Our program works to maintain crop biodiversity by increasing the production of new varieties in fruit and vegetable genetic improvement programs, which is a challenge in the vegetable production chain. We mainly work with melons, apples, peaches and strawberries.
Part of the research we do is to select new varieties with better organoleptic quality and to extend the shelf life of the fruits, avoiding waste.
Furthermore, climate change and globalization have led to the emergence of new risks to crop health, in the form of emerging pests and diseases. For this reason, we investigate how to find genes that could help plants resist infections by microorganisms such as fungi or viruses. To achieve this, our research encompasses several disciplines, such as genetics, genomics, bioinformatics and biotechnology. We also use large-scale phenotyping, metabolomics and digitization to apply artificial intelligence and assisted breeding for genomics. We work from the phenotype to the gene to validate plant functions.
Study and improvement of varieties
We generate bioinformatics tools to apply to genetic improvement, variety characterization and the visual representation of pedigrees, and to identify and control varieties. We develop molecular markers and other genomic tools to increase efficiency and reduce the development time of improved varieties in fruit tree species such as peach, apple, pear and strawberry.
Metabolism
We study the primary metabolism of plants to improve their adaptation to environmental changes.
Plant health
We study the molecular level resistance of the melon plant to the CMV virus using a melon germplasm collection and a strain collection.
Biotechnological tools
We use biotechnological tools such as CRISP/Cas gene editing or viral vectors for the expression and production of molecules of interest in plant matrices.
Melon
We study the climacteric ripening process by performing genetic dissection of fruit to improve shelf life and reduce food loss in the market.
Fruit trees
We conduct genome-wide association studies to shed light on the genetics of fruit quality, resistance to biotic and abiotic stress, and other agronomic traits, and develop strategies for rapid and efficient introgression of valuable genes into high-quality varieties.
Strawberries
We compare the genomes of wild and cultivated strawberries to gain more knowledge about taste, sugars, aromas and nutritional quality.
Plants of medicinal therapeutic use
We study genomics and metabolomics in cannabis and other medicinal plants to develop markers for Assisted Selection and to generate prebreeding materials. We have the technology to evaluate the genetics of the lines and the content of specific metabolites, such as cannabinoids or aromas (terpenes).
