People

After doing my PhD on the biology of tumor induction by mammalian retroviruses, I went to study plant biology and Arabidopsis thaliana in the laboratory of Chris Somerville at Michigan State University and Carnegie Institution at Stanford (USA). I joined the University of Lausanne in 1995.

Maria completed the Bachelor's in Biological Sciences at the Autonomous University of Madrid after an Eramus year at the University of Bologna. She then moved to Granada, where she joined a Master's in Plant Biology that piqued her interest in Plant symbiosis. For this reason, she moved to Ghent in 2018 to start her PhD in the group of Prof. Sofie Goormachtig at the PSB-VIB. During her PhD, she unraveled the molecular mechanisms by which arbuscular mycorrhizal nuclear effectors manipulate plant physiology. She joined Prof. Poirier group in September 2023 to investigate the gene regalutory networks modulated by phosphate responsive transcription factors in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolor. In her free time, she enjoys mushroom picking, soap making and caring about her exotic house plants.

I entered the Plant Science field during my Erasmus program in Heidelberg in 2020. I joined the COS lab to work on lateral root development in Arabidopsis Thaliana under the supervision of Dr. Jazmin Reyes Hernandez and Prof. Alexis Maizel at the Center of Organismal Studies, where I explored the mechanisms maintaining the proper development of lateral root primordium, focusing on phospholipids. Recently I joined Prof. Yves Poirier’s group to study ectomycorrhizal symbioses, especially the phosphate cycle regulations in Laccaria bicolor.

I have obtained the PhD degree in University of Fribourg. During the master and doctoral period, my experiments are comprised of soybean, pepper, tobacco, Petunia hybrida, Physcomitrella patens, Medicago truncatula. After joining Yves’s lab, I am carrying out experiments with Arabidopsis thaliana.

During my studies in Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, I was fascinated about plant molecular biology so I did a PhD in the laboratory of Maria Eugenia Zanetti and Flavio Blanco at IBBM-CONICET, studying the molecular mechanisms underlying the nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between Phaseolus vulgaris and Rhizobium etli. In May 2018 I joined Prof. Yves Poirier laboratory to study the phosphate sensing pathways in A. thaliana.

I joined the Department in April 2003. I use my skills in molecular biology to generate and analyse transgenic plants and yeast. I participated in research themes of the laboratory, with more emphasis on the PHA project for the first 7 years. Coming to the lab has brought me further knowledge in biochemistry that enables me to investigate the metabolism of lipids and fatty acids, and the biosynthesis of the PHA polymer. The last years I work on the Biotin project. I am also in charge of creating and updating our website. Finally, since June 2013 I am COSEC and Biosafety Officier of our department.

After obtaining my bachelor degree, I did my PhD under the supervision of Dr. Pablo Diego Cerdán at the laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology of the Leloir Institute in Buenos Aires. The general objective of my PhD thesis was the study of the Mediator, a complex involved in the DNA Polymerize II mediated transcription process, and its involvement in different developmental stages of Arabidopsis thaliana. In May 2019 I joined Prof. Yves Poirier group as part of a project to improve plant growth under low phosphate by the use of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology.

During my PhD, I focused on the screening and characterizing of nitrate regulatory genes in Arabidopsis by forward genetics. In April 2024 I joined Prof. Yves Poirier's group to study the function of pht4;6 suppressor.