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About
Daniela received her Engineering degree in Biotechnology from the Department of Living Sciences of the Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE in Ecuador; later on, she accomplished her Master in Biotechnology at the Department of Molecular Biosciences of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain.
Daniela gained expertise in molecular biology, genetics, immunology, plant tissue culture and microbiology working as a laboratory analyst at the Institute for Research in Public Health in Quito-Ecuador and as a genetic resources specialist at the Universidad Regional Amazónica in Tena-Ecuador where she focused on conservation of the biodiversity of Ecuadorian amphibians and sustainable use of their genetic resources in Ecuador.
Since August 2018, she is a PhD student in the Department of Plant Pathology at University of Florida, working with Dr. Philippe Rott and Dr. Liliana Cano in genomics and molecular studies during plant-pathogen interactions of the sugarcane fungal rust pathogen.
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Education
2018- Present: PhD in Plant Pathology at University of Florida (in preparation)
2017: Master in Biotechnology of Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
2014: Engineer in Biotechnology of Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, Ecuador
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Research
Orange rust caused by the fungus Puccinia kuehnii is currently one of the major diseases impacting sugarcane production in Florida. Daniela’s research is focused on characterization of the genome of P. kuehnii and functional analysis of virulence factors involved in the interactions between this pathogen and sugarcane. Her goal is to decipher the virulence of P. kuehnii in order to improve control of sugarcane orange rust.
Her research interests include understanding genetic diversity and epidemiology of fungal diseases, the genome characteristics of the fungal pathogen and changes in expression of effector genes during infection.