganismos, particularmente aquellas con potenciales aplicaciones en agricultura, biotecnología y medicina. Actualmente el Dr. Pinto trabaja en el aislamiento y caracterización de agentes de control biológico para hormigas zompopas, una de las principales plagas agrícolas en Costa Rica. Además, utiliza técnicas de microscopia electrónica y de fluorescencia para describir asociaciones simbióticas entre microorganismos y diferentes especies de insectos.
2. Pinto, A., L. Uribe, J. Blanco, G. Fontecha, C. Rodríguez, M. Mora, D. Janzen, F. Chavarría, J. Díaz & A. Sittenfeld. 2007. Enzymatic activities of bacteria isolated from the digestive tract of caterpillars and the pupal content of Automeris zugana and Rothschildia lebeau (Lepidoptera:Saturniidae). Rev. Biol. Trop. 55:401-415.
3. Pinto, A. 2008. Exploring the role of host-microbe symbioses in Neotropical herbivorous insects. Tesis de doctorado, Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison, pp 224.
4. Pinto-Tomás, A., M. Anderson, G. Suen, D. R. Stevenson, F. Chu, W. Cleland, P. J. Weimer & C. R. Currie. 2009. Symbiotic nitrogen-fixation in the fungus gardens of leaf-cutter ants. Science 323: 1120-1123.
5. Suen, G., J. J. Scott, F. O. Aylward, S. M. Adams, S. G. Tringe, A. A. Pinto-Tomas, C. E. Foster, et al. 2010. An Insect Herbivore Microbiome with high plant biomass-degrading capacity. PLoS Genetics 6: e1001129
6. Pinto-Tomás, A., A. Sittenfeld, L. Uribe, F. Chavarría, M. Mora, D. Janzen, R. Goodman & H. M. Simon. 2011. Comparison of midgut bacterial diversity in tropical saturnid caterpillars fed on different diets. Environmental Entomology 40: 1111-1122.
7. Esquivel, A., J. Abolafia, P. Hanson, and A. Pinto-Tomás. 2012. A new species of nematode, Sclerorhabditis neotropicalis sp.n. (Rhabditida), associated with Azteca ants in Cecropia obtusifolia. Nematropica 42:163-169.
8. Marsh, S.E., M. Poulsen, N. B. Gorosito, A. Pinto-Tomás, V. E. Masiulionis & C. R. Currie. 2013. Association between Pseudonocardia symbionts and Atta leaf-cutting ants suggested by improved isolation methods. International Microbiology 16:17-25.
9. Larson, H.K., S.K. Goffredi, E.L. Parra, O. Vargas, A. Pinto-Tomás & T.P. McGlynn. 2014. Distribution and dietary regulation of an associated facultative Rhizobiales-related bacterium in the omnivorous Giant Tropical Ant, Paraponera clavata. Naturwissenschaften, 101:397-406
10. Marsh S.E., M. Poulsen, A. Pinto-Tomás & Currie CR. 2014. Interaction between workers during a short time window is required for bacterial symbiont transmission in Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants. PLoS ONE, 9(7): e103269. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103269
11. Elizondo-Wallace, D.E., J.G. Vargas-Asensio & A. Pinto-Tomás. 2014. Correlation between virulence and genetic structure of Escovopsis strains from leaf cutting ant colonies in Costa Rica. Microbiology, 160: 1727-1736.
12. Vargas-Asensio G., A. Pinto-Tomás, B. Rivera, M. Hernández, C. Hernández, S. Soto-Montero, C. Murillo, D.H. Sherman & G. Tamayo-Castillo. 2014. Uncovering the cultivable microbial diversity of Costa Rican beetles and its ability to break down plant cell wall components. PLoS ONE 9(11): e113303. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0113303.
13. Cheng K., X. Rong, A. Pinto-Tomás, M. Fernández-Villalobos, C. Murillo-Cruz & Y. Huang. 2015. Population genetic analysis of Streptomyces albidoflavus reveals habitat barriers to homologous recombination in the diversification of Streptomycetes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 81:966-975.
14. Lewin G.R., A.L. Johnson, R.D. Moreira-Soto, K. Perry, A.J. Book, H.A. Horn, A. Pinto-Tomás & C.R Currie. 2016. Cellulose-Enriched Microbial Communities from Leaf-Cutter Ant (Atta colombica) Refuse Dumps Vary in Taxonomic Composition and Degradation Ability. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0151840. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151840
15. Van Arnam, E. B., Ruzzini, A. C., Sit, C. S., Horn, H., Pinto-Tomás, A. A., Currie, C. R., & Clardy, J. (2016). Selvamicin, an atypical antifungal polyene from two alternative genomic contexts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(46): 12940-12945.
16. Madison, J. D., Berg, E. A., Abarca, J. G., Whitfield, S. M., Gorbatenko, O., Pinto-Tomás A. A., and Kerby, J. L. 2017. Characterization of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis inhibiting bacteria from amphibian populations in Costa Rica. Frontiers in Microbiology. 8:290. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00290
17. Moreira-Soto R.D., E. Sanchez, C.R. Currie & A. Pinto-Tomás. 2017. Ultrastructural and microbial analyses of cellulose degradation in leaf-cutter ant colonies. Microbiology, 163: 1578-1589.
18. Matarrita-Carranza B., R.D. Moreira-Soto, C. Murillo-Cruz, M. Mora, C.R. Currie & A. Pinto-Tomás. 2017. Evidence for Widespread Associations Between Neotropical Hymenopteran Insects and Antibiotic-producing Actinobacteria. Frontiers in Microbiology. 8: 2016, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02016
19. Sawyers-Kenton, R., R. Sawyers-Kenton, & A. Pinto-Tomás. 2017. Role of endosymbiont bacteria Wolbachia in the control of vectorial diseases such as dengue, zika and chikunkunya. Acta Médica Costarricense, 59(4): 130-133.
20. Abarca JG, Zuniga I, Ortiz-Morales G, Lugo A, Viquez-Cervilla M, Rodriguez-Hernandez N, Vázquez-Sánchez F, Murillo-Cruz C, Torres-Rivera EA, Pinto-Tomás A.A. and Godoy-Vitorino F. 2018. Characterization of the Skin Microbiota of the Cane Toad Rhinella cf. marina in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. Frontiers in Microbiology 8:2624. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02624
21. Morera J., Mora-Pineda G., Esquivel A., P. Hanson & A. Pinto-Tomás. 2018. Detection, ultrastucture and phylogeny of Sclerorhabditis neotropicalis (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) nematodes associated with the Azteca ant-Cecropia tree Symbiosis. Revista de Biología Tropical 66(1): 368-380.
22. Abarca, J. G., Vargas, G., Zúñiga, I., Whitfield, S. M., Woodhams, D. C., Kerby, J., McKenzie, V.J., Murillo-Cruz C. and Pinto-Tomás, A. A. 2018. Assessment of Bacterial Communities Associated with the Skin of Costa Rican Amphibians at La Selva Biological Station. Frontiers in Microbiology 9:2001. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.02001
23. Fernandez‐Bou, A. S., Dierick D., Swanson A. C., Allen M. F., Alvarado A. G. F., Artavia‐León A., Carrasquillo‐Quintana O., Lachman D. A., Oberbauer S., Pinto‐Tomás A.A., Rodríguez‐Reyes Y., Rundel P., Schwendenmann L., Zelikova T. J., and Harmon T. C. 2019. The Role of the Ecosystem Engineer, the Leaf‐Cutter Ant Atta cephalotes, on Soil CO2 Dynamics in a Wet Tropical Rainforest. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 124(2): 260-273.
24. Cambronero-Heinrichs, J. C., Matarrita-Carranza, B., Murillo-Cruz, C., Araya-Valverde, E., Chavarría, M., & Pinto-Tomás, A. A. 2019. Phylogenetic analyses of antibiotic-producing Streptomyces sp. isolates obtained from the stingless-bee Tetragonisca angustula (Apidae: Meliponini). Microbiology, 165(3): 292-301.
25. Chevrette, M. G., Carlson, C. M., Ortega, H. E., Thomas, C., Ananiev, G. E., Barns, K. J., Book A.J., Cagnazzo J., Carlos C., Flanigan W., Grubbs K.J, Horn H.A., Hoffmann F.M., Klassen J.L, Knack J.J., Lewin G.R., McDonald B.R., Muller L., Melo W.G.P., Pinto-Tomás A.A, Schmitz A., Wendt-Pienkowski E., Wildman S., Zhao M., Zhang F., Bugni T.S, Andes D.R., Pupo M.T. and Currie C.R. 2019. The antimicrobial potential of Streptomyces from insect microbiomes. Nature Communications, 10(1): 516.
26. Li, Y., Pinto-Tomás, A. A., Rong, X., Cheng, K., Liu, M., & Huang, Y. 2019. Population genomics insights into adaptive evolution and ecological differentiation in Streptomycetes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 85 (7): e02555-18.
27. Kueneman, J.G., Bletz M.C., McKenzie, V.J., Becker, C.G., Joseph, M.B., Abarca, J.G., Archer, H., Arellano, A.L., Bataille, A., Becker, M., Belden, L.K., Crottini, A., Geffers, R., Haddad, C.F.B., Harris, R.N., Holden, W.M., Hughey, M., Jarek, M., Kearns, P.J., Kerby, J.L., Kielgast, J., Kurabayashi, A., Longo, A.V., Loudon, A., Medina, D., Nuñez, J.J., Perl, B.R.G., Pinto-Tomás, A.A, Rabemananjara, F.C.E., Rebollar, E.A., Rodríguez, A., Rollins-Smith, L., Stevenson, R.,… & Vences, M. 2019. Community richness of amphibian skin bacteria correlates with bioclimate at the global scale. Nature ecology & evolution, 3(3): 381.
28. Swanson, A. C., Schwendenmann, L., Allen, M. F., Aronson, E. L., Artavia‐León, A., Dierick, D., Fernandez‐Bou, A. S., Harmon T. C., Murillo-Cruz, C., Oberbauer, S.F., Pinto‐Tomás, A. A. Rundel P.W. & Zelikova, T.J. 2019. Welcome to the Atta world: A framework for understanding the effects of leaf‐cutter ants on ecosystem functions. Functional Ecology, 33(8), 1386-1399.
29. Aronson, E. L., Dierick, D., Botthoff, J. K., Oberbauer, S., Zelikova, T. J., Harmon, T.C., Rundel P.W., Johnson, R.F., Swanson, A.C., Pinto‐Tomás, A.A., Artavia‐León, A., Matarrita‐Carranza, B. & Allen M.F. 2019. ENSO‐Influenced Drought Drives Methane Flux Dynamics in a Tropical Wet Forest Soil. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 124(7), 2267-2276.
30. Artavia-León, A., Pacheco-Leiva, M., Moya-Román, C., Rodríguez-Hernández, N., & Pinto-Tomás, A. A. 2019. Ant microbial symbionts are a new model for drug discovery. Drug Discovery Today: Disease Models, 28, 27-33.
31. Mesén-Porras, E. A., Dahdouh-Cabia, S., Jim, C., Castro, R. M., Rodríguez, C., & Pinto-Tomás, A. A. 2020. Soybean protease inhibitors increase Bacillus thuringiensis subs. israelensis toxicity against Hypothenemus hampei. Agronomía Mesoamericana, 31(2), 461-478.
32. Francoeur, C.B., Khadempour, L., Moreira-Soto, R.D., Gotting, K., Book, A.J., Pinto-Tomás, A.A., Keefover-Ring, K., & Currie, C.R. 2020. Bacteria contribute to plant secondary compound degradation in a generalist herbivore system. Mbio 11(5), e02146-20.
33. Abarca, J. G., Whitfield, S. M., Zuniga-Chaves, I., Alvarado, G., Kerby, J., Murillo-Cruz, C., & Pinto-Tomás, A. A. 2021. Genotyping and differential bacterial inhibition of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in threatened amphibians in Costa Rica. Microbiology. Mas Información
34. Matarrita-Carranza, B., Murillo-Cruz, C., Avendaño, R., Ríos, M.I., Chavarría, M., Gómez-Calvo, M.L., Tamayo-Castillo, G., Araya, J.J. & Pinto-Tomás, A.A. 2021. Streptomyces sp. M54: an actinobacteria associated with a neotropical social wasp with high potential for antibiotic production. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 114, 379-398.
35. Francoeur, C.B., May, D.S., Thairu, M.W., Hoang, D.Q., Panthofer, O., Bugni, T.S., Pupo, M.T., Clardy, J., Pinto-Tomás, A.A. & Currie, C.R., 2021. Burkholderia from fungus gardens of fungus-growing ants produce antifungals that inhibit the specialized parasite Escovopsis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, AEM-00178.