A STORY OF TALENT: SANT’ANNA SCHOOL ALUMNUS FROM AGRONOMY DEPT. INVESTIGATES “XYLELLA” HLB CITRUS DISEASE AT UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA AS FIRST-EVER ROOT BIOLOGY PROFESSOR OF INDIAN RIVER RESEARCH CENTER
Known for his successful research experiments with fruit crop trees at Sant’Anna School Biolabs - Institute of Life Sciences, Lorenzo Rossi joined the University of Florida Indian River - Research and Education Center in January, 2018. He is the Indian River Research Center’s first-ever root biology assistant professor (teaching-research tenure track position - a career path towards a professorship) and will support the university’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Science’s commitment to fight the Huanglongbing or HLB (Chinese – literally, yellow dragon disease – also known as citrus greening) which has seriously affected citrus production in Asia, Africa, India, Saudi Arabia and Brazil.
In 2005, the disease was found in the south Florida region and citrus production has been compromised with the loss of millions of trees (yield loss is 85%). HLB is thought to be caused by the bacterium, Candidatus , Liberibacter asiaticus. The early symptoms of HLB on leaves are vein yellowing and an asymmetrical chlorosis and root systems of infected trees are poorly developed. The yellowing usually spreads throughout the tree over a year, causing the productivity to decline within a few years.
Lorenzo Rossi began his career as an outstanding student at Sant’Anna School and University of Pisa. Rossi earned a bachelor of science in agricultural sciences in 2009, a master of science in crop production and management of the agroecosystem and in 2014 he completed a Ph.D. in agro biosciences, plant biology, at Sant’Anna Biolabs, under the supervision of Professor Luca Sebastiani. He achieved magna cum laude with each of the degrees. He also actively participated in the college governance as the student representative to the Academic Senate from 2008 to 2012.
Prior to his appointment at University of Florida Indian River - Research and Education Center, he completed two post doctorate positions at North Carolina State University (thanks to study abroad scholarships funded by Sant’Anna School, he worked on responses of olive tree cultivars to salt stress and the mechanisms conveying tolerance and sensitivity) and Texas A&M University (working on interactions of nanoparticles, contaminants and heavy metals on cultivated plants).
“I owe a big part of my success to the education I received at Sant’Anna School – said Lorenzo Rossi. I was inspired by 300 remarkable and talented classmates. The biggest strength in Sant’Anna is the environment in which students are offered a solid foundation in the various disciplines and are prepared for a globalized world. We were taught the ability to compete and operate effectively in other cultures and communities. I was able to experience this ability in US universities. Additionally, being a PhD student at Sant’Anna helped prepare me for research. Professors provided me with opportunities to enhance my critical thinking skills, and my research skills. My postgraduate studies at North Carolina University were the richest opportunity to encounter cultural differences and test my academic preparation. My success would not have been possible without Sant’Anna School, my professors and my mentors”.
