PhD Student: Irene Valenti (ORCID n. 0000-0003-3532-3195)
Supervisor: Matias Pasquali, DeFENS
Co-tutor: Marco Saracchi, DeFENS
Dean: Prof. Diego Mora
Research area: Agri-Environment
Research topic
Mitigate the impact of threats on the production, quality, and safety of food products
Project Synopsis
Fungal pathogens in wheat grains are a significant threat to both human and animal health even due to the negative effects of some fungal secondary metabolites: the mycotoxins. Beneficial microorganisms composing the plant microbiota could be a promising and environmentally friendly strategy in degrading many organic compounds. Moreover, microorganisms able to degrade mycotoxins sometimes become valuable biocontrol agents because some mycotoxins play a crucial role in pathogenesis.
This project aims to identify and improve the detoxification activity of some microorganisms able to contrast the mycotoxin accumulation in grains products. An experimental laboratory evolution approach will be employed to stimulate the adaptation of microorganisms to new growth conditions, imposing a selection pressure based on increased mycotoxin contamination levels of exposure. Therefore, a multi-omics approach will be applied to investigate the mechanism of microbial-induced adaptation, the properties of new potential mycotoxin degrading enzymes and the microbial putative interactions with the environment.
Project keywords
Mycotoxin; microbiota; wheat; evolution.
Contacts
Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, DeFENS
Università degli Studi di Milano
Via Celoria 2, 20133, Milan/ Italy
Email address: irene.valenti@unimi.it
Sponsor
Fellowship sponsor: Università degli Studi di Milano