RESEARCHER
simona.abba(AT)ipsp.cnr.it
011.397.7962
Publications: ORCID
Personal details and research activity: People
Curriculum Vitae
I have been working as a research scientist at CNR since September 2011. My research is currently focused on:
- de novo genome assembly and RNAseq analysis of phytoplasmas and insect vectors;
- insect virus discovery;
- dsRNA-mediated RNA interference in insects;
- production of infectious clones of insect viruses;
- microbiome characterization of phytoplasma insect vectors;
- plant miRNA in silico analysis;
- SNP genotyping of grapevine.
I am also collaborating to the “V2P2 repository” project with some IPSP colleagues and with Giancarlo Birello and Anna Perin from IRCrES – CNR. This open source e-infrastructure is designed to preserve and share research data about plant viruses.
During my PhD, I explored the interactions between plants and mycorrhizal fungi (Tuber borchii, in particular). During my post-doc, I was interested in the possibility of exploiting the ericoid mycorrhizal fungus Oidiodendron maius in the bioremediation of heavy metal-polluted soils. These aspects were investigated mainly with biochemical, cell and molecular biology techniques, using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism to test gene mutations, analyze phenotypes and explore protein–protein interactions with the yeast two-hybrid technique.
Project Leader for:
‘MICOTI – Fungal microorganisms for the biocontrol of Scaphoideus titanus‘