Foto del docente

Hillary Righini

Research fellow

Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences

Curriculum vitae

ORCID: 0000-0001-5928-2944

Scopus Author ID: 56480799000

 

RESEARCH THEMES

My research is focused on the use of algae and cyanobacteria against fungal plant pathogens. Actually, I’m working on polysaccharides and phycobiliproteins from algae and cyanobacteria applied as seed treatment for their plant biostimulant activity and their protective role in triggering seedling and adult plant defense responses.

EDUCATION

November 2018 — Until now

Post Doc position at Dep. of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna.

March 2019

Achievement of the PhD degree. Judgment: positive

March 2017 — September 2017

Period abroad at Banco Español de Algas, Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global (IOCAG), Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain.

Deeper investigation on the use of polysaccharides extracted from algae and cyanobacteria against fungal plant pathogens.

November 2015 — November 2018

PhD with institutional fellowship (XXXI cycle), DISTAL, University of Bologna.

Topic: Plant Pathology.

Dissertation thesis: ‘Effect and mechanism of action of extracts from algae and cyanobacteria in the control of fungal plant pathogens’.

July 2014

Master’s degree in Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Curriculum: Plant Medicine at the University of Bologna.

Dissertation thesis: ‘Activity of extracts from algae and cyanobacteria against Podosphaera xanthii on zucchini plants’. Topic: Plant Pathology.

November 2010 — April 2011

Period abroad at Banco Español de Algas, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, (Spain) with institutional fellowship for a deeper investigation for the master dissertation work: ‘Use of water extracts from algae and cyanobacteria against Podosphaera xanthii, the causal agent of zucchini powdery mildew’.

July 2008

Bachelor in Plant Production Technologies, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bologna.

Dissertation thesis: ‘Compatibility of Ampelomyces quisqualis and Beauveria bassiana with fungicides’.


WORK EXPERIENCES

December 2014 — November 2015

Advisor at IRCI Spa., Rimini

Cooperation for management of plant insects and diseases in aquaponic systems.

June 2012

Training period at Fungar Farm S.n.c., Rimini

Managing, harvesting and packaging of mushroom var. Agaricus bisporus, Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus cornucopiae.

COURSES

October 2019 — November 2019

Academic English Skills Course, University Language Centre (CLA), University of Bologna

May 2018

Data Carpentry: Data analysis and visualization in R. EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany

INSTITUTIONAL ROLES AND COMPETENCES (A.Y. Academic Year)

A.Y. 2021/2022, 2020/2021, 2018/2019

Teaching support activity in laboratory for Plant Pathology and Patometry course, Bachelor's degree ‘Marketing and Economics of the agro-industrial system’ .

A.Y. 2022/2023; 2021/2022

Plant pathology seminar ‘The use of algae and cyanobacteria for the management of fungal plant pathogens’. Precise and Conservative Plant Diseases Management course, International Master Degree ‘Precise And Sustainable Agriculture’.

Co-supervisor of degree thesis in bachelor and master courses.

Assistance in carrying out students internship of Bachelor's and master’s degree.

CONGRESSES WITH ORAL PRESENTATION (OP) OR POSTER (P)

December 2022: 2nd International E-Conference on Agriculture and Aquaculture. ‘Tomato seed priming with water-soluble polysaccharides from Jania adhaerens for the control of soil-borne pathogens’. Organizzato da United Research Forum, London, UK (OP)

July 2022: E-Conference on Agriculture, Food Science, and Aquaculture. ‘Phycobiliproteins from the cyanobacterium Anabaena minutissima for the Rhizoctonia solani control and tomato growth-promotion’. Organizzato da United Research Forum, London, UK (OP)

November 2021: 2nd Edition of Plant Science: Research & Tech. Virtual Webinar. ‘Anabaena minutissima, a cyanobacterium for the control of fungal plant pathogens’. Organized by Global Episteme Inc., NY (OP)

September 2021: XXVI SIPaV Virtual Congress. 'Prospecting algae and cyanobacteria as bioprotectans for plant disease control’. (OP)

April 2018: XV Meeting of the Working Group ‘Biological and integrated control of plant pathogens’. Biocontrol products: from lab testing to product development, Lleida (Catalonia, Spain). ‘Antifungal activity of Ecklonia sp. and Jania sp. polysaccharides against Botrytis cinerea’. In: IOBC-WPRS Bulletin Vol. 133, 2018, pp. 25-26. (OP)

October 2017: Algae Biorefineries for Europe, Brussels: ‘Fungicidal activity of Euglena cantabrica water extract against Botrytis cinerea’ Righini H., García Fernández Y., Baraldi E., Martel Quintana A., Roberti R. (P)

PARTICIPATION IN WORKSHOP ORGANIZATION

October 2015: Workshop ‘FAO- Technical training workshop on advancing aquaponics: an efficient use of limited resources’, Osimo (AN). Lecture and practical ‘Plant production and health’.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

September 2022

Involvement in EXTRAFIT project, partner DISTAL-University of Bologna, as temporary staff. Project coordinated by CREA-AA (Bologna), by Doc. Galletti and funded by MIPAAF.

September 2021

Involvement as junior researcher (DISTAL) in the scientific agreement with Banco Español de Algas, University of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain within the project REBECA (MAC/1.1a/060 e MAC2/1.1b/269). The collaboration led to the publication of the following scientific articles:

Righini H., Baraldi E. García Fernández Y., Martel Quintana A., Roberti R. (2019). Different antifungal activity of Anabaena sp., Ecklonia sp., and Jania sp. against Botrytis cinerea. Marine Drugs 17, 299;

Righini H., Somma A., Cetrullo S. et al. (2020). Inhibitory activity of aqueous extracts from Anabaena minutissima, Ecklonia maxima and Jania adhaerens on the cucumber powdery mildew pathogen in vitro and in vivo. Journal of Applied Phycology 32, 3363–3375;

Righini H., Francioso O., Di Foggia M., Quintana A. M., Roberti R. (2020). Preliminary study on the activity of phycobiliproteins against Botrytis cinerea. Marine Drugs 18(12), 600;

Righini H., Francioso O., Di Foggia M., Prodi A., Quintana A. M., Roberti R. (2021). Tomato seed biopriming with water extracts from Anabaena minutissima, Ecklonia maxima and Jania adhaerens as a new agro-ecological option against Rhizoctonia solani. Scientia Horticulturae 281, 109921;

Righini H., Francioso O., Di Foggia M., Quintana A. M., Roberti R. (2021). Assessing the potential of the terrestrial cyanobacterium Anabaena minutissima for controlling Botrytis cinerea on tomato fruits. Horticulturae 7, 210;

Righini H., Roberti R., Cetrullo, S., Flamigni F., Quintana A. M., Francioso O., Panichi V., Cianchetta S., Galletti S. (2022). Jania adhaerens primes tomato seed against soil-borne pathogens. Horticulturae 8(8), 746.

2019-2021

Participation in research activities for WP BIOPRIME, DIBIO project, funded by MIPAAF, entrusted by CREA-AA to DISTAL. DISTAL Scientific Coordinator: Prof. Roberta Roberti. Research activities concerning ‘Algae and cyanobacteria extracts for priming horticultural crops’. The collaboration led to the publication of the following scientific articles:

Righini H., Roberti R., Cetrullo, S., Flamigni F., Quintana A. M., Francioso O., Panichi V., Cianchetta S., Galletti S. (2022). Jania adhaerens primes tomato seed against soil-borne pathogens. Horticulturae 8(8), 746.

EDITORIAL ACTIVITY

Guest Editor:

2022-2023 Horticulturae (MDPI; IF 2021: 2.923), Special Issue: Sustainable Control Strategies of Plant Pathogens in Horticulture;

2022-2023 Phytoparasitica (Springer; IF 2021: 1.809), Special Issue: Algae and cyanobacteria: prospects and challenges for plant disease management.

2019-now

Reviewer Board Member of Microorganisms (MDPI).

OTHER

Editor’s Choice Articles di Horticulturae (MDPI):

Righini H., Francioso O., Quintana A. M., Roberti R. (2022). Cyanobacteria: a natural source for controlling agricultural plant diseases and improving plant growth. Horticulturae 8, 58;

Galletti S., Cianchetta S., Righini H., Roberti R. (2022). A lignin-rich extract of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) as a possible tool to manage soilborne pathogens in horticulture: a preliminary study on a model pathosystem. Horticulturae 8(7), 589

 

Publications:

  1. Righini H., Roberti R., Cetrullo, S., Flamigni F., Quintana A. M., Francioso O., Panichi V., Cianchetta S., Galletti S. (2022) Jania adhaerens primes tomato seed against soil-borne pathogens. Horticulturae 8(8), 746;
  2. Galletti S., Cianchetta S., Righini H., Roberti R. (2022). A lignin-rich extract of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) as a possible tool to manage soilborne pathogens in horticulture: a preliminary study on a model pathosystem. Horticulturae 8(7), 589;
  3. Righini H., Francioso O., Quintana A. M., Roberti R. (2022). Cyanobacteria: a natural source for controlling agricultural plant diseases and improving plant growth. Horticulturae 8, 58;
  4. Righini H., Francioso O., Di Foggia M., Quintana A. M., Roberti R. (2021). Assessing the potential of the terrestrial cyanobacterium Anabaena minutissima for controlling Botrytis cinerea on tomato fruits. Horticulturae 7, 210;
  5. Righini H., Francioso O., Di Foggia M., Prodi A., Quintana A. M., Roberti R. (2021). Tomato seed biopriming with water extracts from Anabaena minutissima, Ecklonia maxima and Jania adhaerens as a new agro-ecological option against Rhizoctonia solani. Scientia Horticulturae 281, 109921;
  6. Righini H., Francioso O., Di Foggia M., Quintana A. M., Roberti R. (2020). Preliminary study on the activity of phycobiliproteins against Botrytis cinerea. Marine Drugs 18(12), 600;
  7. Righini H., Somma A., Cetrullo S. et al. (2020). Inhibitory activity of aqueous extracts from Anabaena minutissima, Ecklonia maxima and Jania adhaerens on the cucumber powdery mildew pathogen in vitro and in vivo. Journal of Applied Phycology 32, 3363–3375;
  8. Righini H., Baraldi E. García Fernández Y., Martel Quintana A., Roberti R. (2019). Different antifungal activity of Anabaena sp., Ecklonia sp., and Jania sp. against Botrytis cinerea. Marine Drugs 17, 299;
  9. Innocenti G., Montanari M., Righini H., Roberti R. (2018). Trichoderma species associated with green mould disease of Pleurotus ostreatus and their sensitivity to prochloraz. Plant Pathology 68, 392-398;
  10. Righini H., Roberti R., Baraldi E. (2018). Review: Use of algae in strawberry management. Journal of Applied Phycology 30, 3551–3564;
  11. Roberti R., Righini H., Masetti A., Maini S. (2017). Compatibility of Beauveria bassiana with fungicides in vitro and on zucchini plants infested with Trialeurodes vaporariorum. Biological Control 113, 39–44;
  12. Roberti R., Righini H., Pérez C. (2016). Activity of seaweed and cyanobacteria water extracts against Podosphaera xanthii on zucchini. Italian Journal of Mycology 45, 66-77;
  13. Roberti R., Galletti S., Burzi P. L., Righini H., Cetrullo S., Perez C. (2015). Induction of defence responses in zucchini (Cucurbita pepo) by Anabaena sp.water extract. Biologica Control 82, 61-68;
  14. Leonardi P., Righini H., Roberti R. (2014). Attività cellulosolitica di specie di Trichoderma e interazione pianta-patogeno. Micologia Italiana, anno XLIII (1-2-3), 58-67.

Book chapter

Righini H., Roberti R. (2019) Algae and Cyanobacteria as Biocontrol Agents of Fungal Plant Pathogens. In: Varma A., Tripathi S., Prasad R. (eds) Plant Microbe Interface. Springer, Cham

 

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