Affiliation: University of Siena, Department of Life Sciences

Dr. Veronica Conti is a PhD student in Life Sciences at the University of Siena, awarded with a PEGASO fellowship funded by the Tuscany Region. She graduated (bachelor’s and master’s) in Biology from the University of Siena.  Currently, she is studying Tuscan tomato cultivars subjected to drought stress through physiological, genetic, and proteomic approaches paying particular attention to the plant's response to environmental stresses during the reproductive phase. The most remarkable result is that locally adapted tomato cultivars are more resistant to drought stress compared to commercial crops, strongly supporting the value of local biodiversity. Recently, she became interested in pollen and wrote (with Prof. Giampiero Cai) a review on the subject. Her skills and knowledge include aspects of plant biochemistry and physiology and the changes occurring during conditions of abiotic stress, food biochemistry and nutraceutical compounds, germination and viability of pollen under stress