Our project feeds from the principle of merging disciplines, which is foreseen to expand exponentially our knowledge on the questions we are trying to answer. One of the most attractive element involved in the assembly of biofilms are the amyloid proteins, which are widely spread in nature, and playing a variety of functions. The combination of organic and analytical chemistry with biophysics or biochemistry has let find differences on fiber formation. We believe that our research has a notable impact in cell biology and structural biology, and agro-biotechnology or biomedicine.
We have been able to validate the knowledge accumulated in in vitro biofilm studies to plants, decisively contributing to the fundamentals of microbial ecological. It is clear that bacteria utilizes a variety of factors to live and communicate with plants, and we have expand our knowledge on this aspect. In addition, our research is also demonstrating how relevant is the plant host not only immunologically, but also metabolically and structurally (topology). As humans, the plants posses an immunological system that respond to external aggressions or changes, one of them the bacterial communities that live in association with. The final outcome, disease development, or pathogen establishment, will be the result of a complex network of interactions, and dialogues between all the players: plant pathogens, beneficial, human pathogens. The combination, again of disciplines as microbiology, plant physiology with cutting-edge analytical chemistry techniques and diverse OMICs have decisively contributed to success in these studies and provide interesting conclusion and novel hypothesis. In all these studies we are moving from bacterial population behavior, to really visualize the existence of changes, to further embark in more detailed and specific studies at cellular or individual levels.
In summary our project has offer responses to basic questions on microbial cell biology and physiology, to really understand in a more holistic perspective how they do coordinate to generate a response in the context of the interaction with plants, a knowledge that would be granted to: 1) the development of more robust and feasible biological control strategies oriented to reduce the use of chemicals either alone or in combination with other management strategies in the context of sustainable practices and 2) contribute to eradicate or impede the establishment of human pathogen communities in ready to eat vegetable or fruits and responsible of human diseases.
