Laura Ravazzolo obtained the Bachelor’s degree in Biology (2012) and the Master’s degree in Biotechnologies for Food science (2014) at the University of Padova. Then, in 2020 she received the Ph.D. in Crop Science from the University of Padova under the supervision of Prof. Silvia Quaggiotti with a dissertation entitled “The maize root response to nitrogen fluctuations: signaling crosstalk with strigolactones, auxin and transcriptional regulation“. Since then, she has been working on two different projects in the Quaggiotti Lab as a postdoc, namely studying (1) the physiological and molecular responses of maize roots to nitrate availability, with a particular focus on the signaling aspects of strigolactones, nitric oxide and auxin; and (2) the optimization of specific secondary metabolite production in different plant cell cultures (i.e. Echinacea purpurea, Croton lechleri) with the aim of selecting predictive marker genes for the production of these active metabolites for use in both the pharmaceutical and food industries. Meanwhile, over the years she has also collaborated with projects involved in studying the mechanism of action of molecules with biostimulant functions, but also in studying the response of maize plants to PFAS (PerFluorinated Alkyl Substances) and in the development of protocols for the transfer and multiplication in vitro of different genotypes of Corylus colurna. In recent years, she collaborated with the Department of General Psychology of the University of Padua and the company Ab.Acus srl (Milan, Italy) to study the movement of roots from a dynamic point of view, allowing to develop a timelapse system for the 3D reconstruction and analysis of maize roots grown in hydroponics.

selected publications

2024 – Strigolactone roles in maize tolerance to low nitrogen involve shifts in acquisition and partitioning of protein, sulfur, and iron.

2023 – Identification of gene markers to predict proanthocyanidins biosynthesis in cell culture of Croton lechleri.

2022 – C3H expression is crucial for methyl jasmonate induction of chicoric acid production by Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench cell suspension cultures.

2021 – Strigolactones and auxin cooperate to regulate maize root development and response to nitrate.

2019 – The control of zealactone biosynthesis and exudation is involved in the response to nitrogen in maize root.