La sociobiologia delle comunità microbiche della pianta come approccio innovativo per individuare nuovi biofungicidi sostenibili e a basso impatto contro le malattie delle piante

Supervisor: Prof.ssa Ilaria Pertot

Tutor: Dr. Gerardo Puopolo

Soils are carbon-limited environments that host diverse and complex microbial communities of competing and cooperating micro-organisms. Recently, several studies indicated that co-culturing of different bacterial  species can result in changes in the phenotype (e.g. increased production of secondary metabolites or extracellular enzymes) that are likely to be important during competition. These changes in gene expression imply that bacteria sense and communicate with competitors and apparently non-antibiotic producers bacteria may represent a hidden resource for biocontrol in agriculture.

The bacterial genus Lysobacter is commonly found in soil and freshwater habitats and encompasses several species recognized as bacterial predators with an impressive arsenal of bioactive compounds, which gives them a great potential as biocontrol agents. In particular, L. capsici AZ78 produces antibiotics, it tolerates abiotic stresses and is resistant to copper.

Within this project we will study the interactions between L. capsici AZ78 and other soilborne bacterial species in different nutrient conditions (high and low nutrient conditions) as well as in a growth medium that simulates the rhizosphere nutrient conditions. We will use soilborne phytopathogenic fungi and oomycetes (e.g. Pythium ultimum, Rhizoctonia solani) as biomarkers for the production of bioactive compounds. We aim to understand which gene clusters are activated during the interactions and which bioactive compounds are produced, trying to unravel the molecular mechanisms of competition among L. capsici AZ78 and other soilborne bacterial species.  The results that will be obtained during this PhD project will be useful for the formulation of a biofungicide based on bacterial consortia including  L. capsici AZ78 and helper bacterial strains.

Biography and contacts

Francesca Brescia was born in 1991 in Moncalieri (TO), Italy. In 2013 she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Biology (103/110) at the University of Torino then, in 2015, her master’s degree in Experimental and Applied Biology (110/110 cum laude) at the University of Pavia where, in November 2015, she gained a nine-months research fellowship. In 2016 she started the doctoral course at the PhD school “Agricultural Science and Biotechnology” of the University of Udine at the Edmund Mach Foundation of San Michele all’Adige (TN).

francesca.brescia@guests.fmach.it

francesca.brescia@spes.uniud.it

[+39 0461 615 508]