Attività di Ricerca

The research activities of Agata Gadaleta concerns the following topics:

 Characterization, evaluation  and  use  of  genetic  diversity in breeding activities

• Restoration of biodiversity and evaluation of new genetic materials  (wheat, pomegranate, fig)
• Availability of collection including  crop  wild relative and land race genetic resources) (wheat, pomegranate, fig)
• Selection of appropriate agricultural techniques and characterization of wheat cultivars       for a competitive cereal production
• development of criteria and methods for grain quality testing

 Sustainable agriculture:

•  Studies on  combined water and nutrient stresses  in wheat / interactions between plants/roots, soils and below ground biodiversity
• Identification of traits associated with improved plant performance under restricted water and nutrient availability to develop crop breeding strategies and tools.
• characterize crop performance under interacting environmental conditions
• Excessive fertilization and need to improve nutrient use efficiency

  Food Security :

• Study of mycotoxin accumulation in wheat,
• identification of gluten allergen genes
• Innovation in development of more nutritious wheat derived food products for sustainable and healthy human diet

 Food security and Traceability

• Development of innovative genetic analysis for varietal identification conducted on lands, row materials end-products);

Specific tools:

Study of Fusarium Head Blight resistance in durum wheat; Nitrogen Use Efficiency in durum wheat; Screening of wheat germoplasm and molecular characterization, development of genetic intervarietal linkage maps with molecular markers; Fusarium and power mildew resistance gene identification in durum wheat; identification and characterization of quantitative traits loci (QTLs) for grain protein content and carotenoid pigments content; identification of molecular markers for the assisted selection (MAS) of important bio-agronomic traits; characterization and cultivar identification in crops by means of biochemical and molecular markers; genetic transformation of wheat. The research unit has developed a valuable experience in the sectors of molecular genetics, cytogenetics, in vitro culture, biochemical analyses, experimental design of field trials, and evaluation of several varieties and segregant populations for a number of important quantitative and qualitative bio-agronomic traits.