Research

Research interests

We are interested in the genetic and physiological basis of domestication and improvement traits in solanaceous crops (tomato, peppers, potato). We exploit natural genetic variation available in wild species and we create new alleles of known genes using molecular biology methods (overexpression, RNA interference, TALENs, CRISPR/Cas9). We then assess the impact of the new alleles on plant development and physiology and agronomic performance.

Ongoing projects

• The genetic basis of heterobaric and homobaric leaves in tomato
• De novo domestication of wild relatives using gene editing
• Development of a new model cultivar for Capsicum genetics
• Genetic and physiological basis of heterosis
• Physiological impact of anthocyanins in tomato
• Functional characterization of the florigen (CETS) gene family
• The genetic basis of drought resistance in tomato