Simona Maria Monti

This study examines how a tomato-derived peptide affects the phyllosphere microbiome and plant defense, finding shifts in bacterial communities and functional profiles linked to defense activation.

This study shows that truncated prosystemin promotes defense in tomato plants through a hormone-independent pathway involving oligogalacturonides, suggesting prosystemin has multiple roles beyond its role as a Systemin precursor.

The paper identifies a Y-linked gene, MoY, essential for male sex determination in medflies and shows its conservation across multiple fruit fly species, enabling potential genetic control strategies.

This paper demonstrates efficient CRISPR-Cas9-based gene disruption in the medfly using RNPs, achieving high germline transmission and mutant phenotypes.