psanchez@iata.csic.es

I am currently a Tenured Scientist at IATA-CSIC addressing two main lines:
-Control of fungal pathogens: through the study and regulation of the mechanisms involved in resistance to fungicides, oxidative stress and virulence and implementation of alternative products to fungicides.
-Sustainable production of biomolecules, bioactive compounds of agri-food interest.
My scientific career includes two thematic lines: Biotechnology of microorganisms of agri-food interest and Phytopathology.
I started the first line during my specialization in Food Technology and the development of my Doctoral Thesis, which focused on the heterologous expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae or in filamentous fungi of hydrolytic enzymes (a-arabinofuranosidases and ß-glucosidases) that could increase and improve the aroma in wines. The interest in these enzymes led me to become interested in other enzymes of great importance in the food industry such as pectinases. Thus, the subject of my work during my postdoctoral stay was the study of three pectinases from Aspergillus niger, pectin lyase A, pectinmethylesterase and polygalacturonase. This work allowed me to increase the knowledge on enzymes that are relevant in phytopathogenic fungi. For this reason, during my period of reincorporation as a contracted doctor at IATA, I began my work in the world of Phytopathology in the Penicillium expansum fungus and its interaction with apple fruits as well as in Penicillium digitatum and its interaction with citrus fruits. Later, thanks to the INIA-CCAA five-year contract modality, I joined the IVIA Plant Protection and Biotechnology group. Most of my work has focused on the study of fruit-pathogen interaction, particularly from the pathogen's point of view. Studies have focused on fungicide resistance, pathogenicity/virulence, and host specificity factors, as well as the signal transduction and regulatory mechanisms involved in these processes using genomic and transcriptomic approaches. I returned to IATA-CSIC to work in Synthetic Biology applied to the development of new fungal platforms as biofactories for the production of biomolecules of agri-food interest together with the Production of new enzymes, enzyme conjugates and bioactive compounds for food applications. I was also part of IBMCP-UPV to develop the production of yeast nanobodies against pathogenic bacteria.