Post-doctoral fellowship Xylella fastidiosa

Disruption of Xylella fastidiosa transmission through behavioral manipulation.

The main goal of the project is to evaluate the impact on the transmission dynamics of Xylella fastidiosa to olive by  Philaenus spumarius of techniques and tools alternative to pesticides and based on the concept of behavioral manipulation of the insect vector.
The candidate will conduct lab and semi-field trials assessing the effect on the fastidious bacterium acquisition/inoculation rates of:
i) attractive and repellant visual cues either alone or in combination with plant-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs);
ii) intra- and inter-specific substrate-borne vibrations;
iii) natural enemies with different ethological and ecological traits.

The research will be conducted in the frame of the SOS project (Development of sustainable control strategies of Philaenus spumarius and Xylella fastidiosa transmission), funded by MASAF (Italian Ministry of Agriculture). 

Contact: Daniele Cornara (Assistant Professor, University of Bari), daniele.cornara@uniba.it

Position: Post-doctoral fellowship 
Duration: 2 years 
Annual gross salary: 27.800,00 Euros 
Place of employment: University of Bari (Bari, Italy), https://www.uniba.it/it/ricerca/dipartimenti/disspa
Call opening (estimated): October 2023 
Starting contract date (estimated): December 2023