Cecilia Zumajo

Profile

Cecilia Zumajo is a plant evolutionary and developmental (evo-devo) biologist working on model and non-model species to investigate the evolution of fruits and seeds. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of reproductive structures in morphologically unique plants as well as the evolution and origin of the seed, while highlighting the diversity of this structure. Dr. Zumajo uses an integrative approach, combining basic botany tools, molecular biology, genomics and bioinformatics. Dr. Zumajo’s research on the fruit and the seed has focused on two groups of plants that are particularly interesting due to their key position in evolution, but also because they have been little studied: i) Papaveraceae (poppies), a family that lies phylogenetically between the monocots (grasses) and the core eudicots (Arabidopsis); and ii) gymnosperms, the first extant plant lineage where seeds evolved and exhibiting a great diversity of seed morphologies. Cecilia’s postdoctoral research focused on the genetic mechanisms involved in post-zygotic barriers in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. In addition, over the past few years, Cecilia’s research has led her to take a closer interest in auxin, whose flux, biosynthesis and degradation play key role in the development of seeds, with its ‘morphogen’ activity promoting signaling in the cross-talk between the different tissues of the seed (embryo, nutritive tissues, seed coat).

Selected publications
Zumajo-Cardona, C., Gabrieli, F., Anire, J., Albertini, E., Ezquer, I., Colombo, L. Evolutionary studies of the bHLH transcription factors belonging to MBW complex: revisiting their role in seed development Annals of Botany. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcad097

Zumajo-Cardona, C., Aguirre, M., Castillo, R., Mizzotti, C., Di Marzo, M., Banfi, C., Mendes, M. A., Spillane, C., Colombo, L., Ezquer, I. Maternal control of triploid seed development by the TRANSPARENT TESTA 8 transcription factor in Arabidopsis thaliana Scientific reports 13, 1316 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038

Marchant, D.B., Chen, G., Cai, S. … Zumajo-Cardona, C. … et al. 2022. Dynamic genome evolution in a model fern. Nature Plants https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01226-7

Rothwell, G. W., Stockey, R. A., Stevenson, D. W., and Zumajo-Cardona, C. 2022. Large Permineralized Seeds in the Jurassic of Haida Gwaii, Western Canada: Exploring the Mode and Tempo of Cycad Evolution International Journal of Plant Sciences, 183(8), 000-000.

Zumajo-Cardona, C., and Ambrose, B. 2022. Fleshy or dry: Transcriptome analyses reveal the genetic mechanisms underlying bract development in Ephedra BMC EvoDevo 13, 10 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13227-022-00195-4

Zumajo-Cardona, C., Stevenson, D., Little D., and Ambrose, B. 2021. Expression analyses in Ginkgo biloba provide new insights into the evolution and development of the seed. Scientific reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01483-0

Zumajo-Cardona, C., Frangos, S. and Stevenson, D. 2021. Seed anatomy and development in Cycads and Ginkgo, keys for understanding the evolution of seeds. Flora doi:10.1016/j.flora.2021.151951