01 Jul 2026. Updates!

Lab updates: new publication, funded research, and a new team member

It’s been an exciting few weeks for the lab! We are pleased to share three major updates highlighting our research, funding, and continued growth.

🌱 New publication

Our latest paper has been published in Applied Soil Ecology, where we investigate how soil disturbance shapes the assembly and stability of root fungal microbiomes. Congratulations to everyone involved in the study!

Saveria Mosca, Edda Francomano, Meriem Miyassa Aci, Nesma Zakaria Mohamed, Leonardo Schena, Antonino Malacrinò (2026). Beneficial fungi as major drivers of root fungal microbiome assembly and network robustness across a soil disturbance gradient. Applied Soil Ecology.

DOI

🍑 New funded project

We are also excited to announce new funding from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to develop microbiome-engineered solutions for controlling diseases of peaches. Our long-term goal is to develop practical microbiome-based technologies that can be integrated into commercial postharvest handling systems, helping growers reduce losses, extend fruit shelf life, and improve the sustainability of specialty crop production.

👋 Welcome to the lab, Maria Grazia!

Finally, we are delighted to welcome Maria Grazia to the lab! Maria Grazia joins us to work on microbiome-based biological control of plant diseases, contributing to our efforts to understand and engineer plant-associated microbial communities for sustainable crop protection. We’re excited to have her on board and look forward to seeing where her research takes us. Welcome, Maria Grazia!

Stay tuned—there are many more exciting projects and discoveries coming from the lab in the months ahead.