Sara Bergonzi

Sara Bergonzi is a Researcher in Plant Breeding at Wageningen University & Research specializing in potato molecular biology and stress physiology. She leads multiple research projects focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying potato tuber development, cold stress tolerance, and flowering mechanisms, with implications for developing climate-resilient crop varieties.

Dr. Bergonzi's research centers on plant molecular biology with a focus on potato (Solanum tuberosum) as a model system. Her work investigates the genetic and molecular basis of tuber development, stress responses (particularly cold and drought), and the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth. She employs a multidisciplinary approach combining molecular genetics, physiology, and computational modeling to unravel complex regulatory networks in potato and related species. Her research on sucrose and callose metabolism has revealed important insights into symplastic unloading in potato tubers, while her work on the CYCLING DOF FACTOR 1 and its lncRNA counterpart StFLORE has linked tuber development with drought response pathways.

Her publication record demonstrates a consistent focus on understanding how environmental cues, particularly temperature and photoperiod, influence developmental transitions in both annual and perennial plants. A key theme across her work is the investigation of molecular pathways controlling tuber formation and the cross-talk between cold tolerance mechanisms and tuberization. Her research has significant implications for crop improvement, especially in developing climate-resilient potato varieties.

Dr. Bergonzi actively supervises PhD students and leads multiple research projects, including "Cold stress in potato (ColSol): unravelling stress tolerance mechanisms for climate resilient potatoes" (2023-2027) and "Dissecting cold tolerance mechanisms in potato and their cross-talk with tuberisation." She serves as co-promotor for several PhD candidates working on potato root developmental plasticity for drought stress resilience, cold tolerance mechanisms, and the molecular mechanism of StCLE17 peptide in regulating potato tuber development. Her research has garnered substantial attention in the scientific community, with several of her papers receiving numerous citations.