Emanuel Souza, Universidade Federal do Parana (UFPR) – Brazil Lead.
Emanuel is a full Professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), in Curitiba, PR, Brazil. Emanuel has been studying regulation of nitrogen fixation in Herbaspirillum seropedicae and Azospirillum brasilense since 1990 and has proposed a model for regulation of nif expression in H. seropedicae where the NifA protein is sensitive to both ammonium and oxygen. Emanuel has also participated in the discovery of the role of the PII proteins GlnB and GlnZ in the switch-off and switch-on of nitrogenase, respectivelyand the demonstration that the cycle of ADP-ribosylation/de ADP-ribosylation of dinitrogenase reductase involves the activation of DraT by GlnB and DraG by GlnZ and also the formation of the membrane-anchored ternary complex DraG/GlnZ/AmtB. More information about Emanuel’s work can be found here.
Contact: souzaem@ufpr.br
Adriana Hemerly, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Adriana has a degree in Biological sciences – Bachelor of Genetics at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1987), PhD in Biotechnology at Rijksuniversiteit Gent, Belgium (1989-1994) and post doctorate on Molecular and Cellular Biology at Cold Spring Habour Laboratory, NY (2005-2007). She is currently associate Professor of the Medical Biochemistry Institute Leopoldo de Meis at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She is also a member of the I-PMB board of directors, Adjunct Coordinator of the Biotechnology Area Committee of CAPES and member of the committee of the Graduate Program in plant biotechnology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Her major research topic is to understand mechanisms controlling plant development. She studies regulatory networks controlling cell division and and how they are modulated by environmental signals (drought stress and biotic interactions). One research line investigates signalling pathways involved in the promotion of plant growth by the association with beneficial endophytic diazotrophic bacteria. Finally, the work aims to unify the knowledge produced and direct it to generate to generate biotechnological tools to increase crop productivity. More information about Adriana’s work can be found here.
Contact: hemerly@bioqmed.ufrj.br
Paulo Cavalcanti Gomes Ferreira, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Paulo graduated in Agronomy from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (1982), Master degree in Genetics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1985), PhD in Biotechnology by Rijksuniversiteit Gent, Belgium (1994) with highest distinction – cum Laude- Summa and postdoc in Epigenetics and Genomic of plants in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA (2006). He is currently Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, at the Instituto de Bioquimica Medica Leopoldo de Meis. Paulo has experience in Genetics, with emphasis on molecular genetics of plants, mainly in the following areas: control of cell division, epigenetic regulation of environmental interaction of plants, plant genomics and microorganisms, and the study of the genetic structure of populations of species native plants. More information about Paulo’s work can be found here.
Contact: paulof@bioqmed.ufrj.br
Luciane Maria Pereira Passaglia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFGRS)
Luciane graduated in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1986), PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1992) and postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, United States (1997- 1999). She is Full Professor of Genetics Department of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and has experience in Genetics, with emphasis in Molecular Genetics and Microorganisms, acting on the following topics: Study the regulation and expression of genes related to the process of biological nitrogen fixation, iron uptake (siderophore production ) and production of hormones and the identification and characterization of bacteria that promote plant growth aiming at the production of inoculants for different species of economic importance. More information about Luciane’s work can be found here.
Contact: luciane.passaglia@ufrgs.br
Fábio O. Pedrosa, Universidade Federal do Parana (UFPR)
Fabio is a Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. He is a Full Professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UFPR. Fabio has been involved in research on the control of nitrogenase activity by ammonium ions in Azospirillum brasilense since 1983, when he showed, for the first time, the involvement of the Ntr system in this mechanism and then that the PII proteins GlnB and GlnZ were involved in the switch-off and switch-on of nitrogenase, respectively and finally the demonstration that the cycle of ADP-ribosylation/de ADP-ribosylation of dinitrogenase reductase involves the activation of DraT by GlnB and DraG by GlnZ; and also the formation of the membrane-anchored ternary complex DraG/GlnZ/AmtB. He has developed six A. brasilense strains approved by the Agricultural Ministry for use as inoculants for maize, wheat and rice. More information about Fabio’s work can be found here.
Contact: pedrosa.fabio@gmail.com
Fabio Lopes Olivares, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminese (UENF)
Fabio received the B.E. degree in agronomy from Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, in 1985 and Ph.D. degree in soil microbiology from Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, in 1997. In 1999, he joined the Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Tecidual (LBCT), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF) as visiting research and became Professor in 2002. His current research interest includes endophytic behavior of nitrogen-fixing bacteria and described the structural interaction between bacteria and non-legume plants, as well new technological approaches to develop bioinoculants for agriculture. More information about Fabio’s work can be found here.
Contact: fabio.olivares@gmail.com
Veronica Massena Reis, Embrapa
Veronica is a researcher at Embrapa Agrobiology since 1994. She holds a PhD in Agronomy – Soil Science by the Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro – Brazil. She has been working for more than 20 years in the interaction of diazotrophic growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). Veronica developed her research in the “Laboratory of Grasses” of Embrapa Agrobiology. She is also a researcher level 1C of CNPq and Scientist of Rio de Janeiro State, a special grant granted by Faperj since its creation. More information about Veronica’s work can be found here.
Contact: veronica.massena@embrapa.br