Argentina

María Florencia
Del Papa

plant-microbe interactions

Biography

Graduate in Biochemistry (1994) and PhD from the Faculty of Exact Sciences (2001) of the National University of La Plata (UNLP), Argentina. She is currently an Independent Researcher at CONICET with a workplace at the Institute of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology (IBBM). She is a reference from the Laboratory of Genomics and Molecular Ecology of soil microorganisms associated with plants (ttps://ibbm.conicet.gov.ar/lineas-de-investigacion/lab-genomica-ecologia-molecular/). Also, she works as a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences of UNLP.

Her main research topics are focused on the study of bacteria from the soil environment that interact with plants, particularly mutualistic and commensalistic bacteria. As model systems she has studied, from different angles; the biochemistry, physiology, and biology of rhizobia (diazotrophic bacteria that fix nitrogen after becoming established inside the root nodules of legumes (Fabaceae) and other bacteria associated with plants that in many cases enhance plant growth by direct and indirect means (PGPR, Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria) and in particular, the way in which bacteria face the challenges of environmental stress, as well as the organization, plasticity and evolution of their genomes as a way of adaptation in the medium and long term.

During her career she has participated in both national and international cooperation projects, consultancies and technological linkage agreements with agroindustrial companies.