I am from Ethiopia, a country found in the horn of Africa, which celebrates a rich diversity and history. My entire education was focused in agriculture where I had my bachelor’s degree in plant production from Debub University, Ethiopia while I got Master of Science in horticulture from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India. My master’s thesis was on “Identification of differentially expressed gene candidates under salt stress conditions and characterization of high yielding turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) genotypes”.

My research interest involves studying the functional role of plant lipoxygenase (LOX) genes towards durable host resistance to fungal pathogens in grapevine and maize. LOXs play important role in plant-pathogen interaction through peroxidation of poly unsaturated fatty acids to produce oxylipins, among which jasmonates have a significant contribution in host mediated resistance. CRISPR/cas9 mediated transformation, coupled with expression analysis and metabolomics techniques will be employed for in depth functional analysis of LOXs gene in wild and transgenic plants. The understanding of such defense mechanism will augment prospective genetic improvements in grapevine and maize.

Supervisors:

Fondazione Emdund Mach, Dr Stefania Pilati and Dr. Lorenza Dalla Costa;

University of Trento, C3A, Dr. Fabrizio Costa (tutor);

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Prof. Adriano Marocco and Dr. Alessandra Lanubile.

Email address: mikiasdamtew.guche@fmach.it, mikiasdamtew.guche@unitn.it