User:Ruben Alcazar

I am a new member of OpenWetWare!

Contact Info

2012: Population and molecular genetics of plant adaptation to local environments.
2010, Postdoc SFB680, MPIPZ Germany. Co-evolution of plant-pathogen interactions.
2008, Postdoc MPIPZ Germany. Hybrid incompatibilities in Arabidopsis thaliana.
2006, Postdoc BP2005, MPIPZGermany. Natural variation of growth resposes to temperature.
2005, Postdoc EU-ROST, University of Barcelona. Polyamines in drought stress tolerance.
2004, PhD Plant Biology, University of Barcelona. Polyamines in abiotic stress and regulation of development.
1999, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Specialization in Genetic Engineering, University of Barcelona

Plant-Environment Interactions. I am interested in studying the adaptation of plants to local environments using population genetics. My research includes abiotic and biotic interactions from a molecular, genetic and evolutionary perspective, mainly in model species with a potential application in crops. Press release 2010

See recently published articles and reviews on this topic:

Alcázar, R. et al. (2011) Genetic and evolutionary perspectives on the interplay between plant immunity and development. Curr.Opin.Plant Biol. in press See review

Alcázar, R., et al. (2010) Natural variation at Strubbelig Receptor Kinase 3 drives immune-triggered incompatibilities between Arabidopsis thaliana accessions. Nat. Genet. 42, 1135-1139 See article

Alcázar, R., et al. (2009) Incremental steps toward incompatibility revealed by Arabidopsis epistatic interactions modulating salicylic acid pathway activation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 106, 334-339 See article

Polyamines in stress tolerance. Polyamines are small aliphatic compounds present in all living organisms. Polyamine biosynthesis is an evolutionary conserved pathway under an apparent purifying selection. Even though their essential role in stress tolerance is genetically demonstrated, molecular and signalling mechanisms underlying cell protection are relatively obscure. I am interested in gaining insight into the role of polyamines in stress tolerance and signalling (including developmental pathways) using advanced genetic approaches and exploring direct applications of polyamine content regulation (by means of natural variation) in crop breeding.

See some of the recently published articles and reviews on this topic (see Publications for a complete list):

Alcázar, R., et al. (2011) Integration of polyamines in the cold acclimation response. Plant Sci. 180, 31-38 See review

Alcázar, R. et al. (2011) Polyamine metabolic canalization in response to drought stress in Arabidopsis and the resurrection plant Cratersotigma plantagineum. Plant Signal Behav. 6(2) See article

Alcázar, R., et al. (2010) Polyamines: molecules with regulatory functions in plant abiotic stress tolerance. Planta 231, 1237-1249 See review

Alcázar, R., et al. (2010) Putrescine accumulation confers drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis plants over-expressing the homologous Arginine decarboxylase 2 gene. Plant Physiol. Biochem. 48, 547-552 See article

Alcázar, R., et al. (2006) Abscisic acid modulates polyamine metabolism under water stress in Arabidopsis thaliana. Physiol. Plant. 128, 448-455 See article

Alcázar, R., et al. (2005) Overexpression of ADC2 in Arabidopsis induces dwarfism and late-flowering through GA deficiency. Plant J. 43, 425-436 See article

* Institutes & Institutions on Plant Breeding and Genetics Research

* Projects

* Scientific databases and resources

More info will become available soon.