Giampiero Cai

Currently my work is focused on the relationship between plants and environmental stress. My goal is to understand the responses and adaptations of plants to changing environmental conditions. In particular, I am interested in the damage and responses of pollen (a key cell in plant reproduction). In this context, I am studying changes in the cell wall and cytoskeleton. My interest in the plant/stress relationship also extends to plants of agronomic importance such as tomatoes, olives and cherries. In cultivated plants, the focus is mainly on the physiological, metabolic and gene expression changes that plants implement under stress. Equally important is the analysis that these stresses have on the production of secondary metabolites that are beneficial in human nutrition.