Educational: 1969-1973 Liceo Classico "L. Galvani" Bologna;
graduation 1973 (52/60).
1973-1977 University of Bologna, Italy, doctor in Biology
21-7-1977 (110/110 cum laude). Thesis on "Intossicazione da
piombo con particolare riferimento alla nefropatia saturnina".
1977-1979 Specialization degree in Plant Pathology (Scuola di
specializzazione in Fitopatologia) at the Agricultural Faculty of
the University of Bologna (70/70). Thesis on "Infezione da virus e
microorganismi in popolazioni di Lobesia botrana Den. e
Schiff.".
Position at work and additional training: 1979-1980 Assistant
professor in Plant Pathology, Istituto di Patologia Vegetale,
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bologna.
1981-2005 confirmed researcher in Plant Pathology, Faculty of
Agriculture, University of Bologna.
2005-present associate professor in Plant Pathology, University
of Bologna.
1988 six months stage (CNR scholarship winner)at the
Microbiology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, United States
Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD, USA. Further stages in
the same Laboratory: March-May, 1989; February 1990; January and
August 1991; December 1992; January 1995.
Others: Member of Albo Professionale dei Biologi, Società
Italiana di Patologia Vegetale, American Phytopathological Society,
International Organization for Micoplasmology, Società orticola
Italiana, International Society for Horticultural Science. Founder
and responsible of International Phytoplasmologist Working group
(IPWG) see web page http://www.ipwgnet.org/.
Invited speaker at many national and international meetings and
seminars, member of scientific committees of several meetings on
biotechnology and virology/phytoplasmology, referee for several
scientific national and international journals.
Teaching: 1978 - present: practical lessons in Plant
Pathology.
1981 - 1997: lessons on phytoplasmas in Plant Pathology and
Bacteriology courses.
1987 - present: tutor for practical stages (students of
Agriculture Faculty).
1985 - present: examination committee for degrees in Agriculture
and Biology.
1977 - present: assistance to about 100 thesis of students in
Biology and Agriculture.
1997 - 2008: plant physiopathology.
2005 – 2009: plant pathology of herbaceous crops
2006 – present: Molecular diagnostic and epidemiology of plant
diseases
2007 - 2009: Plant biotechnology
2010 - present: Advanced plant pathology
2013 - present: Plant and pathogens
2017 - present: Integrated plant disease magagement"
October 24-29, 1983 lessons at the "I seminario di studio per
delegati speciali per le malattie delle piante incaricati dei
controlli fitosanitari ai vegetali e prodotti vegetali di
importazione, esportazione e transito" Foligno (Perugia, Italy). May 28 1990
Seminar on "Diagnosi di micoplasmi associati a fitopatie mediante
sonde clonate "at the Istituto di Fitovirologia applicata del CNR
Torino. August 25-29, 1997 Invited speaker on Ribosomal DNA
analysis for phytoplasma identification and classification. at the
Second symposium: Recent advances in plant biotechnology-Molecular
Biology for agriculture, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. October
20-27, 1997 Invited seminar on "Phytoplasma detection and
classification" at the Pomology Institute of the Shanxi Academy of
Agricultural Science, Taigu, Shanxi, China. March 10, 1999 Invited
seminar on “Phytoplasma diseases of grapevine” at the OIV, Paris,
France. December 2003; March 2005; March 2007 seminars about
“Phytoplasma diseases in grapevine” at the Università del Cile,
Santiago, Chile. November 22-26, 2004. Invited speaker on
Phytoplasma diseases of grapevine and fruit trees. V Congress of
Plant Protection, Zlatibor, Serbia & Montenegro. March 28-
april 3, 2005 Invited speaker on Phytoplasma diseases in
grapevines. Università del Cile, Santiago, Chile. April 12-13, 2005
Invited speaker on Molecular comparison of phytoplasmas infecting
winter oilseed rape in Czech Republic with Italian Brassica
phytoplasmas and their relationship to the aster yellows group.
Oilseed crops XXVII scientific conference, Poznan, Poland. May
7-11, 2005 Invited teacher on Phytoplasma diseases and impact on
agronomic crops: importance of their molecular identification at
the National Training Program in Biotechnology. Sultan Qaboos
University, Oman. September 12-17, 2005 Invited speaker on
Phytoplasmas and phytoplasma diseases: molecular biology meets
epidemiology at the 6th International Symposium in the Series
Recent Advances in Plant Biotechnology Ceske Budejovice, Czech
Republic. March 3-10, 2007 Invited speaker on Prevention of
phytoplasma diseases in grapevines. Università del Cile, Santiago,
Chile. October 2-4, 2007 Invited speaker on Phytoplasma diseases in
agricultural important crops, CIAT, Calì, Colombia. June 30- July
3, 2008 Lessons on Phytoplasma diseases at the University of Tokyo
(Japan). July 12-14, 2008 Presentation on Importance of phytoplasma
diseases in fruit trees and in particular in jujube at the Pomology
Institute of the Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Science, Taigu,
Shanxi, China. September 23-25, 2008 Invited speaker on Phytoplasma
disease and climate changes at CENSA, Cuba. 2009: invited speaker
at Mycoplasmology: a review of developments over the last decade.
Gran Canaria, Spain 10-12 June. 2010 invited speaker at the 2nd
International Mycosafe Symposium, 07 - 09 April 2010, Vienna –
Austria. November 2010, invited speaker at plant pathology, AREU,
Mauritius. Invited speaker at the Guadalajara University (Mexico)
and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Guelph in September/October
2012. On June 2nd, 2014 during the XX IOM meeting held in Blumenau,
Brazil, she received the Emmy Klienenberger-Nobel award for her
disinghished research in mycoplasmology.
Research activity: Since 1977 has attended to numerous national
and international meetings as participant presenting oral
communications and posters or as invited speaker or chairperson.
Her research was carried out on virus and virus diseases of
ornamental plants and vegetables detecting and characterizing
viruses in some cases for the first time in Italy or in the world.
Ultrastructural studies were also carried out on cytoplasmatic
alterations associated with virus presence in plants and insects.
Virus detection was performed using serological techniques such as
agar immunodiffusion tests and ELISA. Meristem-tip culture for
virus elimination and tissue culture for micropropagation of plant
tissues were also studied for many plant species.
Many research efforts were devoted to study infections
associated with "mycoplasma-like organisms" (MLOs) now renamed
phytoplasmas presence in plants. After preliminary research by
using electron microscopy techniques she started a collaboration in
this field with the MPPL USDA, Beltsville, MD, USA. Up today
she applied molecular tools to detect and characterize phytoplasmas
in many different crops as well as in insect vectors and woody
plants with focus on phytoplasmas infecting grapevines and other
agronomic end environmentally important plants. She is author or
coauthor in more than 700 publications, books and book chapters on
virus and phytoplasma diseases.
From May 2009 to December 2013 she was Chair of COST action
FA0807 "INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF PHYTOPLASMA EPIDEMICS IN DIFFERENT
CROP SYSTEMS" see web page http://www.ipwgnet.org. From 2017 she is leading the H2020 project TROPICSAFE see web page http://www.tropicsafe.eu/
She founded in 2007 and is leading the International
Phytoplasmologist Working Group (IPWG) and organizend until now 3
meeting of the group (every 4 years) held in Bologna, Italy;
Neustadt u/W, Germany and Mauritius.
