Dr. Romano Porras-Murillo

Genetic Modifications for Agronomically Important Traits

My research focuses on the genetic modification of plants to enhance a wide range of agronomically important traits, including—but not limited to—climate resilience, herbicide resistance, and improved resource use efficiency. In the face of increasing environmental challenges and growing global food demand, there is a pressing need to develop crop varieties capable of maintaining high productivity under diverse stress conditions.

By integrating molecular plant physiology with advanced genomic tools such as Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), I aim to identify and functionally characterize genes involved in tolerance to abiotic stress, herbicide resistance, and other traits that contribute to sustainable crop performance. This work contributes to the scientific foundation for improving crop traits through molecular breeding and biotechnology, supporting long-term agricultural resilience and environmental sustainability.

Porras-Murillo, R., Stein, L., Straub, T., Anthoney, T., Schulze, W., Ludewig, U. & Neuhäuser, B. (2025). PYRABACTIN RESISTANCE 1 –LIKE 8 and AKT1 INTERACTING PROTEIN PHOSPHATASE 1 are involved in ammonium transport regulation. (In Press).

Ganz, P., Porras-Murillo, R., Ijato, T., Menz, J., Straub, T., Stührwohldt, N., Moradtalab, N., Ludewig, U., & Neuhäuser, B. (2022).

Abscisic acid influences ammonium transport via regulation of kinase

CIPK23 and ammonium transporters. Plant Physiology.10.1093/Plphys/Kiac315. 

https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiac315

Ganz, P., Ijato, T., Porras-Murillo, R., Stührwohldt, N., Ludewig, U., & Neuhäuser, B. (2020). A twin histidine motif is the core structure for high-affinity substrate selection in plant ammonium transporters. 

Journal of Biological Chemistry, 295(10), 3362–3370. 

https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA119.010891