Gabriella Tait
Comprensione dell'ecologia evolutiva e chimica del comportamento di ovideposizione di Drosophila suzukii ed altri Drosophilidi: implicazioni per lo sviluppo di strategie di difesa.
Supervisor Gianfranco Anfora
Drosophila suzukii is an insect species that is emerging as a global threat due to both its range expansion and the economic impact of new colonized populations. Dr suzukii is presumed to be native to Asia; it was first reported in Japan in 1939, then it has been recorded in several other parts of Asia as well. In the last few years it was collected also in North America and in Europe. Unlike other Drosophila species, Dr. suzukii is an economically damaging pest because females are able to lay eggs in ripening fruit, using their serrated ovipositor, resulting in yield lost.
The aim of the project is first investigate the origin of the colonized populations using different genetic approaches (SSRs and X-linked genes). Furthermore another part of the resource comprises the study of the ability ofDr.suzukii to move in different places depending on the temperature and the availability of oviposition sites. Thanks to the use of albumin marker and ELISA detection technique, new and important biology and behavioral notions will be discovered. In addition to this, GS-EAG technique approach will be use to better characterize chemical aspects of this species.
Biography and contacts
Gabriella Tait was born in 1990 in Trento (TN). In 2012 she attained her bachelor’s degree in Natural Science (110/110 cum laude) and in 2014 her master’s degree in Biology (110/110 cum laude) at Pavia University (Italy). In November 2014 she won a competition as laboratory technician in chemical ecology group in Fondazione Edmund Mach in San Michele all’Adige (TN). In 2015 she started the doctoral course at the PhD school “Agriculture Science and Biotechnology” at the University of Udine, under the supervision of Dr. Gianfranco Anfora at Edmund Mach Foundation, Trento.
[0461 615510]