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Bacterial Plant Diseases and Plant Proteostasis

Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG)

Understanding plant-pathogen
interactions at the molecular level

We combine genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology to decipher how bacterial pathogens cause disease in plants and how plants fight back.

Explore Our Research

Welcome to Our Lab

Our main goals are to decipher the genetic determinants of bacterial plant diseases and to characterize the main executioners of the hypersensitive response cell death. We combine genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology in an integrated approach to study both plants and their pathogens.

The Bacterial Plant Diseases and Plant Proteostasis group is located in the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) in Bellaterra, Barcelona. The CRAG is a consortium between the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Catalan Institute for Food and Agricultural Research and Technology (IRTA), the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).

Photo of the 'Bacterial plant diseases and cell death' lab team in 2025

Research Topics

Three interconnected lines of research exploring plant-pathogen interactions from both sides of the battle.

Genetic Determinants of Bacterial Wilt

Bacterial wilt caused by the wide-host range pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum is a devastating disease affecting over 200 plant species. We study the expression and the functions of its virulence genes inside plant hosts.

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Plant Defense Response Mechanisms

We study the mechanisms underlying inducible physico-chemical barriers posed by resistant plants to R. solanacearum as well as the protease complement involved in neutralizing the bacterium in the apoplast and xylem of infected plants.

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Metacaspases & Proteostasis

We study the mechanisms regulating the hypersensitive response in plants, in particular the role of the metacaspase AtMC1 as a cell death protease and a proteostasis regulator.

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