Research topicsDepartment of Crop Sciences
Ph.D. (1986) National University of La Plata
Research topics
- Evolution of macromolecular structure
- Evolution of transcript networks
- Evolutionary role of spontaneous mutation
- Interaction of plants and microbes
Research interests
Our research interests lay in the crossroads of genomics and evolution. We study
macromolecular structure and focus on phylogenomics. We are particularly
interested in the origins of molecular diversification, the evolution of protein
architecture and transcript networks, biological processes that are linked to
co-evolutionary phenomena (such as plant pathogenesis and symbiosis), and the
study of levels and patterns of genome-wide mutation.
The idea that biological entities can be
related through history of common descent constitutes a general and powerful
organizing principle in biology and the basis for phylogenetic analysis of
molecules and organisms. Evolutionary history can be traced at different levels,
from nucleic acid sequences, genes, and molecules to features in individuals,
populations, lineages, and species. Since most functional constraints on
evolutionary divergence of molecules operate at the level of tertiary structure,
three-dimensional architecture is generally considered more evolutionarily
conserved than sequences. We have therefore chosen to reconstruct phylogenetic
history directly from the structure of RNA and proteins molecules. A wide
variety of macromolecules are being compared at a wide range of phylogenetic
levels using cladistic analysis and considerations in statistical mechanics.
Other areas of research in the laboratory include crosstalk during the
interaction of plants and microorganisms. For example, bacterial N-acyl
homoserine lactone (AHL) “quorum sensing” signals coordinate the behavior of
individual microbial cells, but also play a role in the infection of eukaryotic
hosts. We have shown that the model legume Medicago
truncatula detects nanomolar to micromolar levels of bacterial AHLs and
responds with massive proteomic changes and altered secretion of compounds that
mimic these same signals. We are currently exploring links between these
responses and the developmental trigger of symbiotic and pathogenic responses.
We are also using amplification and hybridization-based nucleic acid markers to
characterize genetic diversity in plants and microbes and study the role that
spontaneous mutation plays in evolution.
Keywords:
Molecular Evolution, Molecular Ecology, Molecular Systematics, DNA markers,
Protein Architecture, RNA structure, Plant-microbe Interactions.
Current Research Funding: UIU