Valentina Rossi

The oomycete Aphanomyces cochlioides is the principal agent in the black rot disease complex in sugar beet.  It is one of the most problematic pathogens due to its persistence in the soil and the lack of effective control measures. Little is known about the genetic basis of resistance to Aphanomyces-caused diseases thus the identification and characterization of resistance genes is a major task in sugar beet breeding. The central objectives of this work are the assessment of the population structure and pathogenicity of A. cochlioides populations from major sugar beet producing areas such as Europe, USA and Japan, and the enhancement of the genomic knowledge of the pathogen and the responses it induces in the host. The study seeks to conduct transcriptome analysis, using next-generation sequencing techniques, with the aim to identify genes involved in the resistance to A. cochlioides by comparing the defense responses in resistant and susceptible breeding lines

BSc in Biotechnologies-University of L´Aquila, Italy
MSc in Agricultural and Environmental Biotechnologies-University of Perugia, Italy

Main areas of expertise: molecolar biology, plant genetics, plant pathology and microbiology

Main supervisor: Prof. Laura Grenville-Briggs Didymus (Plant Protection Biology)

Co-supervisors: Erik Alexandersson (Plant Protection Biology); Thomas Kraft (MariboHilleshög AB); Louise Holmquist (MariboHilleshög AB)