Genetic biodiversity extremophilic yeasts and potential application in the agriculture sector

Supervisor: Dott.ssa Di Francesco Alessandra

Extremophilic microorganisms are known to contribute in a sustainable way to crop productions thanks to their adaptability to withstand a variety of harsh environmental conditions. Their most interesting characteristic is connected to the production of potential extremozymes and bioactive compounds (Piñeiro et al., 2020) to be exploited in different productive sectors such as agriculture. In particular, the black yeasts, an ecological group of melanized microorganisms are assumed to be the most stress-resistant eukaryotes on the Earth (Tesei, 2022).

Many studies stressed the ability of black fungi as biocontrol agents (BCAs) against a wide variety of pathogens. However, the evolution of these microorganisms to evolve antagonistic strategies against biotic stresses are not yet clarified (Rueda-Mejia et al., 2021).

Omics techniques are powerful tools to support the knowledge of the biological evolution of these microorganisms. Comparative genomics, transcriptomics, and functional genetics approaches can be used to better understand the complex relationships between extremophiles antagonists and their hosts. In fact, due to their antagonistic ability, many of these unicellular fungi have been considered for biocontrol applications (Freimoser et al., 2019), especially in the postharvest phase, where low temperatures, long storage periods, and extreme conditions are constant (Di Francesco et al., 2015).

For these reasons, the aim of the present project is to collect and characterize extremophilic potential BCAs and identify the role of their secondary metabolites to apply in agricultural practices.

Biography and Contacts

Martina Lucci was born in Rome (Italy) in 1997. She obtained her Bachelor degree in Biological Sciences at ‘La Sapienza University’ (Rome, Italy) in 2020.

She attended during her Erasmus fellowship in 2021/22 the Microbiology Lab of Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Madrid, Spain). In 2023, she graduated in Environmental, Genomic and Industrial Biotechnology Master degree at ‘La Sapienza University’ (Rome).

In November 2023, she started the Ph.D. fellowship “Agriculture Science and Biotechnology” at the University of Udine.

Email: lucci.martina@spes.uniud.it

Phone: +39 3382843478