Laura Pagliari
A novel approach to sieve element occlusion pattern and its interaction with phytoplasmas
Supervisor: Rita Musetti
Phytoplasmas are insect-transmitted pathogenic agents causing minor to extensive damages in diverse crops worldwide. At present, eradication of infected plants and insect vector control using pesticides are the mainly methods used for limiting outbreaks of phytoplasma diseases. No more specific control method has been developed, mainly because the physiological relationship between phytoplasmas and their hosts has remained largely unexplored.
Phytoplasmas mostly colonize the sieve tubes. Callose and sieve element occlusion (S.E.O.) proteins are known to be active in responding to the invasion of phytoplasmas, in order to confine their spread. To conduct an in-depth analysis about the effect of these compounds on phytoplasma-plant relationship, we are going to use Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant commonly used in biological studies, in wild type and knock-out forms.
Arabidopsis plants are going to be infected with Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris by the leafhopper Euscelidius variegatus. Wild-type and mutant plants will be evaluated on symptoms development, morphological and ultrastructural changes in cell plants, phytoplasma concentration and spread. Consequently, both molecular analyses (PCR, quantitative PCR and real-time PCR) and microscopy observations (transmission electron microscopy and fluorescent microscopy) are going to be carried out.
Biography and contacts
Laura Pagliari was born in 1987 in Rovereto (Trento-Italy). In 2010 she graduated in Biological Science (108/110) and in 2013 she concluded the Master of Science in Evolutionary Biology with the maximum mark (110/110 cum laude). From March to December 2013 she worked as laboratory technician in Rizzuto’s laboratory research (Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova-Italy). In 2014 she started the doctoral course at the PhD school “Agriculture Science and Biotechnology” at the University of Udine (Italy).
[Phone: 0432558530]