pmanz@iata.csic.es

Dr. Paloma Manzanares is a CSIC scientific researcher at IATA (Researcher ID: H-2873-2012, h index = 27). She obtained her PhD in Food Science and Technology in 1994 from the University of Valencia, working on the characterization of barley beta-glucans and beta-glucanases, the main enzymatic activities involved in their hydrolysis. She then moved for a two-year postdoctoral stay at the group Molecular Genetics of Industrial Microorganisms led by Dr. Jaap Visser at the University of Wageningen (The Netherlands) where she focused on the study of biotechnological applications of enzymes produced by filamentous fungi. When she came back to Spain in 1997, she joined the Enology group at IATA-CSIC wherein she contributed to the development of several approaches to improve wine aroma quality, which included purification and characterization of novel fungal glycosidases and the construction of genetically modified wine yeasts expressing glycosidase-encoding genes. After she got a permanent position in 2000, Paloma Manzanares led her own research line focused on the study of non-Saccharomyces wine yeasts for the development of starter cultures based on their enzymatic profile. At this time point, Dr. Manzanares started a fruitful collaboration with Dr. Jose Marcos (IATA-CSIC) with the aim of applying antimicrobial peptides to control wine spoilage microorganisms. In addition, Dr. Manzanares has extensive experience in the characterization and study of the mechanism of action of bioactive peptides of interest in food technology, especially those with antihypertensive effect. Currently, Dr. Manzanares co-leads the group “Bioactive Peptides and Proteins” with Dr. Marcos (www.iata.csic.es/en/research/bioactive-proteins-and-peptides). Research in the laboratory focuses on the identification, rational design, characterization, and development of antimicrobial and antifungal peptides and proteins with application in agriculture and food preservation. Also successful is the characterization of neuroprotective peptides. At present, the group coordinates the project AFunPlus (RTI2018-101115-B-C21 Fungal AntiFungal Proteins: from Fungi to Plants and beyond) from the “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad”, and participates in the SUSPHIRE ERA CoBioTech project (Sustainable Bioproduction of Pheromones for Insect Pest Control in Agriculture), in the FunFact18 Prometeo Project (PROMETEO2018/066; Synthetic biology tools for the development of new fungal platforms as cell factories for the production of biomolecules of interest in the agrifood field) from “Generalitat Valenciana” and in the project Pre-HLB: “Preventing HLB epidemics for ensuring Citrus survival in Europe” (H2020-SFS-05-2018-2019-2020 – RIA: New and emerging risks to plant health). In the medium and long term the main interest of Dr. Manzanares is the development of efficient production systems of bioactive peptides with application in plant protection, food and biomedicine, the rational design of new bioactive peptides with improved properties, and the study of the mechanisms of action.
Proteínas y Peptidos Bioactivos de Interés en Agroalimentación
Bioactive Peptides and Proteins
http://w1.iata.csic.es/prometeo_funfact/