Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plants
The overall goals of this Department is to study complex plant metabolism processes, i.e. photosynthesis of carbon assimilation, plant mechanisms of response and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, cell signalling mediated by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and the mechanisms of plant reproduction. More recently efforts are also being directed to decipher the basis of pollen allergens. Finally, the Department is also interested in plant and microorganisms responses to toxic xenobiotic compounds. |
Research Groups:
- Antioxidants, Free Radicals and Nitric Oxide in Biotechnology and Agro-Food (ARNOBA)
- Plant Reproductive Biology
- Ion Homeostasis and Membrane Transporters
- Redox Regulation, Signaling by Sugars and Phenotyping using Imaging Techniques to Detect Plant Stress
- Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species Signaling under Stress Conditions in Plants
Research lines
- Photomodulation of enzymes of the carbon assimilation cycle.
- Responses of the photosynthetic apparatus to biotic (plant pathogens) and abiotic (heavy metals and oxidative stress) stress.
- Function of peroxisomes in oxidative stress induced by abiotic conditions, and transduction of cell signals. Antioxidants and cell signalling by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species ROS and RNS in plants.
- Biochemistry, proteomics and functional genomics of ionic transporters involved in tolerance to the salinity of crops of agricultural interest.
- Multidisciplinary analysis of temporal and spatial expression of the gametophytic/sporophytic genes involved in pollen formation, germination, pollen-pistil interactions, fertilization, embryogenesis and the development of the fruit.
- Discrimination of allergen polymorphism in olive pollen from different cultivars and its implications in pollen physiology and the development of human allergy.