Portrait photo of Beatrice Tolio

Beatrice Tolio

PhD student, Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre
E-mail
beatrice.tolio@slu.se
PhD student at Skogforsk and SLU on ash dieback and breeding for resistance

Research

The goal of my PhD is to support the development of a highly resistant population of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) to the invasive fungal pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus causing ash dieback that is currently devastating ash populations and threatening biodiversity across Europe. My PhD is led by Dr Mateusz Liziniewicz (Skogforsk). The project includes:

  • Monitoring of long-term tolerance of European ash to Hymenoscyphus fraxineus in clonal seed orchards;
  • Monitoring the performance of putative tolerant populations of European ash in 
    clonal and progeny trials;
  • Metabolite profiling of European and Asian Fraxinus to determine underlying host defence mechanisms associated with resistance against ash dieback;
  • Develop and validate a protocol of hand-held Fourier-Transform Infrared 
    Spectroscopy (FT-IR) for real-time and rapid phenotyping of resistant trees;
  • Metabolite profiling of three European ash species in response 
    to emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) and ash dieback pathogen. 

Background

I have a master´s degree in Forest and Environmental Sciences with a focus on forest biotic and abiotic disturbances and a bachelor´s degree in Forest and Environmental Technologies from the University of Padua (Italy). I have been an exchange student at BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Austria), at VDU - Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy, Kaunas (Lithuania), and at the Forest Pathology Lab at SLU Alnarp (Sweden) in which I mostly worked on endophytes from seeds and seedlings. 

Selected publications

Crivellaro, A., Toriti, M., Tolio, B., Fohrer, F., Maimone, F., Ruffinatto, F., Durand, A. (2025). An anatomical approach to investigating Lyctus brunneus feeding behaviour in oak sapwood. IAWA Journal, doi: 10.1163/22941932-bja10190

Benigno, A., Bregant, C., Aglietti, C., Rossetto, G., Tolio, B., Moricca S., Linaldeddu, B.T. (2023). Pathogenic fungi and oomycetes causing dieback on Fraxinus species in the Mediterranean climate change hotspot region. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2023.1253022

Liziniewicz, M., Tolio, B., Cleary, M. (2022). Monitoring of long-term tolerance of European ash to Hymenoscyphus fraxineus in clonal seed orchards in Sweden. Forest Pathology, 00, e12773. https://doi.org/10.1111/efp.12773

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