I´m very enthusiastic about the development of biotechnological approaches for using phytases to access phytate organic phosphorus pool present in soils and manures for plant nutrition. Since 2008 I have performed literature review and experimental work in the area of soil organic phosphorus abundance and availability, as affected by phytase enzymes and phytase producing microbes. I’m particularly interested content of phytase-labile organic P in manures and soils, as well as the environmental factors and enzyme properties affecting catalytic behavior of phytases in these environments. 

Published research

My past work has been developed in cooperation Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO-Chile), University of Naples (UNINA, Italy) and Max Rubner-Institut (MRI, Germany). To date, I have leaded and coauthored 8 papers published in high impact factor ISI indexed journals and one book chapter. Please visit my ResearchGate profile to see my complete list of publications.

Current research

I’m currently working as PDRA in the OPUS project, recently funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to explore cropping strategies to target the use of recalcitrant soil Po. This consortium includes researchers from Lancaster University (Lancaster, UK), James Hutton Institute (Aberdeen and Dundee, UK) and Rothamsted Research (Devon, UK). In this project we will investigate the use of low molecular weight organic acid anions (LMWOAA) and phytases to access soil organic phosphorus. Experimental techniques employed will include plant phytase exudation analysis, organic phosphorus analysis using diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT), HPLC, enzyme hydrolysis and ³¹P nuclear magnetic resonance.