Zika virus (ZIKV) infection, an Aedes mosquito-borne flavivirus, is declared a global threat for public health due to its association with congenital neurodevelopmental birth defects. Despite the enormous basic and clinical research efforts, no specific therapy has yet been approved for the treatment or prevention of ZIKV infection, thus a better understanding of its pathogenesis is an urgent need.

Our laboratory is interested in understanding the molecular basis behind the generation of new neurons both during the development of the nervous system and in the adult brain. The generation of new neurons is retained to some extent in niches in the adult nervous system throughout lifetime under physiological conditions and constitutes an important source of neural plasticity. However, adult neurogenesis is very restricted, both in number and subtypes of neural cells generated.

Our group studies the mutualistic relationships between cyanobacteria and crop plants, with the aim of obtaining new biofertilizers for crop production. Some cyanobacteria, able to fix atmospheric nitrogen (N2), use photosynthesis as the primary source of energy to assimilate this element, and are known for their enormous contribution to nitrogen and carbon cycles in the biosphere. Some cyanobacteria genera live in symbiosis with plants, providing nitrogen to the host.

The group has a multidisciplinary approach with a strong background in microbiology and quality of fruit and vegetables, from an overall quality perspective. Several aspects of microbial and chemical food safety, fresh produce self-life, physiological characteristics, and organoleptic quality are included. The research topics deal with fundamental and applied aspects of pre-harvest and post-harvest factors affecting the quality and safety of fruit and vegetables.

We are a research group that belongs to the Department of Viticulture of the Institute of Grapevine and Wine Sciences (ICVV, La Rioja, Spain). We combine applied and basic investigations into the biology, ecology, epidemiology and control of grapevine diseases caused by fungi, primarily trunk diseases (GTDs).

The group addresses different aspects related to the chemistry of the molecules responsible for the sensory characteristics of food, especially aroma and taste, and their impact on sensory perception during oral food processing.

Our research interest is focused on the study of Cell Division and Rare Diseases. We investigate the fundamental mechanisms that control chromosome segregation and mitotic progression during the cell cycle. To study the mechanisms governing mitosis regulation we use mostly the budding yeast as a model organism.

Our research group is interested in studying the molecular mechanisms that lead to the degeneration of the photoreceptors and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in degenerative retinal pathologies that produce blindness, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Based on the basic knowledge obtained from studies on disease mechanisms, we focus on developing new pharmacological treatments and advanced therapies (gene and cell therapy) for these diseases.