Etiology and Control of Crop Diseases

We are involved in several research lines devoted to crop diseases caused by soil-borne pathogens, with emphasis on the study of: i) Biotechnology and molecular basis of plant-microbe interactions, both pathogenic and beneficial; ii) Genetic and pathogenic diversity of pathogen populations and development of molecular tools for in planta and in soil pathogen detection; and iii) Integrated management of diseases affecting crops economically relevant for the Mediterranean Agriculture, mainly Verticillium wilt of olive, Fusarium wilts of carnation and horticultural crops, downy mildew and broomrape in sunflower, root rot of avocado and late wilt in maize, including approaches such as biological control agents, organic amendments and genetic resistance.