Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante

National Research Council

Simona Abbà

I have been working as a research scientist at CNR since September 2011. My research is currently focused on:

  • de novo genome assembly and RNAseq analysis of phytoplasmas and insect vectors;
  • characterization of the iflavirus EVV-1 in the phytoplasma vector Euscelidius variegatus;
  • plant miRNA in silico analysis;
  • SNP genotyping of grapevine.

I am also collaborating to the “V2P2 repository” project with some IPSP colleagues and with Giancarlo Birello and Anna Perin of IRCrES – CNR. This open source e-infrastructure is designed to preserve and share research data about plant-microbe interactions.

During my PhD, I explored the interactions between plants and mycorrhizal fungi (Tuber borchii, in particular). During my post-doc, I was interested in the possibility of exploiting the ericoid mycorrhizal fungus Oidiodendron maius in the bioremediation of heavy metal-polluted soils. These aspects were investigated mainly with biochemical, cell and molecular biology techniques, using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism to test gene mutations, analyze phenotypes and explore protein–protein interactions with the yeast two-hybrid technique.

For a complete list of my publications, please refer to: ORCID ID 0000-0001-9345-5407

Projects

Articles and book chapters since 2008

  • 2018 - RNA interference of muscle actin and ATP synthase beta increases mortality of the phytoplasma vector Euscelidius variegatus - Abba S., Galetto L., Ripamonti M., Rossi M., Marzachi C. - Pest management science,
  • 2018 - Two phytoplasmas elicit different responses in the insect vector Euscelidius variegatus Kirschbaum - Galetto L., Abbà S., Rossi M., Vallino M., Pesando M., Arricau-Bouvery N., Dubrana M.-P., Chitarra W., Pegoraro M., Bosco D., Marzachì C. - Infection And Immunity , volume 86
  • 2018 - miRVIT: A novel miRNA database and its application to uncover vitis responses to flavescence dorée infection - Chitarra W., Pagliarani C., Abbà S., Boccacci P., Birello G., Rossi M., Palmano S., Marzachì C., Perrone I., Gambino G. - Frontiers in plant science, volume 9
  • 2017 - Identification of putative effector genes and their transcripts in three strains related to ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia’ - Anabestani A., Izadpanah K., Abbà S., Galetto L., Ghorbani A., Palmano S., Siampour M., Veratti F., Marzachì C. - Microbiological Research , 199: 57-66
  • 2017 - Genome sequence, prevalence and quantification of the first iflavirus identified in a phytoplasma insect vector - Abbà S., Galetto L., Vallino M., Rossi M., Turina M., Sicard A., Marzachì C. - Archives Of Virology , 162: 799–809
  • 2016 - The key role of ‘Moscato bianco’ and ‘Malvasia aromatica di Parma’ in the parentage of traditional aromatic grape varieties - Ruffa P., Raimondi S., Boccacci P., Abbà S., Schneider A. - Tree Genetics & Genomes , volume 12
  • 2016 - Complete Genome Sequences of the Obligate Symbionts “Candidatus Sulcia muelleri” and “Ca. Nasuia deltocephalinicola” from the Pestiferous Leafhopper Macrosteles quadripunctulatus (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). - Bennett G.M., Abbà S., Kube M., Marzachì C. - Genome Announcements, 4(1)
  • 2016 - L’analisi del DNA svela l’origine dei vitigni. Ecco come sono nati Ruché ed altri aromatici piemontesi - Schneider A., Ruffa P., Raimondi S., Boccacci P., Abbà S. - Oicce Times , 68: 25-30
  • 2016 - RiPEIP1, a gene from the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis, is preferentially expressed in planta and may be involved in root colonization - Fiorilli V., Belmondo S., Khouja H.R., Abbà S., Faccio A., Daghino S., Lanfranco L. - Mycorrhiza , 6:609-621
  • 2015 - The Importance of the KR-Rich Region of the Coat Protein of Ourmia melon virus for Host Specificity, Tissue Tropism, and Interference With Antiviral Defense. - Rossi M., Vallino M., Abbà S., Ciuffo M., Balestrini R., Genre A., Turina M. - Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 28:30-41
  • 2015 - Decreasing global transcript levels over time suggest that phytoplasma cells enter stationary phase during plant and insect colonization - Pacifico D., Galetto L., Rashidi M., Abbà S., Palmano S., Firrao G., Bosco D., Marzachì C. - Applied And Environmental Microbiology, 81:2602-2591
  • 2015 - Shall we share? A repository for Open Research Data in agriculture and environmental sciences - Abbà S., Birello G., Vallino M., Perin A., Ghignone S., Caciagli P. - EPPO Bulletin , 45:311-316
  • 2015 - A rice GRAS gene has an impact on the success of arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization - Fiorilli V., Volpe V., Zanini S., Vallino M., Abbà S., Bonfante P. - American Journal Of Plant Sciences (Print), 6:1905-1915
  • 2014 - OmGOGAT-disruption in the ericoid mycorrhizal fungus Oidiodendron maius induces reorganization of the N pathway and reduces tolerance to heavy-metals - Khouja H.R., Daghino S., Abbà S., Boutaraa F., Chalot M., Blaudez D., Martino E., Perotto S. - Fungal Genetics And Biology , 71:1-8
  • 2014 - Gene expression and role in cadmium tolerance of two PLAC8-containing proteins identified in the ericoid mycorrhizal fungus Oidiodendron maius - Di Vietro L., Daghino S., Abbà S., Perotto S. - Fungal Biology , 118:695-703
  • 2014 - RNA-Seq profile of flavescence dorée phytoplasma in grapevine - Abbà S., Galetto L., Carle P., Carrère S., Delledonne M., Foissac X., Palmano S., Veratti F., Marzachì C. - BMC Genomics , 15:1088
  • 2013 - Novel aspects of grapevine response to phytoplasma infection investigated by a proteomic and phospho-proteomic approach with data integration into functional networks - Margaria, P., Abbà, S., Palmano, S. - BMC Genomics, 14:38
  • 2011 - The Perigord black truffle responds to cold temperature with an extensive reprogramming of its transcriptional activity - Zampieri E., Balestrini R., Kohler A., Abbà S., Martin F., Bonfante P. - Fungal Genetics And Biology, 48:585-591