Understanding the mechanisms of resistance to powdery and downy mildew in grapevine applying omics approaches.

Supervisor’s name: Dr. Urska Vrhovsek

The grapevine is the most economically important fruit crop worldwide. As for other crops, yield and quality are often affected by external factors in which fungal pathogens play a major part. Viticulture is threatened by numerous pathogens causing severe harvest losses. Downy mildew (DM) and Powdery mildew (PD) are considered as extremely destructive diseases of the grapevine caused by the Plasmopara viticola and Erysiphe necator. One of the most promising future strategies to ensure plant protection against diseases is to stop the use of chemical compounds and focus on the selection of varieties showing durable specific resistance. Understanding plant-pathogen interaction is important for the future of the breeding; indeed, grapevine species can be crossed, including resistant traits using conventional breeding techniques.
In the last few years, comprehensive studies called omics have been applied to model plant study and these have contributed enormously to plant science. The objective of this project is the evaluation of grapevine hybrids with one or more than one different sources of resistance against the pathogens considering different omics approaches. The expected results are a different characterization of the resistant mechanisms underlying the hybrids-pathogen interaction and their fight against the diseases. This project is directed towards a better understanding of plant defense mechanisms and characterization of the plant-pathogen interactions affecting the species.

Biography and contacts

Ramona Mihaela Ciubotaru was born in 1991 in Piatra - Neamt (Romania). She obtained her Bachelor Degree in Agricultural Sciences at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” Iasi (Romania) in 2015. In the same year she obtained a position of Junior Research Assistant at “Stejarul” Research Center for Biological Sciences in the Group of Molecular Biology and Ecology and she started a Master of Science at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (CIHEAM, Italy) in Integrated Pest Management, graduating in 2017 with the distinction Maxima Cum Laude.
In November 2017 she becomes a trainee at the European Food Safety Authority  (EFSA) where for one year she worked on a Pest surveillance project. In 2018 she enrolled in the Ph.D. School “Agricultural Science and Biotechnology” at the University of Udine, carrying out her research activities at Edmund Mach Foundation in San Michele all’Adige (TN).

ramona.ciubotaru@guests.fmach.it

ciubotaru.ramonamihaela@spes.uniud.it

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ramona_Ciubotaru