Current research activity focuses on the study of:
1. the ecological interactions of fruit plants
2. the interactions of fruit plants with microorganisms
3. the role of volatile compounds (VOCs) in the ecological interactions of fruit plants
4. sustainable cultivation methods to reduce disease-losses, increase the yield and quality of pre-harvest fruit
5. non-invasive methods for the early diagnosis of biotic and abiotic stress and for monitoring maturation
6. kiwifruit and pear breeding
My present research investigates the possibility of developing
alternative methods (electronic nose, near infrared spectroscopy
NIRs) for early diagnosis of plant streesses or assesing fruit quality and for the identification of microorganisms and the plant
disease diagnosis. Moreover, the organic volatile compounds (VOCs)
production during the plant-microbe interaction has also been
considered for their possible effect in the plant-pathogen
interactions.
Among the organic volatile compounds, special attention was paid
to ethylene and jasmonic acid derivatives for their influence on
plant resistance mechanisms.
From 2009-2010, my research is also focused in elucidating the
pathogenic interactions occurring between kiwifruit species (A.
deliciosa and A. chinensis) and the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae
pv actinidiae.
The research aims to develop a method allowing to monitor in
vivo the plant-bacteria interactions during the infection process.
This non-destructive method will allow the direct visualization of
the spatio-temporal interactions of P. syringae pv actnidia (PSA)
in intact Actinidia chinensis and A. deliciosa tissues. To
reach this objective, a stable and broad host- range plasmid
vector, pDSK-GFPuv, which expresses GFPuv (driven by a constitutive
chloroplast promoter, psbA) at high levels has been inserted in
competent PSA cells.
The GFPuv-labeled plant pathogenic bacteria not only can be
easily visualized at the cellular level under a fluorescence
microscope but also are clearly visible, as bacterial colonies, to
the naked eye at the whole-plant level under longwavelength UV
light. The plant-pathogen interactions are studied be means of
fluorescent steromicroscope and by confocal laser scanning
microscopy.
In addition, a reliable protocol for inoculation which is
able to mimic the natural infection and it is, at the same time,
repeatable has been tested. The inoculation method allows to obtain
symptomatic plants in a relatively short with symptoms similar to
the ones observed in field.
