Education: 2002 PhD in Applied Botany, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Perugia, Italy 1998 Master Degree in Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Perugia, Italy Current Position(s): 2019 - Current Position Associate professor, Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES: From 2019 to now Head of the Applied Botany Research Unit at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia From 202 MAIN RESEARCH ACTIVITIES Study of effects of the co-cultivation of rice with Azolla. Data collected until now demonstrated the influence of Azolla in rice root development and gene expression, above all concerning the genes/proteins involved in the uptake of nutrients. Cytological and ultrastructural aspects of reproduction in different plant species. Characterization of Petunia hybrida mutant to study the vacuole differentiation, the vesicular trafficking and the colour development Study of wheat caryopsis and tomato plant development in relation to growing conditions. Plant response to biotic and abiotic stresses In all these researches light and electron microscopical techniques are applied, to verify changes in cyto-histological structures but also to localize genes expression through immunolocalization and in situ hybridization. Histochemical methods for the localization of abiotic agents of environmental pollution and compounds, such as nitric oxide, are also used.