
LXVIII SIGA Annual Congress
“Leveraging genetic innovation for future-proofing crops – From conventional breeding to multi-omics and AI in sustainable agriculture”
09-12 September 2025

Session 1 – Pan-genomics and multi-omics: applications in plant breeding
Session 2 – Advances in industrial crops genetics and breeding
Session 3 – Crop resilience to climate changes for food security
Session 5 – New avenues for new cultivars
Session 6 – Genetic innovations in fruit trees
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 09
| 12:00 – 14:00 | Registration |
| 14:00 - 14:30 | Opening ceremony Chairpersons: Silvio Salvi, Stefania Masci, Giovanna Frugis Welcome addresses by Institutional and Local Authorities |
| 14:30 - 16:45 | Session 1 - Pan-genomics and multi-omics: applications in plant breeding Chairpersons: Giorgia Batelli, Riccardo Aiese Cigliano |
| 14:30 – 15:00 | Invited Lecture Martin Mascher - IPK Gatersleben (DE) Barley crop evolution through the lens of pangenomics |
| 15:00 – 15:15 | Popoli A., Colozza D., d'Atti D., Faino L., Pajoro A. A long-read genome assembly and multi-omics analysis to accelerate breeding in wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) |
| 15:15 – 15:30 | Negussu M., Ventimiglia M., Vieri W., Buti M., Giosa D., Trifilò P., Nocentini M., Soares C., Fidalgo F., Karalija E., Meoni G., Turano P., Pollastri S., Loreto F., Martinelli F. Balancing growth and resilience: a multi-omics study of chickpea's intergenerational adaptive strategies under drought stress |
| 15:30 – 15:45 | Farinon B., Olivieri F., Picarella M.E., Aprea G., Ferrante P., Giuliano G., Mazzucato A. Integrated BSA-seq, RNA-seq, and GWAS analyses to identify candidate genes associated with the stigma position trait in cultivated tomato |
| 15:45 – 16:00 | Chiatti V., De Carolis C., De Luca V., Fabriani M., Gentile D., Iannelli M.A., Iori V., Di Milia A., Marano V., Mosconi P., Dimitrakopoulou S., Desplanches C., Fain V.V., Guilloteau Fonteny E., Mulder S., Suidgeest F., De Kraker J.-W., De Boer G.-J., Sestili F., Frugis G. A multi-omic approach to enhance abiotic stress resilience in Cichorium endivia |
| 16:00 – 16:15 | Mazzucotelli E., Llaca V., Fengler K., Charlotte H., Zastrow-Hayes G., Forestan C., Lev-Mirom Y., Swarbreck D., Gundlach H., Navratilova P., Šimková H., Faccioli P., Giorgioni M., Desiderio F., Valladares A.P., Bozzoli M., Gemy K., Lux T., Chawla H., Pirona R., Lauria M., Ceriotti A., Giuliano G., Gadaleta A., Krattinger S., Cavalet-Giorsa E., Pecchioni N., Mastrangelo A.M., Marone D., Eilam T., Oren L., Faris J., Xu S., Sanchez J.I., Stella A., Milanesi L., Lazzari B., Cozzi P., Tavakol E., Bassi F., Baum M., Distelfeld A., Chantret N., Girodolle J., Ranwez V., Provart N., Sen T., Eric Y., Masci S., Sestili F., Curci L., Sonnante G., Morgante M., Spannagl M., Hall A., Pozniak C., Maccaferri M., Tuberosa R., Cattivelli L. Svevo reference genome 2.0: a chromosome-level de novo assembly to support the durum wheat community |
| 16:15 – 16:30 | Carballo J., Gallo C., Selva J.P., Zappacosta D., Echenique V., Albertini E., Caccamo M. Eragrostis curvula genome assembly unveils a single region involved in apomixis |
| 16:30 – 16:45 | General discussion |
| 16:45 – 17:15 | Coffee break and poster viewing |
| 17:15 – 19:00 | Session 2 - Advances in industrial crops genetics and breeding Chairpersons: Roberta Paris, Pasquale Tripodi |
| 17:15 – 17:45 | Invited Lecture Christian Jung - University of Kiel (DE) Genome-wide association studies lead to identifying genes important for sugar beet domestication and breeding |
| 17:45 – 18:00 | Bassolino L., Fulvio F., Righetti L., Terracciano I., Paris R. Unveiling metabolomic and biosynthetic profile of polyphenols in Cannabis sativa L. |
| 18:00 – 18:15 | Biselli C., Fricano A., Carra A., Vietto L., Picco F., Rosso L., Carletti G., Jorge V., Teani A., Valentini F.M., Cattivelli L., Nervo G. New breeding tools for improving poplar resistance to Woolly Poplar Aphid |
| 18:15 – 18:30 | Rossini L., Tavakol E., Shariati V., Hause B., Muehlbauer G., Ferrario C., Gregis V., Shaaf S., Biswas A., Janiak A., Yoneyama K., Brewer P. Barley tillering genes and hormonal pathways |
| 18:30 – 18:45 | Testone G., Dougué Kentsop R.A., Giannino D., da Silva Linge C., Galasso I., Genga A., Delledonne A., Biffani S., Roda G., Frugis G., Mattana M. Effects of methyl jasmonate and chitosan nanoparticle treatments on field-grown hemp inflorescences: integrating transcriptomic and secondary metabolite insights |
| 18:45 – 19:00 | General discussion |
| 19:15 - 20:30 | Welcome cocktail - Municipal Garden, Palazzo dei Priori - Piazza del Plebiscito 14, Viterbo |
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
| 09:00 – 11:00 | Session 3 - Crop resilience to climate changes for food security Chairpersons: Giovanna Frugis, Andrea Mazzucato |
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Invited Lecture Sotiros Fragkostefanakis - Goethe University Frankfurt (DE) The molecular toolkit for tomato heat resilience: Key players shaping thermotolerance |
| 09:30 – 09:45 | Gervasoni D., Baldoni E., Pirona R., Colanero S., Landoni B., Martignago D., Castorina G., Gallo G., Conti L., Galbiati M. Beyond guard cells: SlMYB60 editing reveals a broader role in epidermal regulation and cuticle permeability in tomato |
| 09:45 – 10:00 | Giannelli G., Luche S., Righetti L., Galaverna G., Bonini P., Gazza L., Visioli G. At the root of perennialism: how the perennial line OK72 shows a shift of specialized metabolome toward wheatgrass species |
| 10:00 – 10:15 | Lezzi A., Stagnati L., Caproni L., Dell'Acqua M., Busconi M., Lanubile A., Marocco A. Unlocking local adaptation: harnessing the genetic diversity of Italian traditional maize landraces through landscape genomics |
| 10:15 – 10:30 | Xi X., Colombo M., Carletti G., Puglisi D., Casas A., Igartua E., Contreras-Moreira E., Cattivelli L., Fricano A. Single primer enrichment technology and whole genome resequencing elucidate the molecular basis of regional adaptation of barley in the Mediterranean |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Bellon O., Previtali P., Green E., Fasoli M., Shackel K., Cousins P., Zenoni S., Dokoozlian N. Hormone metabolism regulates fruit maturation in a slow ripening grape genotype |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | Mukamanasasira G., Okando T., Macharia M., Runo S., Maina F., Lasky J., Fadda C., Gebrehawaryat Y., Caproni L., Pè M.E., Dell'Acqua M. Resilient roots: harnessing landrace diversity for climate-smart sorghum in East Africa |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Coffee Break and Poster Viewing |
| 11:30 – 13:00 | Session 3 - cont. |
| 11:30 – 11:45 | Goretti D., Bocchio M., Givonetti A., Bazzano C., Vitiello G., Bona E., Cavaletto M., Pagliano C., Mica E., Valè G. Toward climate-resilient rice: identifying genotypes tolerant to drought and salinity |
| 11:45 – 12:00 | Sangiorgi G., Forestan C., Camerlengo F., Sciara G., Bozzoli M., Fricano A., Tondelli A., Fusi R., Bhosale R., Tuberosa R., Salvi S. Genetic dissection of root traits in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) identifies major QTLs and domestication signature |
| 12:00 – 12:15 | Branchi A., Crosatti C., Mica E., Colombo M., Gazzetti K., Guerra D., Faccioli P., Lo Piero A.R., Radchuk V., Gallavotti A., Galli M., Dockter C., Cattivelli L., Battaglia R. Fine tuning of the HvGRF4 expression improves seed size in barley |
| 12:15 – 12:30 | Bertagnon G., Mineri L., Mirone F., Bono G.A., Fornara F., Brambilla V. EMS mutagenesis and MutMap to identify new alleles for resilient crops breeding |
| 12:30 – 12:45 | Olivieri F., Farinon B., Mancini L., Mazzucato A. Heat tolerance in seeds: a multi-omic approach revealed putative regions controlling germination under high temperature conditions in tomato |
| 12:45 – 13:00 | General discussion |
| 13:00 – 14:30 | Lunch Break |
| 14:00 – 14:15 | Affixing of the philatelic cancellation on the Congress postcard featuring the Strampelli commemorative stamp |
| 14:30 – 16:30 | Session 4 - Next Generation SIGA Session Innovative tools in plant genetics: Exploring the future of phenotyping and data analysis in the AI era Chairpersons: Maria Dellino, Damiano Puglisi |
| 14:30 – 15:00 | Invited Lecture Tom Theeuwen - Jan IngenHousz Institute (NL) From photosynthesis to biomass: using natural genetic variation to identify photosynthetic limitations in field grown crops |
| 15:00 – 15:15 | Graci S., Moshelion M., Francesca S., Rigano M.M., Barone A. Precision phenotyping and genomic insight for drought-tolerance screening in tomato |
| 15:15 – 15:30 | Bertoncini A., Pasquariello M., Palma D., Cattivelli L., Tondelli A., Guerra D. From pixel to stomata: leveraging AI for high resolution analysis of stomatal traits in a worldwide barley collection |
| 15:30 – 15:45 | Vieri W., F. Grinberg N., I. Orhobor O., Belocchi A., Buti M., Paffetti D. Uncovering genetic drivers of yield and protein content in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) using machine learning and GWAS approaches |
| 15:45 – 16:00 | Sechi M., Kiros A.Y., Caffi A., Marziali R., Cominelli E., Consonni G., Galbiati M., Porcedda R., Vandin A., Caproni L., Castorina G., Dell'Acqua M. Uncovering the genetic determinants of drought tolerance in the MAGIC maize population through high-throughput phenotyping of cuticular permeability and AI-driven analysis of stomatal traits |
| 16:00 – 16:15 | Gipli V., Stich B., Rossini L. Tailoring a genomic selection model to predict culm morphology traits in two-row and six-row barley under different marker densities |
| 16:15 – 16:30 | General discussion |
| 16:30 – 17:00 | Coffee Break and Poster Viewing |
| 17:00 – 19:30 | SIGA General Assembly |
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
| 09:00 – 11:00 | Session 5 - New avenues for new cultivars Chairpersons: Vittoria Brambilla, Silvia Giuliani |
| 09:00 – 09:30 | Invited Lecture Sebastian Soyk - University of Lausanne (CH) Dissecting genetic interactions with impact on flower formation in tomato |
| 09:30 – 09:45 | Guerriero M., Arcieri F., Delvento C., Giudice G., Cannarella M.S., Mimiola G., Cavallo G., Ricciardi L., Lotti C., Pavan S. Whole-genome sequencing and phenotyping of neglected and underutilized vegetable melons from the Salento diversity centre (Southern Italy) |
| 09:45 – 10:00 | Ferrero M., Paladini F., Martina M., Valentino D., Milani A.M., Lanteri S., Portis E., Comino C., Acquadro A., Moglia A. Downy mildew resistance 6 (DMR6) knockout and multi-stress resilience in eggplant |
| 10:00 – 10:15 | Rossi R., Da Silva Linge C., Gipli V., Friel J., Shaaf S., Maurer A., Pillen K., Tamm Ü., Daszkowska-Golec A., Gajecka M., Tondelli A., Cattivelli L., Rossini L. Dissection of culm morphology traits in two barley double haploid populations grown in different locations |
| 10:15 – 10:30 | Mirone F., Rossoni A., Mineri L., Vicentini G., Kunova A., Martinotti M., Huang Y.-S., Langner T., Fornara F., Brambilla V.F. Marker-assisted selection and CRISPR–Cas9 approaches for durable blast resistance in Italian rice |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Viola P., Faccini N., Tondelli A., Cattivelli L., Invernizzi C. APSOV-CREA-GB: an example of public-private partnership to support small grain cereal sector |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | General discussion |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Coffee Break and Poster Viewing |
| 11:30 – 13:15 | Session 6 - Genetic innovations in fruit trees Chairpersons: Salvatore Esposito, Francesca Taranto |
| 11:30 – 12:00 | Invited Lecture Dario Cantu - University of California (USA) Bridging the gap between grape genomics and viticulture innovation |
| 12:00 - 12:15 | Salvagnin U., Pupi E., Di Gaspero G., Vezzulli S., Dalla Costa L., Giacomelli L. Transgene-free CRISPR-Cas and cisgenesis approaches for resistance to powdery and downy mildew in grapevine |
| 12:15 - 12:30 | Garosi C., Paffetti D., Arcidiaco L., Ottanelli A., Vettori C. Identification of best local olive tree genotype resilient to drought |
| 12:30 - 12:45 | Catalano C., Di Guardo M., Gusella G., Inzirillo I., Cannizzaro G., La Malfa S., Polizzi G., Gentile A., Distefano G. Genetic insights into almond tolerance to constriction canker through GWAS |
| 12:45 - 13:00 | Fanelli V., Miazzi M., Procino S., Fruggiero C., Cafferati Beltrame L., Volpicella M., Mascio I., Susca L., Montilon V., Taranto F., D'Agostino N., Montemurro C. Investigating the olive response to Xylella fastidiosa infection through a transcriptomic approach |
| 13:00 - 13:15 | Ordoñez Trejo E., Consiglio F., Termolino P., Palomba E., Iovene M., Aiese Cigliano R., Di Marsico M., Varotto S., Bonghi C. De novo genome comparison of a slow-ripening mutant and a commercial cultivar of Prunus persica uncovers a structural variant underlying fruit development and ripening |
| 13:15 – 14:15 | Lunch Break |
| 14:15 – 16:30 | Poster Session |
| 16:30 – 17:00 | Coffee Break and Poster Viewing |
| 17:00 – 19:00 | Workshop – Start-up in the fields: People bridging academia and industry Discussant: Luca Polizzano Participants: Ratan Chopra – Covercress Marco Di Marsico - Sequentia Biotech Carmen Laezza - Immunoveg Simona Masiero - Peptofarm Davide Scaglione - IGA Technology Services Davide Sosso - Heritable Sara Zenoni - Edivite |
| 20:30 | Social Event - Medieval Cloister, Monumental Complex of Santa Maria in Gradi - Via Santa Maria in Gradi 4, Viterbo |
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
| 09:30 – 10:15 | SIGA Young Researcher Award 2025 Dedicated to Carlo Jucci Chairpersons: Silvio Salvi, Daniele Rosellini Pieri A. Transcriptomic response to nitrogen availability reveals signatures of adaptive plasticity during tetraploid wheat domestication Bozzoli M. Dissecting the genetic basis of resistance to Soil‑borne cereal mosaic virus (SBCMV) in durum wheat by bi‑parental mapping and GWAS Moffa L., Mannino G., Bevilacqua I. CRISPR/Cas9-driven double modification of grapevine MLO6-7 imparts powdery mildew resistance, while editing of NPR3 augments powdery and downy mildew tolerance Award ceremony |
| 10:15 – 12:45 | Session 7 - Genome editing beyond single gene knockout Chairpersons: Fabio D’Orso, Domenica Nigro |
| 10:15 - 10:45 | Invited Lecture Caixia Gao - Chinese Academy of Science (CN) Advancing crop improvement with Next-Generation CRISPR Technologies |
| 10:45 - 11:00 | Ottaviani L., Lefeuvre R., Montes E., Widiez T., Giorni P., Mithöfer A., Marocco A., Lanubile A. The inactivation by CRISPR/Cas9 system of ZmWRKY125 gene improves resistance to Fusarium verticillioides in maize |
| 11:00 - 11:15 | Rogo U., Merwaiss F., Aragonés V., Fambrini M., Pugliesi C., Michelmore R., Daròs J.-A., Giordani T. Virus-Induced Gene Editing (VIGE): from model systems to crop applications (Lactuca sativa L.) |
| 11:15 - 11:30 | Farinati S., Soria Garcia A.F., Draga S., Palumbo F., Vannozzi A., Barcaccia G. Targeting MYB80 in tomato: a DNA-free strategy for engineering male sterility |
| 11:30 - 11:45 | D'Attilia C., Buffagni V., Hatyta S., Smedley M.A., Masci S., Palombieri S., Sestili F. Enhancing climate resilience in durum wheat via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of the brassinosteroid regulator IBH1 |
| 11:45 - 12:00 | Rossoni A., Mineri L., Mirone F., Bono G.A., Vicentini G., Fornara F., Brambilla V.F. Prime editing, editing of multiple cis-regulatory sequences and trait pyramiding to support rice breeding |
| 12:00 - 12:15 | Zattoni S., Bertini E., D'Inca E., Lissandrini S., De Luca R., Perlati I., Cattaneo L., Fasoli M., Polverari A., Pezzotti M., Sena G., Zenoni S. Multiple DNA-free genome editing in grapevine |
| 12:15 - 12:30 | Fabene E., Nava M., Sandri C., Ricci D., Cuccurullo A., Lobato-Gomez M., Wang J.Y., Nicolia A., Granell A., Al-Babili S., Santi L., Diretto G., Demurtas O. Pathway discovery in apocarotenoid metabolism: focus on putative zaxinone synthase enzymes in tomato |
| 12:30 - 12:45 | General discussion |
| 12:45 – 13:00 | Closing Ceremony Chairpersons: Silvio Salvi, Stefania Masci |
Session 1 - Pan-genomics and multi-omics: applications in plant breeding
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS| 1.01 | Barley crop evolution through the lens of pangenomics |
| 1.02 | A long-read genome assembly and multi-omics analysis to accelerate breeding in wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) |
| 1.03 | Balancing growth and resilience: a multi-omics study of chickpea's intergenerational adaptive strategies under drought stress |
| 1.04 | Integrated BSA-seq, RNA-seq, and GWAS, analyses to identify candidate genes associated with the stigma position trait in cultivated tomato |
| 1.05 | A multi-omic approach to enhance abiotic stress resilience in Cichorium endivia |
| 1.06 | Svevo reference genome 2.0: a chromosome-level de novo assembly to support the durum wheat community |
| 1.07 | Eragrostis curvula genome assembly unveil a single region involved in apomixis |
| 1.08 | Plant-soil interaction in crop resilience against environmental pollutants: an omic-based perspective |
| 1.09 | Deciphering the transcriptome landscape across different ploidy levels in Eragrostis curvula through high-throughput RNA sequencing |
| 1.10 | Volatile 2-Phenylethanol and β-Cyclocitral reprogram grapevine transcriptome and metabolome in defense against Plasmopara viticola |
| 1.11 | Capturing exapted transposable elements in bread wheat |
| 1.12 | Insights into structural genomic changes in neotetraploid alfalfa |
| 1.13 | Unveiling the genomic bases of agro-qualitative and metabolic traits in pepper (Capsicum spp.) via biparental QTL mapping |
| 1.14 | Chromosome-level genome assembly, metabolomic profiling, and WGS of 150+ global fennel varieties provide novel insights into the genetic basis of anethole biosynthesis in fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) |
| 1.15 | Uncovering genetic variation associated with ploidy and reproduction through the pan-genome of Eragrostis curvula |
| 1.16 | Optimizing genomic selection for yield and quality traits in tomato |
| 1.17 | Genomic characterization of Cichorium crops: a tool for breeding, conservation, and variety protection |
| 1.18 | Molecular genotyping of Kabocha Squash (Cucurbita maxima L.) using ddRADseq: markers identification for future breeding strategies |
| 1.19 | Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling of “Azafràn de Bolita” (Ditaxis heterantha Zucc.): insights into bioactive compounds |
| 1.20 | Identification of genomic regions (MTAs - multi-trait analysis) involved in determining resistance/tolerance to Xylella fastidiosa |
| 1.21 | Development of a multi-parental population and pan-genome to accelerate breeding of the African underutilized crop teff [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] |
| 1.22 | Integrated omics reveal biostimulant-enhanced stress tolerance in sugarloaf radicchio under water-saving conditions |
| 1.23 | Advanced biological insights with comprehensive bioinformatics solutions at CERZOS-CONICET |
| 1.24 | The MAGIC pan-genome reveals the impact of TE-driven structural variation on complex traits |
| 1.25 | Dissecting heterotic potential in barley using pan-transcriptomics approaches |
| 1.26 | A holistic multi-omics approach to elucidate chromatin-mediated drought stress memory in Solanum lycopersicum |
| 1.27 | Ovule to seed phase transition: the regulation of hormone homeostasis by Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) |
| 1.28 | Transcriptome analysis of pea ramosus mutants reveals strigolactone- dependent and independent processes associated with stress adaptation and plant development |
| 1.29 | Towards a haplotype phased telomere-to-telomere genome assembly of the European hazelnut Italian prime quality cultivar "Tonda Gentile Romana" |
| 1.30 | Targeted sequencing and analysis of Thinopyrum spp. introgressions on 7AL arm of durum wheat recombinants for marker development and gene mining |
| 1.31 | Targeted genome editing and transcriptomic analysis reveals MDHAR-mediated regulation of ascorbic acid recycling in lettuce |
| 1.32 | Preliminary data aimed at the production of the lemon pangenome to counteract mal secco disease |
| 1.33 | The tetraploid wheat pan-genome and pan-transcriptome, a functional resource for the whole wheat community |
| 1.34 | Towards a graph-based pangenome of blood orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck): genomic resources for climate-resilient breeding |
| 1.35 | Genome assemblies and transcriptomic analysis of the maize model line Gaspe Flint 1.1.1 provide insights into the genetic control of flowering time |
| 1.36 | Genetic dissection of root growth angle in tetraploid wheat reveals adaptive haplotypes for drought resilience |
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