Laura Gonçalves Costa Martins: Plant Physiology First Author

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Laura Gonçalves Costa Martins, co-first author of “A plant-specific syntaxin-6 protein contributes to the intracytoplasmic route for the begomovirus CabLCV”

Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher in the Biotechnological Institute Applied to Agriculture/ Bioagro, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil

Education: Ph.D. and M.S. in Genetics and Breeding, B.S. in Biology at the University of Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil

Non-scientific Interests: reading, music, and sports

Brief bio: In 2010, I initiated the undergraduate program in Biology at Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV), Brazil. In 2014, as soon as I got my B.S. degree, I started M.S. followed by Ph.D. in the Genetics and Breeding Graduate Program under the supervision of Professor Elizabeth P B Fontes from the Plant Molecular and Cellular Laboratory, Bioagro/UFV, (i) studying the molecular bases that control the Al3+ resistant sorghum SbMATE gene activation and (ii) elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the “physiological disturbance” in Eucalyptus, using both cell biology and functional genomics approaches. Currently, I am a pos-doctoral fellow at Bioagro/UFV and my research project focuses on genome editing and modulation of antiviral immunity against begomoviruses, employing mostly the CRISPR-Cas technology to inactive recessive genes for durable and wide-broad resistance in crops and vegetables.