Chiara Bernardini: Plant Physiology First Author

Chiara Bernardini, first author of “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus accumulation in the phloem inhibits callose and reactive oxygen species”

Current position: Post-doctoral Researcher, University of Florida, USA

Education: PhD in Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Udine, Italy

Non-scientific interests: outdoor, cooking and reading

Brief bio:

My research focuses on the interaction of the phloem-restricted pathogens with the environment that they inhabit. During my PhD I focused my attention on the sieve element occlusion related proteins and their link with phytohormones following phytoplasma infection. Subsequently, I studied the fine relation between the sugar unbalance and the callose deposition in phytoplasma infected Arabidopsis. My current research goal is to gain a better understanding of the relation between Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus and its host plant Citrus spp. In our current study published on Plant Physiology, we demonstrated for the first time that the bacteria can locally inhibit the plant responses resulting in a better colonization of the entire plant.