Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain (http://www.usc.es/en/investigacion/grupos/acuicultura_biotecnoloxia/index.html).

Ana Otero took her PhD in 1995 in the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) with a thesis on the continuous cultivation of marine microalgae for biotechnological applications. At present she is Associate Professor of Microbiology in the same University after being  a Post-doctoral fellow of the European Union in Japan (National Institute for Basic Biology) and Italy (Universitá degli Studi di Firenze), working on molecular biology of microalgae and physiological aspects of the production of cyanobacterial polysaccharides respectively. Besides continuing the research on biotechnological applications of photosynthetic microorganisms, since 2006 her group is working on the development of alternatives to the use of antibiotics through the inhibition of chemical bacterial communication (quorum sensing). In this field, the group has already patented bacterial strains and enzymes with high quorum quenching activity against acyl-homoserine-lactone signals. At present her group is focused on the development of novel anti-fouling strategies based on the inhibition of bacterial quorum sensing and other environmental-friendly strategies in the framework of the European Project Byefouling. A. Otero has co-authored more than 70 papers in international journals in the field of microalgal biotechnology and quorum sensing.