Lecturers: Fabrizio Costa, Nicola Busatto, Brian Farneti, Michele Perazzolli

Summary: The course will provide the basics of plant physiology, focusing on phenology and fruit ripening. A special attention will be also given to the genetic mechanisms undertaking important physiological pathways and innovative plant physiology for precision agriculture.

Module 1 (4 hours) - Perazzolli Smart plant physiology. This module will provide specific knowledge of plant physiology with particular attention to new tools for precision agriculture.

Skills acquired: knowledge of plant physiology and precision agriculture aspects.

Module 2 (7 hours) - Costa Fruit ripening physiology. This module will provide a general description of the type of fruits and their mode of ripening. The interplay between different hormones in regulating the fruit ripening will be discussed, introducing, moreover, the genetic analysis addressed to the detection of the main loci controlling fruit ripening related pathways.

Skills acquired: knowledge of ripening physiology and the interplay among several hormones

Module 3 (7 hours) - Busatto: Genetic regulation of fruit ripening. This module will present the road map of the functional analysis carried out to date to disclose the main regulating mechanisms of fruit ripening. The state of the art of the molecular and biotech techniques used to date to investigate the fruit ripening processes will be also discussed, from recombinant DNA to OMIC approaches.

Skills acquired: investigation of the molecular mechanisms regulating fruit ripening using the most advanced biotechnology approaches

Module 4 (6 hours) - Farneti: Fruit quality and postharvest physiology. This module will be dedicated to underlying the relationship between fruit ripening and fruit quality, and how fruit quality can be investigated. To this end, classic and novel methodologies will be illustrated. The last part of the course will be devoted to postharvest, discussing how fruit change during storage and which are the most modern postharvest technologies oriented to preserve fruit quality.    

Skills acquired: understanding of the regulatory processes underlying fruit quality and their impact in the postharvest physiology.

Course schedule

Registration procedure: in order to formally register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it 

Evaluation procedure: presentation