Seminarios IHSM La Mayora - Jaime Martínez (IBMCP CSIC-UPV)

Light is essential for plants as a source of energy and environmental information. Shading by nearby individuals can reduce light quantity and hence compromise photosynthetic activity and growth, a problematic situation in intensive cropping systems. To deal with the outcomes of mutual shading, plants have developed response mechanisms based on the action of photoreceptors, that detect changes in light quality. Plants have two main and divergent strategies to acclimate to vegetation proximity and shade: avoidance or tolerance. Seedlings of the shade-avoider Arabidopsis thaliana respond by elongating their hypocotyls, in addition to other growth and development responses collectively known as the shade avoidance syndrome (SAS). By contrast, seedlings of the shade-tolerant Cardamine hirsuta, an A. thaliana relative, lack the promotion of hypocotyl elongation in response to shade and have developed a variety of traits to acclimate to low light conditions. This divergent hypocotyl trait makes this pair of species ideal for comparative studies. Indeed, we have been carrying out comparative genetic and molecular analyses between these two species to understand the basis for shade tolerance. This will be the subject of the seminar. BIOGRAFÍA I graduated in Biological Sciences (06/1987, University of Valencia, UV) and then got my PhD supervised by Prof. Jose Luis García Martínez (IBMCP, CSIC, Valencia) from the UV (01/1993). Next, I did three postdocs: in Cathie Martin’s group (John Innes Center, Norwich, UK) working on plant transcription factors (03/1993-10/1995); in Peter Quail’s team (Plant Gene Expression Center - PGEC, UC-Berkeley, USA) to work on phytochrome signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana (01/1996-01/2000); and in Salomé Prat laboratory (IBMB, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain), working on photoperiod-regulated potato tuberization (01/2000-10/2001). In November 2001, I got a permanent position as an ICREA (Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats) Research Professor and established my own research group in Consorci CSIC-IRTA/CRAG (Barcelona), studying how plants respond to vegetation proximity. In 2020 I moved to IBMCP (València) as a CSIC Assistant Professor, where I am further developing my research in this subject. I'm also actively involved in divulging plant biology to the society.