Maria Rosaria Tassone

Maria Rosaria Tassone

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Maria Rosaria Tassone

CREA, Research Centre for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Montanaso Lombardo, Italy

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

2Years (2025-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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11 November 2025 in Nature Communications
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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Luciana GaccioneLuciana Gaccione
Luciana Gaccione
LTLaura Toppino
Laura Toppino
MBMarie Bolger
Marie Bolger
MSMaximilian Schmidt
Maximilian Schmidt
MTMaria Rosaria Tassone
Maria Rosaria Tassone
Lorenzo BarchiLorenzo Barchi
Lorenzo Barchi
Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is a major Solanaceous crop of Asian origin, but genomic resources remain limited compared to related species. Here, a core collection of 368 accessions spanning global diversity of S. melongena and wild relatives is phenotyped for agronomic, disease resistance and fruit metabolomic traits and resequenced. Additionally, 40 chromosome-level assemblies of S. melongena, its progenitor S. insanum and the allied species S. incanum enable the construction of two graph-based pangenomes, capturing broad genetic variation. We demonstrate the power of these datasets by identifying major loci controlling prickliness and resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melongenae, driven by SVs affecting the LONELY GUY 3 gene and a resistance gene cluster, respectively, as well as a mutation in a GDSL-like esterase/lipase gene altering the levels of dicaffeoyl-quinic acids. These findings provide a cornerstone for pangenome-assisted breeding, enabling detailed analyses of genetic diversity, domestication history, and trait evolution in eggplant.