Biography

My work can be summarized in two different lines of plant research, both regarding processes with basic and applied relevance : - Interaction between the phytopathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas syringae and its plant host. This research line, in collaboration with Dr. Carmen Beuzón López, is focused on the molecular mechanism of the bacterial type III secretion system, a key virulence determinant, and that of the effector proteins it translocates inside the plant cell. The project analyses basic virulence and defense mechanisms, and its consequences on the plant. - Interference between geminiviral proteins and the plant sumoylation system. This research line, in collaboration with Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez Bejarano, analyses the consequences of such interference in viral infection and multiplication.

Research Intrest

Plant Research

List of Publications
Castro PH, Couto D, Freitas S, Verde N, Macho AP, Huguet S, Botella MA, Ruiz-Albert J, Tavares RM, Bejarano ER, Azevedo H. SUMO proteases ULP1c and ULP1d are required for development and osmotic stress responses in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant molecular biology. 2016 Sep 1;92(1-2):143-59.
Rufián JS, Sánchez‐Romero MA, López‐Márquez D, Macho AP, Mansfield JW, Arnold DL, Ruiz‐Albert J, Casadesús J, Beuzón CR. Pseudomonas syringae differentiates into phenotypically distinct subpopulations during colonization of a plant host. Environmental microbiology. 2016 Oct 1;18(10):3593-605.
Rufián JS, Macho AP, Corry DS, Mansfield JW, Ruiz‐Albert J, Arnold DL, Beuzón CR. Confocal microscopy reveals in planta dynamic interactions between pathogenic, avirulent and non‐pathogenic Pseudomonas syringae strains. Molecular plant pathology. 2017 Apr 1.