3U Symposium 2025 Program

Wednesday, 28 May 2025

08:30 – Registration

Opening Session

Opening remarks by Riccardo Aversano (UN), chair of the local organizing committee

9:30 – Angela Zampella (UN), Vice-Rector, University of Naples Federico II
9:35 – Danilo Ercolini (UN), Director, Dept. of Agricultural Sciences
9:40 – Alessandro Arienzo (UN), Rector Delegate to AURORA Alliance
9:45 – Jiří Drábek (UP), Vice-Rector, Palacký University
9:50 – Scott Angle (UF), Senior VP for Agriculture and Natural Resources
9:55 – Adegbola T. Adesogan (UF), Associate VP, Global Food Systems Institute
Talk: Growing your global accomplishments

10:10 – Coffee Break

Session I – Microbial roles in soil and plant ecosystems – chair: Petr Dvořák (UP)

10:45 – Donato Giovannelli (UN): Trace metal at the crossroad between metabolic diversity and the evolution of biogeochemistry
11:00 – Sarah Strauss (UF): Selecting benefits: exploring how to manage agroecosystems for crop-beneficial microbes
11:15 – Francesca De Filippis (UN): Environment-microbiome “cross-talk”: complex interplay influencing human health
11:30 – Samuel Martins (UF): The influence of soil management practices on the rhizosphere microbiome and plant health
11:45 – Adesuwa Erhunmwunse (UF – via Zoom): Soil’s hidden intelligence: The microbial architects of soil health

12:00 – Light Lunch

Session II – Cyanobacteria and microalgae: ecology to biotechnology – chair: Dail Laughinghouse (UF)

13:30 – Dail Laughinghouse (UF):  Efficacy and Impacts of chemical control on Harmful Algal Blooms occurring across the fresh to marine continuum
13:45 – Antonino Pollio (UN): The ACUF Collection: characterization, conservation, and exploitation of Cyanobacteria and microalgae from extreme environments
14:00 – Svatopluk Skoupý (UP): A good taxonomic practice - how population genomics changes the taxonomy of cyanobacteria
14:15 – Pasquale Chiaiese (UN): Microalgae as a green solution for anthropogenic pollutant remediation
14:30 – Petr Dvořák (UP): Ecological speciation in cyanobacterium Microcoleus

14:45 – Coffee Break

Session III – Plant responses and environmental adaptation – chair: Ivo Frébort (UP)

15:30 – Scott Angle (UF): Phytomining – More plants and more scientists needed to extract valuable metals from soil
15:45 – Nuria De Diego (UP): Advancing AI in plant research for understanding resilience to multiple stresses
16:00 – Maria Manuela Rigano (UN): Selection of one shade-tolerant S. pennellii introgression line
16:15 – Lukáš Spíchal (UP): Dual high-throughput plant phenotyping combining optical and electrochemical sensing

Thursday, 29 May 2025

Session IV – Plant disease and pest control – chair: Marco Gebiola (UNINA) and Gary Vallad (UF)

09:30 – Xavier Martini (UF): Management of citrus greening and Asian citrus psyllid: from research to extension
09:45 – Marco Gebiola (UN): Getting prepared for A1 list quarantine pests: some tools for the control of the psyllids Bactericera cockerelli and Diaphorina citri
10:00 – Nathan Boyd (UF): Targeted pest management in specialty crops: the path forward
10:15 – Martina Sinno (UN): Multi-omics profiling reveals plant responses to microbial biocontrol agents under pathogen and pest pressure

10:30 – Coffee Break

11:00 – David Turrà (UN): Phase-contrast microtomography and MAP kinase signaling highlight mechanisms of Fusarium oxysporum root invasion and colonization patterns
11:15 – Gary Vallad (UF): Mining Florida’s Myakka fine sand for sustainable biological control
11:30 – Gelsomina Manganiello (UN): Innovative sustainable control of Plasmopara viticola on grapevines with beneficial microbes and lignin copper nanoparticles
11:45 – Braham Dhillon (UF): Genetics and genomics of Thielaviopsis – palm interaction
12:00 – Aunj Sharma (UF – via Zoom): Engineering disease resistance: elimination of tomato bacterial spot susceptibility factors

12:15 – Light Lunch

Session V – Biotechnological innovations for resilient crops – chair: Clizia Villano (UNINA)

14:00 – Jitka Frébortová (UP): Molecular farming for antimicrobial peptide production
14:15 – Vincenzo D'Amelia (UN): Optimizing plant cell cultures for bioactive compound production: the potato and apple story
14:30 – Véronique Bergougnoux (UP): Genome editing in barley
14:45 – Ivo Frébort (UP): Barley as a production platform for oral vaccines in sustainable fish aquaculture

15:00 – Nunzio D'Agostino (UN): Unravelling genomic complexity: advances in omics data analysis and gene editing at DAGOLAB

15:15 – Coffee Break

16:00 – Optional Visit: Herculaneum (self-paid)
20:00 – Social dinner (self-paid)

Friday, 30 May 2025

Session VI – Genomics and sustainable breeding – chair: Riccardo Aversano (UNINA)

09:30 – Kaitlyn Vondracek (UF): Genomics-assisted strawberry breeding at the University of Florida
09:45 – Maria Raffaella Ercolano (UN): Accelerating crop breeding via advanced omics analysis and genome-editing
10:00 – Jessica Chitwood-Brown (UF): Breeding fresh market tomatoes at the University of Florida
10:15 – Salvatore Graci (UN): Towards climate-resilient agriculture: the genetic and breeding potential of a thermotolerant tomato line

10:30 – Antonio Di Matteo (UN): Glutathione S-transferase and ethylene-responsive genes regulate redox potential and stress response in tomato: implications for breeding

10:45 – Coffee Break

11:15 – Breakout Session

12:00 – Closing Remarks: future of the 3U Symposium and collaborative opportunities

12:15 – Light Lunch

14:30 Visit to the research facilities of the Department of Agricultural Sciences