EDUCATION, ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

EDUCATION

2006                Undergraduate Bachelor in Biochemistry Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

2007                Master in Biological Sciences Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

2010                Doctorate Doctor in Biological Sciences, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Advisor: Rodrigo Gutierrez.

2010-2016      Postdoctoral Fellow Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Gene regulatory networks controlling nitrate response and development in Arabidopsis thaliana, advisor: Rodrigo  Gutierrez

APPOINTMENTS

2019-present   Director, Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Universidad Mayor

2016-present   Assistant professor, Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Universidad Mayor

2010-2016      Adjunct researcher, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, PUC

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

2021-present   Member of the Biología 3 Study Group, ANID-Chile (Deputy Director since 2022)

2014-present   Review editor, Frontiers in Plant Science.

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS DIRECTION

2021    Andre Dawson
2020     Luis Larraín
2018     Fernando Riquelme
2018     Valentina Wood
2017     Sofía Bustos 

GRADUATE THESIS DIRECTION

2020      Carol Moraga 
2019       Evelyn Sánchez (2023, Expected)
2019       Diego Pérez (2023, Expected)
2021       José David Fernández (2025, Expected)
2022       Lorena Melet  (2026, Expected)

POSTDOCTORAL SUPERVISION (first position)

2021          Mariola Tobar
2020          Nathan Johnson
2019          María Isabel Mujica (Now postdoc at PUC)
2020          Carlos Rosales (Now unemployed)
2019          Claudia Corvalan (Now technical advisor, PI IP LAW, Seoul, Korea)

HONORS AND AWARDS (selected)

2010-2016   Academy Insertion grant PSD74 (PBCT-CONICYT)
2010             Awarded a scholarship to attend the 21st International Conference on Arabidopsis Research, Yokohama, Japan (CONICYT)
2008-2010    Support scholarship for Doctoral thesis (CONICYT)
2006-2010    National Doctoral thesis scholarship (CONICYT)

 

BOOK CHAPTERS

Moyano, TC, Vidal, EA, Contreras-López, O, Gutiérrez, RA. 2015. “Constructing simple biological networks for understanding complex high-throughput data in plants.” In: Plant Functional Genomics: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, Springer Protocols-Humana Press, pp 503-526.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (Patents)

Patent application at INAPI-Chile, 3125-2015. “Regulation of Nitrate uptake and Nitrogen use by BTB genes”

Patent application PCT/CL2016/050057. “Regulation of Nitrate uptake and Nitrogen use by BTB genes”

GRANTS as PI

2021-2023      FONDEQUIP EQMxxx “Single-cell mayor: plataforma para estudios de genómica de célula única”

2021-2025      FONDECYT 1211130 “Epigenetic control of sulfate-starvation responsive genes in Solanum lycopersicum”

2018-2021      REDES180097 “Network for organism interaction research”

2017-2021      FONDECYT 1170926. “Identification of endogenous root small RNA-controlled regulatory networks expressed during Arabidopsis vegetative development”.

2012-2015      FONDECYT 11121225. “Gene regulatory networks underlying developmental adaptations in response to changes in Nutrient availability in Arabidopsis thaliana” (Selected first within the Biology 3 Study Section)

GRANTS as co-PI

2021-2024      Anillo ACT210007. Deputy Director

2017                Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology iBio   Associate researcher

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

FORMAL COLLABORATION NETWORKS

Dr. Vidal collaborates has a formal collaboration with Dr. Javier Canales, from Universidad Austral de Chile in the context of her FONDECYT grant, in which Dr. Canales acts as Co-PI, to determine the role of root-expressed sRNA-controlled networks in development and nutrient response. Dr. Vidal is currently applying to a PCI-CONICYT grant to establish a formal collaboration between the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics-U. Mayor and team ERABLE from Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, led by Dr. Marie-France Sagot. This grant aims to identify of development-regulated small RNA (sRNA) and nutrient controlled regulatory networks in Arabidopsis thaliana and other plants using mathematical models and developing novel algorithms for data analysis. Other informal collaborators include Dr. Julio Sáez-Vásquez, U. de Perpignan (role of sRNAs on environmental response in A. thaliana), Dr. José Antonio O’Brien, P. Universidad Católica de Chile (role of PIN-controlled regulatory networks on salt response in Arabidopsis and cotutor of one of Dr. Vidal’s undergraduate students), Dr. Hannetz Roschzttartdtz, P. Universidad Católica de Chile (identification of iron controlled networks in plants).

 

PUBLICATIONS

1. Contreras-López, O., Vidal, E.A., Riveras, E., Alvarez, J.M., Moyano, T.C., Sparks, E.E., Medina, J., Pasquino, A., Benfey, P.N., Coruzzi, G.M., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2022. Spatiotemporal analysis identifies ABF2 and ABF3 as key hubs of endodermal response to nitrate. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2107879119
2. Darriere, T., Jobet, E., Zavala, D., Escande, M.L., Durut, N., de Bures, A., Blanco-Herrera, F., Vidal, E.A., Rompais, M., Carapito, C., Gourbiere, S., Sáez-Vásquez, J., 2022. Upon heat stress processing of ribosomal RNA precursors into mature rRNAs is compromised after cleavage at primary P site in Arabidopsis thaliana. RNA Biol 19, 719–734. https://doi.org/10.1080/15476286.2022.2071517
3. Grant-Grant, S., Schaffhauser, M., Baeza-Gonzalez, P., Gao, F., Conéjéro, G., Vidal, E.A., Gaymard, F., Dubos, C., Curie, C., Roschzttardtz, H., 2022. B3 Transcription Factors Determine Iron Distribution and FERRITIN Gene Expression in Embryo but Do Not Control Total Seed Iron Content. Front Plant Sci 13, 870078. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.870078
4. Uribe, F., Henríquez-Valencia, C., Arenas-M, A., Medina, J., Vidal, E.A., Canales, J., 2022. Evolutionary and Gene Expression Analyses Reveal New Insights into the Role of LSU Gene-Family in Plant Responses to Sulfate-Deficiency. Plants (Basel) 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11121526
5. Herrera-Vásquez, A., Fonseca, A., Ugalde, J.M., Lamig, L., Seguel, A., Moyano, T.C., Gutiérrez, R.A., Salinas, P., Vidal, E.A., Holuigue, L., 2021. TGA class II transcription factors are essential to restrict oxidative stress in response to UV-B stress in Arabidopsis. J Exp Bot 72, 1891–1905. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraa534
6. Olivares-Yañez, C., Sánchez, E., Pérez-Lara, G., Seguel, A., Camejo, P.Y., Larrondo, L.F., Vidal, E.A., Canessa, P., 2021. A comprehensive transcription factor and DNA-binding motif resource for the construction of gene regulatory networks in Botrytis cinerea and Trichoderma  atroviride. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 19, 6212–6228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2021.11.012
7. Zúñiga, L.M., Andrade, J.-C., Fábrega-Guerén, F., Orihuela, P.A., Velásquez, E.V., Vidal, E.A., Gutiérrez, R.A., Morales, P., Gómez-Silva, B., Croxatto, H.B., 2021. Mating induces early transcriptional response in the rat endosalpinx: the role of TNF and RA. Reproduction 161, 43–59. https://doi.org/10.1530/REP-20-0190
8. Canales, J., Uribe, F., Henríquez-Valencia, C., Lovazzano, C., Medina, J., Vidal, E.A., 2020. Transcriptomic analysis at organ and time scale reveals gene regulatory networks controlling the sulfate starvation response of Solanum lycopersicum. BMC Plant Biol 20, 385. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-020-02590-2
9. Vidal, E.A., Alvarez, J.M., Araus, V., Riveras, E., Brooks, M.D., Krouk, G., Ruffel, S., Lejay, L., Crawford, N.M., Coruzzi, G.M., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2020. Nitrate in 2020: Thirty Years from Transport to Signaling Networks. Plant Cell 32, 2094–2119. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00748
10. Vidal, E.A., Moyano, T.C., Bustos, B.I., Pérez-Palma, E., Moraga, C., Riveras, E., Montecinos, A., Azócar, L., Soto, D.C., Vidal, M., Di Genova, A., Puschel, K., Nürnberg, P., Buch, S., Hampe, J., Allende, M.L., Cambiazo, V., González, M., Hodar, C., Montecino, M., Muñoz-Espinoza, C., Orellana, A., Reyes-Jara, A., Travisany, D., Vizoso, P., Moraga, M., Eyheramendy, S., Maass, A., De Ferrari, G.V., Miquel, J.F., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2019. Whole Genome Sequence, Variant Discovery and Annotation in Mapuche-Huilliche Native South Americans. Sci Rep 9, 2132. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-39391-z
11. Gras, D.E., Vidal, E.A., Undurraga, S.F., Riveras, E., Moreno, S., Dominguez-Figueroa, J., Alabadi, D., Blázquez, M.A., Medina, J., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2018. SMZ/SNZ and gibberellin signaling are required for nitrate-elicited delay of flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana. J Exp Bot 69, 619–631. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erx423
12. Muñoz-Llanos, M., García-Pérez, M.A., Xu, X., Tejos-Bravo, M., Vidal, E.A., Moyano, T.C., Gutiérrez, R.A., Aguayo, F.I., Pacheco, A., García-Rojo, G., Aliaga, E., Rojas, P.S., Cidlowski, J.A., Fiedler, J.L., 2018. MicroRNA Profiling and Bioinformatics Target Analysis in Dorsal Hippocampus of Chronically Stressed Rats: Relevance to Depression Pathophysiology. Front Mol Neurosci 11, 251. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2018.00251
13. Puelma, T., Araus, V., Canales, J., Vidal, E.A., Cabello, J.M., Soto, A., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2017. GENIUS: web server to predict local gene networks and key genes for biological functions. Bioinformatics 33, 760–761. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btw702
14. Araus, V., Vidal, E.A., Puelma, T., Alamos, S., Mieulet, D., Guiderdoni, E., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2016. Members of BTB Gene Family of Scaffold Proteins Suppress Nitrate Uptake and Nitrogen Use Efficiency. Plant Physiol 171, 1523–1532. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.15.01731
15. Moyano, T.C., Vidal, E.A., Contreras-López, O., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2015. Constructing simple biological networks for understanding complex high-throughput data in plants. Methods Mol Biol 1284, 503–526. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2444-8_25
16. Riveras, E., Alvarez, J.M., Vidal, E.A., Oses, C., Vega, A., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2015. The Calcium Ion Is a Second Messenger in the Nitrate Signaling Pathway of Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 169, 1397–1404. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.15.00961
17. Vidal, E.A., Álvarez, J.M., Moyano, T.C., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2015. Transcriptional networks in the nitrate response of Arabidopsis thaliana. Curr Opin Plant Biol 27, 125–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2015.06.010
18. Alvarez, J.M., Riveras, E., Vidal, E.A., Gras, D.E., Contreras-López, O., Tamayo, K.P., Aceituno, F., Gómez, I., Ruffel, S., Lejay, L., Jordana, X., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2014. Systems approach identifies TGA1 and TGA4 transcription factors as important regulatory components of the nitrate response of Arabidopsis thaliana roots. Plant J 80, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.12618
19. Vidal, E.A., Álvarez, J.M., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2014a. Nitrate regulation of AFB3 and NAC4 gene expression in Arabidopsis roots depends on NRT1.1 nitrate transport function. Plant Signal Behav 9, e28501. https://doi.org/10.4161/psb.28501
20. Vidal, E.A., Moyano, T.C., Canales, J., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2014b. Nitrogen control of developmental phase transitions in Arabidopsis thaliana. J Exp Bot 65, 5611–5618. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eru326
21. Vidal, E.A., Moyano, T.C., Krouk, G., Katari, M.S., Tanurdzic, M., McCombie, W.R., Coruzzi, G.M., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2013a. Integrated RNA-seq and sRNA-seq analysis identifies novel nitrate-responsive genes in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. BMC Genomics 14, 701. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-14-701
22. Vidal, E.A., Moyano, T.C., Riveras, E., Contreras-López, O., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2013b. Systems approaches map regulatory networks downstream of the auxin receptor AFB3 in the nitrate response of Arabidopsis thaliana roots. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110, 12840–12845. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1310937110
23. Alvarez, J.M., Vidal, E.A., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2012. Integration of local and systemic signaling pathways for plant N responses. Curr Opin Plant Biol 15, 185–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2012.03.009
24. Vidal, E.A., Araus, V., Lu, C., Parry, G., Green, P.J., Coruzzi, G.M., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2010a. Nitrate-responsive miR393/AFB3 regulatory module controls root system architecture in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107, 4477–4482. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0909571107
25. Vidal, E.A., Tamayo, K.P., Gutierrez, R.A., 2010b. Gene networks for nitrogen sensing, signaling, and response in Arabidopsis thaliana. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Syst Biol Med 2, 683–693. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsbm.87
26. Vidal, E.A., Gutiérrez, R.A., 2008. A systems view of nitrogen nutrient and metabolite responses in Arabidopsis. Curr Opin Plant Biol 11, 521–529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2008.07.003
27. Salinas, P., Fuentes, D., Vidal, E., Jordana, X., Echeverria, M., Holuigue, L., 2006. An extensive survey of CK2 alpha and beta subunits in Arabidopsis: multiple isoforms exhibit differential subcellular localization. Plant Cell Physiol 47, 1295–1308. https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcj100