{"id":3868,"date":"2026-01-20T14:56:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:56:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/?p=3868"},"modified":"2026-01-20T14:59:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:59:49","slug":"phd-student-profile-luigi-bazzana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/2026\/01\/20\/phd-student-profile-luigi-bazzana\/","title":{"rendered":"PhD student profile, Luigi Bazzana"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry\">\n\n\n<p><strong>PhD Student<\/strong>: Luigi Bazzana (ORCID n. <a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-5198-9176\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">0009-0001-5198-9176<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3871\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Luigi_Bazzanajpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Luigi_Bazzanajpg.jpg 200w, https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Luigi_Bazzanajpg-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Supervisor<\/strong>: Prof. Eleonora Rolli, DeFENS<\/p>\n<p><strong>Co-tutor<\/strong>: Prof. Sara Borin, DeFENS<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dean<\/strong>: Prof. Diego Mora<\/p>\n<p><strong>Research area<\/strong>: Agri-Environment<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Research topic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Environmental microbiomes: characterization and biotechnological exploitation<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Project Synopsis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Exploiting plant-microbe dynamics to boost rhizoremediation of hydrocarbon-polluted soils<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Environmental pollution is one of the main causes of soil degradation, and petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC), resulting from spills and industrial activities are toxic and persistent pollutants. For their removal, rhizoremediation represents a valuable and cheap nature-based solution compared to physico-chemical treatments, and it exploits the interactions between plants and PHC degrading microbiomes in the rhizosphere. This PhD project aims to elucidate plant-microbiome interactions under PHC-induced stress, exploring the &#8220;cry-for-help&#8221; hypothesis: the mechanism by which plants recruit a beneficial microbiome via specific root exudates, to alleviate a stressful condition. This research focus on i) the identification and characterization of root exudates and the associated rhizosphere microbiome in HC-polluted soil; ii) designing synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) composed of bacteria endowed with plant growth promotion traits and HC-degradation activities; iii) developing and inoculating biologics, comprised of SynComs and root exudate compounds as prebiotics, to enhance rhizoremediation efficacy in semi-field conditions.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Project keywords<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Plant-microbe interactions; bioremediation; cry-for-help; root exudation<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Contacts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano, Italy<\/p>\n<p>Via Mangiagalli 25, 3<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0floor, 20133 Milan<\/p>\n<p>luigi.bazzana@unimi.it<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Collaborations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This PhD project is developed in the framework of the Horizon Europe NYMPHE project (Grant Agreement number 101060625), coordinated by the University of Bologna. For more information, please visit the project\u2019s website: https:\/\/www.nympheproject.eu\/<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sponsor<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Fellowship sponsor<\/em>: Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Publications<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Publications<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p>Rusconi, C., Confalonieri, R., <strong>Bazzana, L<\/strong>., Fanchi, F., Zanotti, E., &amp; Paleari, L. (2025). Estimating stomatal conductance in maize from 3D plant scans. Biosystems Engineering,254. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.biosystemseng.2025.104161\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.biosystemseng.2025.104161<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Oral Communications<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p>Rolli, E., Ghitti, E., Vergani, L., Mapelli, F., <strong>Bazzana, L.<\/strong>, &amp; Borin, S. (2025). The plant \u201ccry-for-help\u201d under polychlorinated biphenyl stress shapes root chemistry and ecological interactions. 6th Plant Microbiome Symposium 2025, Antequera (Spain) 3<sup>rd<\/sup> \u2013 7<sup>th<\/sup> November 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Rolli, E., Ghitti, E., Vergani, L., Mapelli, F., <strong>Bazzana, L.<\/strong>, &amp; Borin, S. (2025). Non-flavonoid root exudates shape the plant \u2018cry-for-help\u2019 under polychlorinated biphenyl stress. FEMS MICRO, Milan (Italy) 14<sup>th<\/sup>-17<sup>th<\/sup> July 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Mapelli, F., Eleonora Rolli, C., Capriglia, G., <strong>Bazzana, L.<\/strong>, Ghitti, E., Leilei, Z., Lucini, L., &amp; Borin, S. (2025). Ecological interactions drive the assembly of microbiomes exploitable for hydrocarbon bioremediation in polluted soil. FEMS MICRO, Milan (Italy) 14<sup>th<\/sup>-17<sup>th<\/sup> July 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Mapelli, F., Rolli, E., Capriglia, G., <strong>Bazzana, L.<\/strong>, Ghitti, E., Vergani, L., Musmeci, E., Biagi, E., Zanaroli, G., &amp; Borin, S. (2025). Guild composition of rhizosphere bacteria exploitable for hydrocarbon bioremediation is driven by ecological interactions. 9th European Bioremediation Conference, Chania (Greece) 15<sup>th<\/sup>-19<sup>th<\/sup> June 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Ghitti, E., Rolli, E., Mapelli, F., Capriglia, G., <strong>Bazzana, L.<\/strong>, Zhang, L., Lucini, L., &amp; Borin, S. (2025). Unravelling the petroleum hydrocarbon-triggered shift in root exudation of sunflower (Helianthus annuus). 9th European Bioremediation Conference, Chania (Greece) 15<sup>th<\/sup>-19<sup>th<\/sup> June 2025.<\/p>\n<p><em>Posters<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p>Rolli, E., Mapelli, F., Capriglia, G., <strong>Bazzana, L.<\/strong>, Ghitti, E., Vergani, L., Musmeci, E., Biagi, E., Zanaroli, G., &amp; Borin, S. (2025). Response of rhizosphere microbiome to bioaugmentation with pollutant-degraders for petroleum hydrocarbon bioremediation. Biosolutions 2025, Perpignan (France) 23<sup>th<\/sup>-26<sup>th<\/sup> September 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Capriglia G, Mapelli F, Rolli E, Ghitti E, <strong>Bazzana L<\/strong>, Zhang L, Lucini L, &amp; Borin S. (2025). Multiomics approach untangled sunflower ability to recruit beneficial microbiome for hydrocarbon rhizoremediation of contaminated soil. Bageco, Graz (Austria) 1<sup>st<\/sup>-4<sup>th<\/sup> July 2025.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Others<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Education<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p>Master Degree in \u201cScienze della produzione e protezione delle piante\u201d, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano \u2013 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Bachelor Degree in \u201cScienze e tecnologie agrarie\u201d, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Milano \u2013 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PhD Student: Luigi Bazzana (ORCID n. 0009-0001-5198-9176) \u00a0 Supervisor: Prof. Eleonora Rolli, DeFENS Co-tutor: Prof. Sara Borin, DeFENS Dean: Prof. Diego Mora Research area: Agri-Environment \u00a0 Research topic Environmental microbiomes: characterization and biotechnological exploitation \u00a0 Project Synopsis Exploiting plant-microbe dynamics to boost rhizoremediation of hydrocarbon-polluted soils Environmental pollution is one of the main causes of &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[93,59],"tags":[156,388,367,389],"class_list":{"0":"post-3868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-news","7":"category-phd-student-profile","8":"tag-bioremediation","9":"tag-cry-for-help","10":"tag-plant-microbe-interaction","11":"tag-root-exudation","12":"anons"},"modified_by":"admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3868"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3872,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3868\/revisions\/3872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/foodsystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}