Alejandra Bravo

Alejandra Bravo
Nacimiento	29 de abril de 1961 (50 años) ciudad de México
Residencia	Cuernavaca, Morelos
Nacionalidad	mexicana
Campo	bioquímica
Instituciones	UNAM
Alma máter	Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Estudiantes destacados	Luis Enrique Zavala Leidy Patricia Bedoya Beatriz Elizabeth Noriega, Diana Laura Martinez de Castro Meztlli Ofelia Gaytan Violeta Matus Jazmin Alaide Lopez
Premios destacados	Premio 2010 de L'Oréal-UNESCO a mujeres científicas latinoaméricas

Profª. Dra. María Alejandra Bravo de la Parra (n. 29 de abril de 1961) es una bioquímica mexicana, que ha sido laureada con el Premio L'Oréal-UNESCO a mujeres científicas de Latinoamérica, por su labor en las toxinas bacteriales que actúan como poderosos insecticidas^[1]

Bravo es una investigadora en el Instituto de Microbiología Molecular de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)^[2] Posee los grados de licenciatura en biología (en 1985), los de maestría en biomedicina (en 1986), y doctorado en Bioquímica médica (en 1989), todas graducaciones con menciones honoríficas, en estudios básicos biomédicos, por la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), desarrollando actividades académicas en el Instituto de Biotecnología en la misma casa de altos estudios; y es miembro de la Academia Mexicana de Ciencias^[3]

Algunas publicaciones

• h. Porta, g. Jiménez, e. Córdoba, p. León, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2011. Tobacco plants expressing the Cry1AbMod toxin suppress tolerance to Cry1Ab toxin of Manduca sexta cadherin-silenced larvae. Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 41 : 513-519

• ---------, a. Cancino-Rodezno, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2011. Role of MAPK p38 in the cellular responses to pore-forming toxins. Peptides 32 : 601-606

• d. Carmona, c. Rodríguez-Almazán, c. Muñoz-Garay, l. Portugal, c. Pérez, r.a. de Maagd, p. Bakker, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2011. Dominant Negative Phenotype of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab, Cry11Aa and Cry4Ba Mutants Suggest Hetero-Oligomer Formation among Different Cry Toxins PLoS. One 6 : e19952

• l.e. Zavala, l. Pardo-López, p.e. Canton, i. Gómez, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2011. Domains II and III of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab toxin remain exposed to the solvent after insertion of part of domain I into the membrane. J. Biol. Chem. 286 : 19109-19117

• a. Bravo, s. Likitvivatanavong, s.s. Gill, m. Soberon. 2011. Bacillus thuringiensis: A story of a successful bioinsecticide. Insect. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 41 : 423-431

• s. Likitvivatanavong, j. Chen, a.m. Evans, a. Bravo, m. Soberon, s.s. Gill. 2011. Multiple Receptors as Targets of Cry Toxins in Mosquitoes. J. Agric. Food. Chem. 59 : 2829-2838

• c. Rodríguez-Almazán, i. Ruiz de Escudero, p.e. Canton, c. Muñoz-Garay, c. Pérez, s.s. Gill, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2011. The amino- and carboxyl-terminal fragments of the Bacillus thuringiensis Cyt1Aa toxin have differential roles on toxin oligomerization and pore formation. Biochemistry 50 : 388-396

• o. Terenius, a. Papanicolaou, j.s. Garbutt, i. Eleftherianos, h. Huvenne, k. Sriramana, m. Albrechtsen, c. An, j.l. Aymeric, a. Barthel, p. Bebas, k. Bitra, a. Bravo et al. 2011. RNA interference in Lepidoptera: an overview of successful and unsuccessful studies and implications for experimental design. J. Insect. Physiol. 57 : 231-245

• s. Likitvivatanavong, j. Chen, a. Bravo, m. Soberon, s.s. Gill. 2011. Role of cadherin, alkaline phosphatase and aminopeptidase N as receptors of Cry11Ba toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis jegathesan in Aedes aegypti. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 77 : 24-31

• p.e. Canton, e.z. Reyes, i.r. Escudero, a. Bravo, m. Soberon. 2011. Binding of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis Cry4Ba to Cyt1Aa has an important role in synergism. Peptides 32 : 595-600

• i. Gómez, i. Arenas, s. Pacheco, a. Bravo, m. Soberon. 2010. New Insights into the Mode of Action of Cry1Ab Toxin Used in Transgenic Insect-resistant Crops. Southwestern Entomologist 35 : 387-390

• c. Muñoz-Garay, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2010. Mode of Action of Bacillus thuringiensis-Genetically Modified Cry1AbMod and Cry1AcMod Toxins Role of Alkaline pH in Toxin Oligomerization. Southwestern Entomologist 35 : 383-386

• m. Fernández-Ruvalcaba, g. Pena-Chora, a. Romo-Martínez, v. Hernández-Velazquez, a.b. de la Parra, d.p. De la Rosa. 2010. Evaluation of Bacillus thuringiensis pathogenicity for a strain of the tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, resistant to chemical pesticides. Journal of Insect Science 10 : 186

• a. Vazquez-Pineda, g.n. Yañez-Pérez, m.e. López-Arellano, p. Mendoza-de-Gives, e. Liebano-Hernández, a. Bravo-de-la-Parra. 2010. Biochemical Characterization of Two Purified Proteins of the IB-16 Bacillus thuringiensis Strains and Their Toxicity Against the Sheep Nematode Haemonchus contortus In vitro. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases 57 : 111-114

• m.t. Fernández-Luna, b.e. Tabashnik, h. Lanz-Mendoza, a. Bravo, m. Soberon, j. Miranda-Ríos. 2010. Single concentration tests show synergism among Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis toxins against the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles albimanus. J. Invertebr. Pathol. 104 : 231-233

• -----------------------, h. Lanz-Mendoza, s.s. Gill, a. Bravo, m. Soberon, j. Miranda-Ríos. 2010. An alpha-amylase is a novel receptor for Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis Cry4Ba and Cry11Aa toxins in the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles albimanus (Diptera: Culicidae). Environ. Microbiol. 12 : 746-757

• i. Arenas, a. Bravo, m. Soberon, i. Gómez. 2010. Role of alkaline phosphatase from Manduca sexta in the mechanism of action of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab toxin. J. Biol. Chem. 285 : 12497-503

• a. Cancino-Rodezno, h. Porta, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2010. Defense and death responses to pore forming toxins. Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews 26 : 82

• -----------------------, c. Alexander, r. Villasenor, s. Pacheco, h. Porta, y. Pauchet, m. Soberon, s.s. Gill, a. Bravo. 2010. The mitogen-activated protein kinase p38 is involved in insect defense against cry toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis. Insect. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 40 : 58-63

• e.s. Martins, r.g. Monnerat, p.r. Queiroz, v.f. Dumas, s.v. Braz, r.w. de Souza Aguiar, a.c. Mendes Gomes, j. Sánchez, a. Bravo, b.m. Ribeiro. 2010. Midgut GPI- anchored proteins with alkaline phosphatase activity from the cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) can be the putative receptors for the Cry1B protein of Bacillus thuringiensis. Insect. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 40 : 138-145

• c. Muñoz-Garay, c. Rodríguez-Almazan, j.n. Aguilar, l. Portugal, i. Gómez, g. Saab-Rincón, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2009. Oligomerization of Cry11Aa from Bacillus thuringiensis has an important role in toxicity against Aedes aegypti. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75 : 7548-7550

• -------------, l. Portugal, l. Pardo-Lopez, n. Jiménez-Juárez, i. Arenas, i. Gomez, r. Sánchez-López, r. Arroyo, a. Holzenburg, c.g. Savva, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2009. Characterization of the mechanism of action of the genetically modified Cry1AbMod toxin that is active against Cry1Ab-resistant insects. Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta-Biomembranes 1788 : 2229-2237

• s. Pacheco, i. Gómez, i. Arenas, g. Saab-Rincón, c. Rodríguez-Almazan, s.s. Gill, a. Bravo, m. Soberon. 2009. Domain II loop 3 of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab toxin is involved in a "ping-pong" binding mechanism with Manduca sexta aminopetidase-N and cadherin receptors. J. Biol. Chem. 284 : 32750-32757

• --------------, i. Gómez, s.s. Gil, a. Bravo, m. Soberon. 2009. Enhancement of insecticidal activity of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1A toxins by fragments of a toxin-binding cadherin correlates with oligomer formation. Peptides 30 : 583-588

• j. Chen, k.g. Aimanova, l.e. Fernández, a. Bravo, m. Soberon, s.s. Gill. 2009. Aedes aegypti cadherin serves as a putative receptor of the Cry11Aa toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis. Biochem. J. 424 : 191-200

• l.e. Fernández, c. Martínez-Anaya, e. Lira, j. Chen, a. Evans, s. Hernández-Martínez, h. Lanz-Mendoza, a. Bravo, s.s. Gill, m. Soberon. 2009. Cloning and epitope mapping of Cry11Aa-binding sites in the Cry11Aa-receptor alkaline phosphatase from Aedes aegypti. Biochemistry 48 : 8899-8907

• m.t. Franklin, c.l. Nieman, a.f. Janmaat, m. Soberon, a. Bravo, b.e. Tabashnik, j.h. Myers. 2009. Modified Bacillus thuringiensis toxins and a hybrid B. thuringiensis strain counter greenhouse-selected resistance in Trichoplusia ni. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75 : 5739-5741

• c. Rodríguez-Almazan, l.e. Zavala, c. Muñoz-Garay, n. Jiménez-Juárez, s. Pacheco, l. Masson, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2009. Dominant negative mutants of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab toxin function as anti-toxins: demonstration of the role of oligomerization in toxicity PLoS. ONE 4 : e5545

• m. Soberon, s.s. Gill, a. Bravo. 2009. Signaling versus punching hole: How do Bacillus thuringiensis toxins kill insect midgut cells? Cell. Mol. Life. Sci. 66 : 1337-1349

• l. Pardo-López, c. Muñoz-Garay, h. Porta, c. Rodríguez-Almazan, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2009. Strategies to improve the insecticidal activity of Cry toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis. Peptides 30 : 589-595

• i. Hernández-Linares, m.e. López-Arellano, p. Mendoza de Gives, e. Liebano-Hernández, a. Bravo de la Parra. 2008. Lethal activity of two Bacillus thuringiensis strains against Haemonchus contortus histotropic larvae. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1149 : 164-166

• a. Bravo, m. Soberon. 2008. How to cope with insect resistance to Bt toxins?. Trends Biotechnol. 26 : 573-579

• l.e. Fernández, i. Gómez, s. Pacheco, i. Arenas, s.s. Gilla, a. Bravo, m. Soberon. 2008. Employing phage display to study the mode of action of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry toxins. Peptides 29 : 324-329

• n. Jiménez-Juárez, c. Muñoz-Garay, i. Gómez, s.s. Gill, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2008. The pre-pore from Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab toxin is necessary to induce insect death in Manduca sexta. Peptides 29 : 318-323

• ---------------------, --------------------, --------, g. Saab-Rincon, j.y. Damián-Alamazo, s.s. Gill, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2007. Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab mutants affecting oligomer formation are non toxic to Manduca sexta larvae. J. Biol. Chem. 282 : 21222-21229

• m. Soberon, l. Pardo-López, i. López, i. Gómez, b.e. Tabashnik, a. Bravo. 2007. Engineering Modified Bt Toxins to Counter Insect Resistance Science 318 : 1640-1642

• ------------, l.e. Fernández, c. Pérez, s.s. Gill, a. Bravo. 2007. Mode of action of mosquitocidal Bacillus thuringiensis toxins. Toxicon 49 : 597-600

• h. Ishikawa, y. Hoshino, y. Motoki, t. Kawahara, m. Kitajima, m. Kitami, a. Watanabe, a. Bravo, m. Soberon, a. Honda, k. Yaoi, r. Sato. 2007. A system for the directed evolution of the insecticidal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis. Mol. Biotechnol. 36 : 90-101

• c. Ochoa-Campuzano, m.d. Real, a.c. Martínez-Ramírez, a. Bravo, c. Rausell. 2007. An ADAM metalloprotease is a Cry3Aa Bacillus thuringiensis toxin receptor. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 362 : 437-442

• c. Pérez, c. Muñoz-Garay, l.c. Portugal, j. Sánchez, s.s. Gill, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2007. Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis Cyt1Aa enhances activity of Cry11Aa toxin by facilitating the formation of a pre-pore oligomeric structure. Cell Microbiol. 9 : 2931-2937

• c. Rausell, c. Ochoa-Campuzano, a.c. Martínez-Ramírez, a. Bravo, m.d. Real. 2007. A membrane associated metalloprotease cleaves Cry3Aa Bacillus thuringiensis toxin reducing pore formation in Colorado potato beetle brush border membrane vesicles. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) 362 : 437-442

• a. Bravo,s.s. Gill, m. Soberon. 2007. Mode of action of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry and Cyt toxins and their potential for insect control. Toxicon 49 : 423-435

• i. Gómez, l. Pardo-López, c. Muñoz-Garay, l.e. Fernández, c. Pérez, j. Sánchez, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2007. Role of receptor interaction in the mode of action of insecticidal Cry and Cyt toxins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis. Peptides 28 : 169-173

• d.h.Sauka, j. Sánchez, a. Bravo, g.b. Benintende. 2007. Toxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis delta-endotoxins against bean shoot borer (Epinotia aporema Wals.) larvae, a major soybean pest in Argentina. J. Invertebr. Pathol. 94 : 125-129

Libros y capítulos recientes

• m. Soberon, l. Pardo, c. Muñoz-Garay, j. Sánchez, i. Gómez, h. Porta, a. Bravo. 2010. Pore Formation by Cry Toxins. En: Lakey, J. Proteins: Membrane Binding and Pore Formation (serie Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology volumne 677). Austin, TX. Landes Bioscience y Springer. pp. 127-142

• a. Bravo, s.s. Gill, m. Soberon. 2010. Bacillus thuringiensis Mechanisms and Use with addendum 2010. En: Gill, S.S. Insect Control Biological and Synthetic Agents. Elsevier. pp. 247-282

• m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2008. Las toxinas Cry de Bacillus thuringiensis: modo de acción y consecuencias de su aplicación. En: Lopez-Munguia, A. Una ventana al quehacer científico. Instituto de Biotecnología de la UNAM 25º aniversario, capítulo 27. México, D.F. UNAM. pp. 303-314

• l. Masson, j. Letowski, a. Bravo, r. Brousseau. 2007. Using DNA Microarrays for Assessing Crystal Protein Genes in Bacillus thuringiensis. En: Proceedings of the 6th Pacific Rim Conference on the Biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its Environmental Impact. pp. 28-30

• l. Pardo, i. Gómez, c. Muñoz-Garay, n. Jiménez-Juárez, j. Sánchez, c. Pérez, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2007. Oligomer Formation of Different Cry Toxins Indicates that a Pre-Pore is an Essential Intermediate in the Mode of Action of the Three-Domain Cry Family. En: Proceedings of the 6th Pacific Rim Conference on the Biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its Environmental Impact. pp. 7-8

• c. Pérez, l.e. Fernández, j.g. Sun, j.l. Folch, s.s. Gill, m. Soberon, a. Bravo. 2007. Cyt1Aa from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis Synergizes Cry11Aa Toxin Activity by Functioning as a Membrane-Bound Receptor. En: Proceedings of the 6th Pacific Rim Conference on the Biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its Environmental Impact. pp. 9-11

• m. Soberon, i. Gómez, l. Pardo, c. Muñoz, l.e. Fernández, c. Pérez, s.s. Gill, a. Bravo. 2007. Important Interactions with membrane Receptors in the Mode of Action of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry toxins. En: Vincent, C. 6th Pacific Rim Conference on the biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its Environmental Impact, capítulo 1. Montreal. Erudit. pp. 1-6

• i. Gómez, j. Miranda-Ríos, i. Arenas, r. Grande, b. Becerril, a. Bravo, m. Soberon. 2007. Identification of scFv Molecules that Recognize Loop 3 of Domain II and Domain III of Cry1Ab Toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis. En: Vincent, C. 6th Pacific Rim Conference on the biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its Environmental Impact. Montreal. Erudit. pp. 12-14

Honores

• Desde 1990 a 1991: estancia de investigación, en la Compañía Biotecnológica "Plant Genetic Systems", en Gante, Bélgica
• Desde 2003: en listado de Expertos en Bioseguridad bajo el Protocolo de Cartagena de Seguridad y la Convención sobre Diversidad Biológica Universidad de Colombia

Premios

• 2003: a la mejor Investigación en Biotecnología Agrícola. AgroBIO-México
• 2000: Distinción Universidad Nacional para Jóvenes Académicos en el área de investigación en Ciencias Naturales de la UNAM
• 1998: de la Academia Mexicana de Ciencias en el área de Ciencias Naturales

Miembro de

• Desde 2002: Academia Nacional de Ciencias

Referencias