Alessandra Villani

Alessandra Villani is a postdoc at the Institute of Science of Food Production (CNR-ISPA) in Bari. She received her Master’s degree in Biology in 2011 and her Ph.D. in Evolutionary and Environmental Sciences from University of Bari in 2016. During her postgraduated research, she used a polyphasic approach, including morphological, chemical analyses, phylogenetic inference, and comparative genomics to characterize some toxigenic fungal populations isolated from worldwide cereals. Currently, she works on genomics, phylogenetic studies, and molecular genetic methods to determine the genetic and metabolic diversity of mycotoxigenic fungi and to identify fungal genes that regulate mycotoxin synthesis.