I received my Degree in Biology from the University of Granada (Spain) in 1989, and my PhD in 1993. Since 2006, I have been a tenured scientist, and since 2013, the head of the Genetics of Phytobacterial Infections Lab in the Department of Biotechnology and Environmental Protection at the Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EEZ, CSIC, Granada, Spain). Most of my scientific career has been focused on the identification and characterization of the molecular mechanisms underlying plant–bacteria interactions, using the Rhizobium–legume symbiosis as a model system. At present, I am interested in the study of the molecular bases governing life on surfaces of the alfalfa symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti and the role of bacterial volatiles in intra-kingdom and inter-kingdom interactions.