Functional genomics of plant development

In our group we are searching for new regulators of pistil and fruit development in plants. In addition, we study the regulatory networks that control differentiation during pistil formation.

Until now, we have been able to identify several new genes and discover the importance of the plant hormone cytokinin during pistil and fruit development.

Research lines:

• Identification and characterization of transcription factors and other factors that are involved in plant development with a focus on fruits and flowers.
• Studies of hormone function in fruits.
• Studies of transcription factor plasticity in plants.
• Molecular Biology, Functional Genomics, Microscopy, etc.
• Protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions.
• Transcriptional regulation networks (Computational Biology).

Recent projects:

• “Dynamics of transcription factor complexes during the development of the gynoecium and fruit”. CONACYT Ciencia Básica no. A1-S-10126 (2019-2022).
• Dynamics of complexes of transcription factors during the development of the gynoecium and fruit”. Cátedra Marcos Moshinsky 2018.
• “Multilevel regulatory plasticity of master transcription factors in plants.” CONACYT Fronteras no. 1061 (2016-2018).
• “Convergent evolution of the gynoecium architecture of plants: in search of underlying molecular mechanisms”. CONACYT-DAAD no. 267803 (2016-2018).
• “Exploring the molecular control of seed yield in crops”. European Union H2020 ExpoSEED no. 691109 (2016-2019).

Most relevant publications:

• 1. Gynoecium development: networks in Arabidopsis and beyond, Journal of Experimental Botany, 70: 1447-1460, 2019.
• 2. New roles of NO TRANSMITTING TRACT and SEEDSTICK during medial domain development in Arabidopsis fruits. Development, 146. doi: 10.1242/dev.172395, 2019.
• 3. The bHLH transcription factor SPATULA enables cytokinin signaling, and both activate auxin biosynthesis and transport genes at the medial domain of the gynoecium. PLoS Genetics 13: e1006726, 2017.
• 4. Sample sequencing of vascular plants demonstrates widespread conservation and divergence of microRNAs. Nature Communications, 5: 3722, 2014.
• 5. The role of cytokinin during Arabidopsis gynoecia and fruit morphogenesis and patterning. The Plant Journal, 72: 222-234, 2012.

Recent publications:

To access all publications, click the following links: