Born in Madrid in 1964. Studied Biological Sciences at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM, 1987), where he also obtained his PhD (1991; Molecular Biology and Biochemistry), in the field of plant molecular virology. Postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Elliot Meyerowitz, at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), studying Arabidopsis flower development. Joined a start-up company in the field of plant functional genomics (Mendel Biotechnology, Hayward, CA), in 1998, studying Arabidopsis transcription factors. In 2002, joined Caltech as Director of the Millard and Muriel Jacobs Genetics and Genomics Laboratory, continuing studies on genome-wide analyses of gene expression, gene expression in Arabidopsis flower development, microRNAs, and microarray technology. Since 2007, ICREA Research Professor at the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), Barcelona. Director of CRAG from 2013 until 2022.
Research interests
We study development and stress-responses in plants, using genome-wide approaches and Arabidopsis thaliana as the main model system. In particular, studies on flower development, abiotic plant stress responses, genomic analyses of transcription factors, and global gene expression and proteomic analyses, such as characterizing the regulatory network of the floral master regulator AP1, or the chronology of protein expression throughout early flower development and its correlation to unbiased transcript expression data. The most recent focus of our work is the definition and characterization of the plant ‘non-conventional’ peptidome: peptides that are produced from translation of sORFs that are “hidden” in the genome. We are defining and studying the roles of these sORF-encoded peptides (SEPs) in flower development and other processes, in particular responses to stress.
Selected publications
- Alvarez-Urdiola R Matus JT González-Miguel VM Bernardo-Faura M & Riechmann JL 2025, ‘Chronology of transcriptome and proteome expression during early Arabidopsis flower development‘, Journal of Experimental Botany, vol. 76, no. 10, pp 2743-2762
- Alvarez-Urdiola R & Riechmann JL 2025, 'The ‘non-conventional’ peptidome: A new layer in plant regulatory mechanisms', Plant Communications, vol 6, no. 12, 101437.