Myriam Catalá

Keywords: oxidative stress, NO, abiotic stress, lichens, free radicals, microalgae, symbiosis.

My interest for oxidative stress and nitric oxide metabolism dates back to my PhD research work, when the research on free radicals in biomedicine had just begun. I worked on glutathione quantification and the determination of the enzymatic activity of classical antioxidants such as cytosolic and mitochondrial SOD, glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase. I also studied the role of NO in hepatic regulation of oxidative status and the release of intracellular free radicals by flow cytometry.

Nowadays, my interest in free radicals and NO metabolism and regulation is as strong as previously but the models for my research have widened, from invertebrates to vertebrates, from mammals to fish and from plants to lichens. The development of new sensitive biomarkers for the assessment of environmental toxicity has led me to study free radical release and lipid peroxidation in response to micro- and emerging pollutants. My most recent line of research addresses the oxidative balance and regulation of NO during lichens rehydration stress, an extremely new approach that has deserved several Q1 publications. Our results on lichen NO physiology supply the first evidences to support the hypothesis formulated by Martin & Feelisch in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, postulating a role for NO as a key molecule in the evolution of biological symbioses including mitochondrion-eukaryote cell endosymbiosis.

During 2016, I was designated as Head of the Environmental Toxicology Area (TA) of the National Centre for Environmental Health (CNSA). I participated in an European Human Biomonitoring Initiative to a H2020 call backed by the E. Commission where CNSA leads 1 of the 3 pillars and 2 WP. Currently, I have returned to URJC where I continue with my previous research lines, especially involved in lichen symbiosis cell biology and abiotic stress tolerance mechanisms.