Annarita Marrano
I am a plant geneticist and my research aims to identify the genetic and non-genetic factors affecting crop diversity by combining experimental approaches with statistical and computational analyses.
- Role
- Agbiodata Program Coordinator at Phoenix Bioinformatics
- Location
- Arlington, MA, US
- LinkedIn followers
- 500 followers
About Annarita Marrano
My research program is defined by three questions:(1) how have human agricultural practices shaped plant diversity and evolution;(2) how can we transfer this evolutionary knowledge of the past to support current agricultural needs;(3) how can modern technologies adapt agriculture to challenging future conditions. during my Ph.D. at the Fondazione Edmund Mach (Italy), I studied the evolution of genetic and phenotypic differentiation between cultivated grapevine and its wild ancestor. My research demonstrated that the wild grapevine likely adapted to varied stressors occurring in its native habitat, becoming a valuable resource for the study of adaptation to challenging environments in grapevine and for the discovery of resilience alleles lost in the cultivated grapevine. Following my Ph.D, I joined the Walnut Improvement Program of the University of California, Davis, where I led a research program aiming to bring and accelerate molecular breeding in walnut. Here, I gained experience in plant breeding, and I applied genetic and genomic approaches to address the needs of the California walnut growers. In my current appointment at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, I am using quantitative and evolutionary genetics along with image analysis to understand the adaptation to biotic and abiotic stress in plants (i.e, rice, cranberry). Understanding the mechanisms of adaptation to environmental fluctuations is crucial for sustainable agriculture, based on individuals resilient to current and future climate changes. I am actively engaged in outreach activities involving growers and industry leaders, as well as aiming to disseminate knowledge in plant breeding within and outside academia. For instance, I am the co-founder of PhenomeForce, a platform dedicated to enforcing expertise and skills in plant phenomics.
Experience
Agbiodata Program Coordinator
Nov 2021 — Present · Boston, MA, US
Education
Università degli Studi di Bari
Bachelor's degree
2006 — 2009
Università degli Studi di Bari
Master's degree
2009 — 2011
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