Affiliation: Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea 'La Mayora', Universidad de Málaga-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IHSM-UMA-CSIC), Depto. Biología Celular, Genética y Fisiología, Málaga, Spain

Dr. José S. Rufián received his PhD at the University of Málaga, focused on the characterization at cellular and molecular level of the Type III Secretion System (T3SS) and Type III Effectors (T3Es) in the plant-pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas syringae. During his postdoctoral stage at the Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology (PSC), Dr. José developed a project on the characterization of the interaction between plants and the soil-born pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum, focusing on the metabolic changes that result in either virulence activity or immune response. José is an Assistant Professor of Genetics at the University of Málaga and is developing his research project at the Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea “La Mayora” (IHSM) in Spain.