My research focus on plant-parasitic nematodes due to the tremendous damages caused in agriculture crops and forestry systems worldwide, being a threat to food security. The theme of my research are host-parasite biology using genomic and transcriptomic approaches to identify and functional characterize new parasitism proteins (effectors) and understand their roles in the host-parasite interaction. I am currently interested in how the parasitism genes are regulated and also find new solutions to the biocontrol of plant pathogens.
Present Research
- gene regulation
- plant-parasitic nematodes
- molecular plant-host interactions
- parasitism
- reverse genetics
Research Interests
- Transcriptomics
- Parasitism
- Genomics
- Molecular biology
- Molecular plant-microbe interaction
- Plant Pathology
Personal Information
Institutional Email | mespada@uevora.pt |