I completed my PhD in the field of genetics (epigenetics) at the IHSM-CSIC University of Sciences in Malaga, Spain. Part of my thesis was to characterize at the molecular level how the genome of the plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) changes and how epigenetically silenced retrotransposons and methyltransferases are expressed when the plant defends itself as a consequence of a pathogenic bacterial attack (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato). Later I moved to the microbiology laboratory at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Croatia, where we analyzed the microbiota of wild boar and deer as part of my postdoctoral research. We were interested in the genes coding for resistance to antibiotics and also in the autochthonous LAB bacteria found in fermented sausages made from this type of meat.
As my academic career at university requires teaching skills, I have been involved in several subjects at BS, MS and postgraduate level. My research interests include: Plant-pathogen interactions, molecular biology, genetics and epigenetics, food microbiology, functional and structural diversity of microbial communities in soil, development of molecular methods in research, and mycology.
