Turin Headquarter

Vineyard pest management involves a considerable cost, both from an economic and environmental point of view. The European Commission has already decided to cut down on many pesticides, including copper-based fungicides and neonicotinoid insecticides. There is therefore a need to identify new pesticides or to improve the already available ones leading to a still profitable, but more environmentally friendly viticulture. The present project, through integrated agronomic, metabolic, technological, genetic and molecular approaches, intends to evaluate the effectiveness of innovative solutions to be included in integrated pest management strategies, with the…

Despite the overwhelming amount of recent advanced studies, the current knowledge of the plant microbiome is far from being complete. Unravelling the complexity of the microbial systems within the same host and their interactions with external factors represents a major challenge. The current project aims at the production and use of gnotobiotic plants and innovative smart boxes to screen and exploit the microbial diversity present in natural ecosystems in the optic to improve plant growth and tolerance to diseases and abiotic factors. The proposed smart boxes will be developed to…

The objective of the FD_LAMPvett project is to develop a rapid molecular LAMP technique for the early identification of the grapevine flavescence dorée (FD) phytoplasma. The developed LAMP technique will be compared with the LAMP protocols already identified for the detection of FD phytoplasma in infected grapevine plants. To evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of the technique developed by different laboratories and operators, a fundamental aspect for the diagnosis of quarantine pathogens, ‘intra-laboratory’ and ‘inter-laboratory’ validations will be carried out, comparing already available and/or developed LAMP molecular assays. Furthermore, it…