This line of research focuses on the study of the sexual reproduction mechanism in zygomycetes. Specifically, the group studies the metabolites of various zygomycete fungi, among others, the mucorales Phycomyces blakesleeanus and Blakeslea trispora. The interest in these fungi lies in their use for the industrial obtaining of carotenes used as provitamins, pigments and antioxidants in the agro-food pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The start-up of the sexual reproduction system leads to a spectacular increase in the quantity of carotenes produced by the fungi and it is believed that there is a chemical signal (a natural product of low molecular weight) that triggers the process. The group aims to establish the chemical structure of the sex pheromone of these fungi and its biosynthetic mechanism, including genes and enzymes.

Now, it has been discovered that the process starts in the ß-carotene itself. This is degraded using dioxygenase enzymes (four have been identified in Phycomyces) following a new asymmetric rupture model in three apocarotenoid families. This has led to the discovery of a set of new metabolites, whose sexual activity is being tested.