1. Aportaciones científicas

a.- Relevancia y su contribución a la generación del conocimiento:

I have published 24 scientific articles in JCR journals (18 of them in Q1 and 15 in D1), and 3 book chapters.

b.- La generación de ideas, hipótesis y resultados:

I have dedicated my career to the study of gene expression regulation in plants, with a specific interest in the role of epigenetics and gene silencing. In 2008 I obtained my Ph.D. in Crisanto Guitierrez lab (CBMSO, CSIC, Spain), where I studied the role of histone modifications controlling the function of a novel gene (GEM) in Arabidopsis, which I characterized as a factor modulating cell division and cell fate decisions in root epidermis (Caro et al., 2007, Nature). Later, during my postdoc in Steve Jacobsen lab (UCLA, USA) (2008-2012), I studied SUVR5, a plant Su(var)3-9 homolog that mediates H3K9me2 deposition and regulates gene silencing in sequence-specific loci (Caro et al., 2012, PLoS Genet). The ability to direct heterochromatin formation and gene repression by guiding SUVR5 to specific genomic locations with engineered Zinc fingers was patented (WO 2013/106769 A1) and licensed to Inari Agriculture from 2017 to 2019. During my time in UCLA, I also collaborated in projects that generated very high profile publications, now basic references in the field of plant epigenetics (Jacob et al., 2010, Nature -> 150 citations; Du et al., 2012, Cell -> 362 citations).

In 2014, I was recruited by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid with a Ramón y Cajal fellowship and became part of the Centre for Plant Genomics and Biotechnology (CBGP, UPM-INIA/CSIC), where I continued working on gene expression regulation, with special interest in small RNAs and DNA methylation mediated silencing of transgenes. The results of this work explored the role of terminators in heritable gene silencing (Pérez- González and Caro, 2018, BMC Res Not) and of genetic insulators to avoid silencing by positional effects (Pérez-González and Caro, 2019, Scienctific Reports). Since 2021, I co-direct with Juan Carlos del Pozo (INIA/CSIC) a research line focused on the plant response to abiotic stresses, with special interest on the study of the epigenetic mechanisms governing the adaptation of plants to adverse growing conditions. We study the plant response to Pi deficit in combination with heat stress, a problematic situation very common in the current situation of climate change and soil impoverishment. For that, we have designed a system that mimics field conditions, where roots grow in a dark environment with a descending temperature gradient. The use of this system, the TGRooZ, has shown that root systems grown in an increased environment temperature are able to develop efficiently and maintain their functionality to sustain proper shoot growth and development (Gonzalez-Garcia et al., 2023, Plant Communications).

For the past 10 years, I have also been involved in an applied biotechnology project led by Prof. Luis Rubio (UPM, Spain) to investigate the transfer of bacterial nitrogen fixation genes to plants. This research program, for which the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded funding of more than $10 million since 2012, aims to obtain cereals with minimum requirements of nitrogen fertilizers that will produce higher returns on their crops. The project involves plant synthetic biology, where I apply my knowledge on gene expression regulation working to obtain maximum expression and stability of transgenes in yeast (Pérez-González et al., 2017, BMC Biotechnology), and tobacco and rice (Baysal et al., 2019, Transgenic Research; Eseverri et al., 2020, Plant Biotechnology Journal, Eseverri et al., 2020, Frontiers Plant Science).

c.- Estrategias de comunicación:

I have been invited to give lectures at national and international conferences, workshops, etc:

2023       Keynote speaker in the 3rd Conference of the COST action Epigenetic mechanisms of crop adaptation to climate change (EPI-CATCH). June 2023, Sofia, Bulgaria.

2022   Invited speaker in the PlantEpigenetics: From Methodology to Applications Workshop. May 2022. CIB-CSIC, Madrid, Spain.

2015        Invited speaker in the Global Engage Synthetic Biology Congress. 2015. London, United Kingdom. 

d.- Financiación obtenida:

2022    Engineering multi-functional microbes for plant-related applications (EMMA). MISSIONS_CBGP ? Programa SEVERO OCHOA CBGP. (90.000?? + 3 postdocs + 2 PhDs) PI: Ángel Goñi-Moreno. Co-PIs: Alejandro Couce, Luis M. Rubio, Manuel Gonzalez-Guerrero, Elena Caro y Juan Imperial.

2021    Effect of global warming on plant nutrition, root growth and microbiome association. Programa Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (PID2020-113479RB-100) (170.000?? + PhD student salary/4 years). PI: Carlos del Pozo, Co-PI: Elena Caro.

2020    BNF-Cereals Phase III (2020-2024). Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Project leader: Luis M. Rubio

2020    Identification of plant virus seed transmission determinants: towards virus-free seeds: SEV-2016-0672-19-2 (Pre-doctoral student fellowship granted through the CBGP "Severo Ochoa Program"). PI: Israel Jesús Pagán; Co-PI: Elena Caro.

2018    Development of epigenetic markers related to seed germination (EPI-SEED) (2018-2019). Programa propio de I+D+i de la UPM. Ayuda dirigida a jóvenes investigadores doctores para fortalecer sus planes de investigación (30.000 ??). Co-PIs: Elena Caro y Raquel Iglesias.

2016    BNF-Cereals Phase II (2016-2020). Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Project leader: Luis M. Rubio; Sub-grantee: Elena Caro (300.000 $).

2015    Gene silencing in plant biotechnology applications (2015-2018). Programa Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (BIO2014-58789-P) (90.000 ??). PI: Elena Caro

2014    Ramón y Cajal grant additional funding,  Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (40.000 ??). PI: Elena Caro.

e.- Capacidades científico técnicas adquiridas:

Clonaje modular, expresión estable y transitoria en Arabidopsis, tabaco y arroz. RNAseq, small RNAseq, WGBSseq.

f.- Responsabilidades científicas ejercidas:

Directorao co-directora de tesis de Ana Pérez Gonzalez y Álvaro Eseverri (tesis defendidas) y de Manuel Ene, Victoria Baca, Alberto Lozano e Irene Torregrosa (tesis en curso).

Directora de 5 TFMs y 3 TFGs.

g.- Colaboraciones internacionales y el liderazgo:

I am one of the three chairs of the 6^th International Conference on PlantSynBio, presented by the Society of Biological Engineering, that took place in Florida in December 2022, was a member of the Organizing Committee of the 5^th International Conference on PlantSynBio that took place, virtually, in November 2021, and was a member of the Advisory Panel for the Global Engage Synthetic Biology Meeting, London, UK in 2016.

2. Aportaciones a la sociedad

a.- Actividades de desarrollo tecnológico y de innovación:

During my time in UCLA, the ability to direct heterochromatin formation and gene repression by guiding SUVR5 to specific genomic locations was patented (WO 2013/106769 A1) and licensed to Inari Agriculture from 2017 to 2019.

b.- Actividades de divulgación:

Colaboración en el reportaje de Agrosfera (RTVE) Las nuevas técnicas genómicas centran el debate: https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/agrosfera/09-09-23/6964889/

Elaboración del guión para el vide de divulgación Trangénesis vs Edición génica de la Fundación Antama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC8TuMJnZ50

Participation with talks in STEAM day and International day of Women in science of LasRozasNext.

Colaboración en las actividades de la Semana de la Ciencia, el día de la Biotecnología, el día de la Fascinación por las plantas, etc. organizadas por el CBGP.

3. Aportaciones a la formación de jóvenes investigadores 

a.- Cómo ha contribuido al desarrollo de las carreras

Mentoring: 

2014 ? 2021              1 Postdoc / 6 PhDs / 5 Master students / 3 Degree students ? Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain and Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.

b.- Cómo ha contribuido a la constitución de equipos de investigación

c.- Cómo ha contribuido a la creación de empresas, a actividades editoriales, o a la evaluación de investigadores, proyectos y otras actividades de investigación

Project Reviewer: Agencia Nacional de Evaluación y Prospectiva (ANEP), Spain and Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (FONCYT), Argentina.

Article Scientific Evaluation for Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, ACS SynBio, Plant Cell Reports, BMC Biotechnology, International Journal of Molecular Sciences and others.

Review Editor for Plant Epigenetics - Frontiers in Epigenetics and Epigenomics