A visit from Italy to develop new biocontrol agents

Vittoria Catara is an Associate Professor in Plant Pathology at the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Environment at the University of Catania.

– My research is primarily focused on plant-associated bacteria. This includes studying plant pathogenic bacteria as well as beneficial bacteria that can serve as biocontrol agents. More recently, I have explored interactions within the microbiome, says Vittoria.

Decreasing the use of synthetic pesticides

Vittoria is visiting Ramesh Vetukuri´s research group at Campus Alnarp for two weeks. Her ongoing projects investigate interactions between microbes to develop new methods that could decrease the reliance on synthetic pesticides, in collaboration with Ramesh.

– This collaboration was initiated by Dr. F. Ghadmagahi, a former visiting PhD student from her lab who moved to SLU. Currently, Professor Catara and I are supervising PhD student Daniele Nicotra together, says Ramesh.

Discovering new biocontrol agents

Daniele’s project is titled "Microbiome and Plant Health: Beneficial Bacteria for the Eco-sustainable Protection of Tomato from Stresses," and is funded through an innovative doctoral scholarship by the Italian Ministry of University and Research. He is located at the University of Catania.

– The project employs 'omics' techniques alongside in vitro and in planta trials to discover new biocontrol agents. These agents are selected using methods enhanced by microbiome analysis. During the visit, Daniele will continue his PhD work, which includes confocal microscope imaging and omics data analysis, following a six-month stint at SLU, says Vittoria.

In addition, Alexandros Mosca, a PhD graduate from Professor Catara's lab, will be joining Ramesh Vetukuri's lab to specialize in bioinformatics.

– We are very much looking forward to continuing the collaboration with Professor Catara and her group, says Ramesh.