In general lines, our research aims to help in understanding: i) population structure, genetic diversity and evolution of plant pathogens, ii) genetic and molecular mechanisms involved in the plant-pathogen interaction, particularly those involved in the development of disease and establishment of resistance, and iii) the molecular mechanisms of the viral transmission by insect vectors. The pathogens under study include: white fly-transmited viruses (Begomovirus and Crinivirus), bacterial pathogens (Pseudomonas spp.) and fungi (Verticillium dahliae).

Different research projects are being conducted with aims in the etiology, epidemiology and control of diseases of relevant subtropical (mango, avocado) and Mediterranean crops (olive, cucurbits, tomato, strawberry), as well as in the characterization of the biology, pathogenesis, virulence, host range and ecology of bacteria and fungi that cause them. These objectives are being addressed by different methodological approaches ranging from conventional methods in Plant Pathology, Microbiology and Genetics to genomic approaches.

The activity of the Subtropical Fruit Crops Group focused in a sustainable utilization of genetic resources to optimize production in subtropical fruit tree species both under the current environmental conditions as well as taking into account climate change predictions, is unique in Spain. The activities are mainly focused on the most important subtropical crops grown in Spain (avocado, cherimoya and mango) but work is also performed in other subtropical and temperate fruit crops (mainly Prunus and olive). Some of those species serve as models for the work in subtropical fruit crops.

This research group carries out activities related to the identification of genes and the underlying mechanisms involved in tolerance to abiotic stress in plants (mainly Arabidopsis thaliana, tomato and strawberry).

The group focuses its activity on designing Therapy and Medicine Imaging devices beyond the current state-of-the-art, in terms of sensitivity, spatial, energy, and temporal resolution. The group also develops algorithms to provide the best achievable image quality with the available data in the most efficient way in terms of computing time and quantitative accuracy.

Nuclear medicine equipment makes use of very specific radiation sensors which need high-end front-end electronics and data acquisition systems. Due to the vast number of outputs provided by these sensors and the processing power needed to manage the huge amount of information, high-tech ad-hoc solutions are needed which cannot be commercially obtained: - Analog front-end electronics, for low level connection with the sensor as well as for an initial preprocessing, has to be integrated in an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

The group of Grid and High Performance Computing (GRyCAP) focuses on the development and application of the high performance computing and Grid technologies in different fields such as engineering, biomedicine, e-Government or scientific computing.

Gold-Based Compounds in Photophysics, Medicine and Catalysis

The research group coordinated by Prof. Jesús J. Pérez-Torrente, to which belong Prof. Luis A. Oro and other permanent scientists of the University of Zaragoza and the CSIC, has been recognized by the Government of Aragon as a research group of reference (E42_17R). The research team includes researchers from the Ramón y Cajal program, as well as a number of researchers in pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training.