Maria Angeles Ayllon

Maria Angeles Ayllón is an Associate Professor at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) and leads the Virus-Fungus-Plant Interaction research group at the Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP-UPM/INIA/CSIC). Her research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of mycovirus interactions with plant pathogenic fungi, particularly Botrytis cinerea, to develop sustainable biocontrol strategies for plant diseases.

Research Focus:

• Mycovirus diversity and evolution in fungal pathogens
• Molecular mechanisms of fungal responses to viral infections
• Development of mycovirus-based biocontrol agents
• RNA silencing in fungi as antiviral defense
• Synthetic mycovirus construction for functional studies

Her group has made significant contributions to mycovirus discovery, including novel Botrytis cinerea viruses, and has developed infectious clones for reverse genetics studies. The research has direct applications in sustainable agriculture, particularly in reducing chemical fungicide use as mandated by the EU Green Deal.

Current Research Projects:

• PID2020-120106RB-I00 (2021-2024): "Molecular mechanism involved in the interaction of Botrytis cinerea-host plant mediated by a mycoviral infection" - Co-PI with Julio L. Rodríguez-Romero
• VIROPLANT H2020-SFS-17 (2018-2021): "Virome NGS analysis of pests and pathogens for plant protection" - PI

Research Team: The group currently includes 3 PhD students (Cecilia Martín Parera, Julian Méndez Garcia), 1 postdoc (Javier Pardo Medina), and collaborates with Assistant Professor Julio Luis Rodriguez Romero.

Laboratory Facilities: The group operates from offices (Room 223) and laboratories (Room 229) at the CBGP facilities in Montegancedo Campus, Madrid, with full molecular biology, genomics, and plant pathology capabilities.