María F. Fillat Castejón
Centre: Dpto. Bioquímica y Biologia Molecular y Celular
Institution: University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza (Spain)
Position: Researcher from the University of Zaragoza
E-mail: fillat@unizar.es
Phone: 976 761282
Perfil: Ver
Personal statement
I completed my PhD thesis at the University of Zaragoza, under the supervision of Carlos Gómez-Moreno, on the characterization of cyanobacteria flavoproteins, with stays at the universities of Konstanz (Germany) and Emory (Atlanta, USA). I did a postdoc at the University of Utrecht, where I learned the techniques of Molecular Biology that I introduced upon my return to the laboratory in Zaragoza. A full professor since 1995, I combined my teaching and research activities with my work in the governing team of the Faculty of Sciences, from 1996 to 2002, a period in which I was responsible for the implementation of the degree in Biochemistry in Zaragoza, the germ of current Biotechnology. I did stays at the Universities of Rosario (Argentina) and Geneva (Switzerland), as well as at the IBVF (CSIC, Seville). Member of BIFI since 2000 and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology since 2012, I currently lead the Gene Regulation and Physiology of Cyanobacteria group.
Researcher profile identity
As a team PI, my EURAXESS level corresponds to R4. In our group we work with the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena. Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria are used in biofertilization and in pilot studies for the production of hydrogen and biofuels. We investigate how the nitrogen fixation process and the incorporation of metals by Anabaena are regulated, since it can also be used in bioremediation to clean soils contaminated by heavy metals, especially when the cyanobacteria is forming biofilms. Both in the regulation of nitrogen metabolism and in the control of metal homeostasis and biofilm formation, the participation of a family of proteins called FUR (ferric uptake regulator) is very important. Our group studies their role in these processes and which regulatory networks are connected to FUR proteins.
Why my research is important
Knowing how nitrogen fixation processes, and the control of metal homeostasis in cyanobacteria are regulated, as well as the formation of biofilms, is crucial to obtain strains with new biotechnological applications from these microorganisms. Our work is published in prestigious journals and is presented at national and international conferences in the field. Furthermore, although we mainly carry out basic research, since 2000 we have generated two patents (one of them, now expired, which was exploited by BASF) and know-how on the development of a cyanotoxin detection kit that is being marketed by ZEUlab.
More about me and my research
– https://bifi.es/es/bioquimica-bmc/
– Twitter/X: @cyanofur
