Águila Ruiz Sola
IBVF, Sevilla
“Transcriptional reprogramming drives chloroplast biogenesis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii”
Abstract:
Chlamydomonas provides a powerful model to dissect conserved and lineage-specific regulatory mechanisms underlying plastid development. I will present our recent insights into the transcriptional reprogramming that drives light-induced chloroplast biogenesis and discuss the regulatory dynamics that integrate light sensing, physiology, and metabolism to enable autotrophic growth.
Short bio:
My research focuses on how plants and algae perceive and adapt to changing light conditions, with the chloroplast as a central environmental sensor and regulator of stress responses. I study light-driven regulation of photosynthetic growth and development in Arabidopsis and Chlamydomonas, an excellent pair for comparative biology studies. I obtained my PhD at CRAG working on isoprenoid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis, followed by postdoctoral research at ETH Zurich and CEA-Grenoble. At CEA-Grenoble, I began to work with Chlamydomonas and gained expertise in algal physiology and photosynthesis. My work uncovered links between light perception, photoprotection, and carbon metabolism. After returning to Spain with a Beatriu de Pinòs fellowship (CRAG), I joined the University of Seville and IBVF with a Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación contract. Since December 2023, I am Assistant Professor at the University of Seville, establishing my own lab at the IBVF. My current projects focus on the regulatory mechanisms driving chloroplast biogenesis in Chlamydomonas and in Arabidopsis during de-etiolation, with a special emphasis on the role of stress granule-associated proteins. I am also developing biotechnological strategies to enhance CO₂ capture and assimilation in microalgae using nanomaterial-assisted approaches.
References:
Ruiz-Sola, MA, De Silvio, MA, Becerra-Tinoco, M, Quintero-Moreno, AM, Crespo, JL, Monte E. (2025) The yellow-in-the-dark chIL Chlamydomonas mutant as a model for time-resolved chloroplast biogenesis and physiological responses to lincomycin. bioRxiv 2025.12.12.693793. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.12.693793v1.full
Ruiz-Sola, MA, Flori S, Yuan, Y, Villain, G, Sanz-Luque, E, Redekop, P, Tokutsu, R, Kueken, A, Tsichla, A, Kepesidis, G, Allorent, G, Arend, M, Iacono, F, Finazzi, G, Hippler, M, Nikoloski, Z, Minagawa, J, Grossman, AR, Petroutsos, D. (2023) Light-independent regulation of algal photoprotection by CO2 availability. Nat Commun 14, 1977. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37031262/
