Marcella Bovio

Marcella Bovio is a Researcher in the Department of Plant Breeding at Wageningen University and Research, specializing in plant-insect interactions and resistance breeding. She completed her PhD in March 2024 with the thesis "In defence of beauty: exploiting natural variation in thrips resistance in Chrysanthemum" and currently leads the active project "GREAT Chrysant: Genetics of REsistance Against Thrips in Chrysanthemum" (2024-2027) as Principal Investigator.

Her educational background includes a PhD from Wageningen University (2024) under promotor Prof. J. van Loon and co-promotors Dr. L. Caarls, Dr. R. Voorrips, and Prof. B. Vosman. The research focused on leveraging natural variation in Chrysanthemum wild relatives for thrips resistance breeding.

Dr. Bovio's research centers on thrips resistance mechanisms in Chrysanthemum, integrating entomology and plant breeding to develop sustainable crop protection. Key areas include intraspecific and interspecific variation in thrips virulence, trichome-mediated resistance, quantitative trait locus analysis, and utilization of wild relatives like Solanum galapagense. Her work bridges fundamental genetics with practical breeding applications to reduce pesticide dependency.

Recent publications demonstrate a clear trajectory in understanding thrips-Chrysanthemum interactions, emphasizing natural variation and resistance mechanisms. The 2025 article in Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata reveals species-specific thrips performance differences, while the 2023 Journal of Insect Behavior paper advances trapping methodologies for Western Flower Thrips monitoring.

No scientific awards are documented in the provided materials. Dr. Bovio's research is funded through two major projects: the completed PhD project "Resistance mechanisms against thrips in Chrysanthemum and its relatives" (2019-2024) and the current GREAT Chrysant project (2024-2027). She actively disseminates findings through conference presentations including "Identifying thrips resistance in wild accessions of Chrysanthemum" (2022-2024).

She collaborates with an interdisciplinary team including Dr. M. Macel (chemical ecology), Dr. A. Post (breeding), Dr. M. Strijker (entomology), and her former promotor Prof. J. van Loon. Current work focuses on genetic mapping of resistance traits and translating findings into commercial Chrysanthemum breeding programs through the GREAT Chrysant initiative.