Microbial Battles in the Xylem: How Endophytes Interact with Xylella fastidiosa in Salicaceae?

Abstract

Lena Pesenti is a last year Ph.D. student at the Plant Health Lab (UCLouvain, Belgium) under the supervision of Prof. Claude Bragard. She began working on Xylella fastidiosa during her Master’s thesis, focusing on the identification of potential hosts in Northern Europe, particularly among Salicaceae species. These trees may act as efficient hosts—and possibly as stepping stones and reservoirs—for the propagation of the disease in northern regions. Her Ph.D. research investigates how xylem-inhabiting bacterial endophytes influence the outcome of X. fastidiosa infections, helping to explain the observed symptomatic/asymptomatic duality