Dr. Rosario Iacono

Research Interests

The sentence "It is not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it" by Hans Selye becomes particularly true for sessile organisms such as plants, that cannot escape environmental stressors. Plant response to biotic and abiotic stress has defined the development of human civilization and will play a crucial role in our ability to cope with climate change while protecting biodiversity and maintaining agricultural food production.

Broadly, my interest lies in the investigation of the response of plants to environmental stress and its impact on environmental preservation and the development of sustainable agriculture.

My previous academic experiences include the study of sulphate transporters in Brassicaeae and the develpment of predictive models of the impact of large-scale agrivoltaic plants in Mediterranean areas.

So far, my set of skills includes cell wall analysis, molecular biology and data analysis.

Current Project

At the Department of Soil Ecology, I am part of the Core project 8 within the Biodiversity Exploratories.

The topic of the project is: "Soil microbial diversity and community composition of grassland and forest ecosystems along land-use gradients"

Within the project, my work focuses on the investigation of the long-term effects of land use management intensities on the microbial communities in the soil.

CV / Scientific Career

Membership

• Association for Vertical Farming (AVF), Individual member, 2023
  

Teaching qualifications

Complete List of Publications

Iacono R., Slavov G.T., Davey C., Clifton-Brown J., Allison G., Bosch M. (2023): Variability of cell wall recalcitrance and composition in genotypes of Miscanthus from different genetic groups and geographical origin, Front. Plant Sci. volume: 14, DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1155188

Bhatia R., Dalton S., Roberts L.A., Morón-García O., Iacono R., Kosik O., Gallagher J.A., Bosch M. (2019): Modified expression of ZmMYB167 in Brachypodium distachyon and Zea mays leads to increased cell wall lignin and phenolic content.  Sci.Rep. 9,8800. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-45225-9

Iacono R., Lancilli C., Nocito F.F. (2011): Regulation of sulphate uptake in Arabidopsis thaliana: The possible role of STRAM1. Minerva Biotecnologica, 23 (suppl. 1), 62-63

Conference Contributions

Conference abstract

Iacono R., Allison G., Bosch M. (2020):Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation on phenological, physiological and biomass conversion traits in natural accessions and hybrids of Miscanthus spp. Abstract for Monogram 2020 Conference (Cancelled for COVID19). University of Dundee, Dundee (UK).

Talks

Barbera C.A., Iacono R. (2022). Emerging evidence on rice (O. sativa L.) irrigated with water contaminated by residual pharmaceutical chemicals. International One Health Conference 2022, Catania (Italy)

Iacono R., Allison G., Boch M. (2018): Miscanthus cell wall recalcitrance to deconstruction: Can we tar a whole genus with the same brush?,VIII Plant Cell Wall Conference, Asilomar (California, USA)

Posters

Iacono R., Allison G., Boch M. (2019). Assessing the variability of cell wall characteristics in Miscanthus from various genetic backgrounds, XV Cell Wall Meeting (2019),Cambridge, UK

Iacono R., Allison G., Boch M. (2019). Biomass fit for biorefineries: detailed characterization of lignocellulosic biomass from 12 Miscanthus  genotypes, IV LBNet Meeting, Manchester, UK

Iacono R., Allison G., Boch M. (2018). Miscanthus cell wall recalcitrance to deconstruction: Can we tar a whole genus with the same brush? III LBNet Meeting, Manchester, UK