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August 2024

Dr. Yaniv Lupo

Resilient Rootstocks for Viticulture
Rootstock Resilience

Yaniv Lupo

UC Davis

Dr. Yaniv Lupo is studying grapevines to understand rootstock resilience.

What is the main focus of your postdoc work?

“As a postdoc at the McElrone and Diaz-Garcia labs in UC Davis, my main focus is breeding boron-tolerant rootstocks. Boron serves as an essential micronutrient for plants, yet at elevated concentrations, it becomes toxic. My research has two main objectives: The first is to develop a high-throughput phenotyping pipeline that integrates spectroscopy and machine learning modeling to predict boron content in grapevine leaves. Once established, we will use this methodology to screen a large diversity panel for genome-wide association mapping of boron tolerance traits and to identify genes responsible for boron exclusion. This research will provide insights into the adaptive mechanisms of grapevine boron tolerance and facilitate the development of more resilient rootstocks for viticulture.”

What got you interested in grapevine salt tolerance traits?

“I first encountered the damage caused by salinity on agriculture as a teenager, working in the olive orchards of my kibbutz, Revivim. This experience sparked my interest in understanding how salinity affects plants and the mechanisms they use to cope with salt stress. I began working with grapevines during my Ph.D. at Ben-Gurion University, where I was fascinated by their unique salt tolerance traits, such as high leaf sodium exclusion capacity. I wanted to further explore grapevines’ salt tolerance traits.”

What are your plans after your postdoctoral research?

“I plan to return to Israel and continue working in research. I am most interested in better understanding the tolerance mechanisms crops use to cope with salinity. I wish to exploit this understanding to breed crops that are more salt-tolerant. I hope to find a place to explore my passion for research at one of Israel’s leading research institutes.”

What tip would you give someone beginning their postdoctoral research?

“Since I’m at the beginning of my postdoc, the first tip that comes to mind is to use this time to plan your steps. Plan when and how you will conduct your experiments and get into the smallest details. This will save you time and possibly some headaches in the future. Also, use this period to read relevant literature that can provide new insights and ideas that you can incorporate into your research. However, keep in mind that these plans are likely to change.”