I am BSc in Biology by the Universidad de Valencia (Spain, 2004) and PhD in Biotechnology by the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain, 2011). During my PhD under the supervision of Dr. Flores and Dr. Darós (IBMCP, CSIC/UPV), my research focused on plant-pathogen interactions, more specifically, viroid-host interactions in eggplant and tomato. My PhD research led to several important discoveries, among which the identification of the host enzymes involved in viroid ligation, a crucial step in viroid replication, is especially relevant (Eiras et al. Arch Virol 2010; Molina-Serrano et al. RNA Biol 2012; Nohales et al. PNAS 2012; Nohales et al. J Virol 2012). Given the agronomical impact of viroids, my findings provide valuable knowledge for the development of biotechnological tools to control them.

After my PhD, I joined Dr. Steve Kay’s laboratory at UCSD (La Jolla, USA) and USC (Los Angeles, USA) for a postdoctoral stay. Dr. Kay’s laboratory has been leader in the study of plant circadian rhythms and their impact on relevant crop traits such as growth and flowering time. During my time in Dr. Kay’s lab, I collaborated in several projects, with my main focus set on the clock component GIGANTEA (GI) and how it regulates plant physiology in resonance with the environment. My work has uncovered a pivotal role of GI as an important modulator of multiple physiological and developmental processes in plants, including photoperiodic growth (Nohales et al. Dev Cell 2019; Nohales & Kay PNAS 2019).

At IBMCP, my research group is focused on understanding how the plant circadian clock incorporates environmental information and how it intersects with different signaling pathways to orchestrate plant physiology and development. The ultimate goal will be to leverage this information towards the improvement of crop yield and performance in the field.