Spores

Maria Lodovica Gullino was born in Saluzzo, Italy, of which she is very proud; Maria Lodovica Gullino since the late 1970s with great concreteness and passion has been carrying out research on horticultural crop diseases at the University of Torino, where she is Full Professor in Plant Pathology and Vice-Rector for the valorization of human and cultural resources.  Daughter of agricultural entrepreneurs and entrepreneur herself, she lived and worked for long periods abroad. When she is not travelling, she lives in Torino, where she directs Agroinnova, the Centre of Competence for the innovation in the agro-environmental field, that she established at the University of Torino in 2002. She has travelled the world far and wide, leaving each time with a small suitcase half empty and then full of stones – precious or not ¬– and coloured fabrics at the return. As a journalist, she loves to read and write. After more than 1,000 scientific papers and many books, including the series “Plant Pathology in the 21st Century” (Springer, 2009–2020), she wanted to try her hand at a lighter writing. She started with “Spore” (Daniela Piazza Editore, 2014), followed by a children’s book in 2015, “Caccia all’alieno” (Alien hunt), on alien pathogens threatening fruit and vegetable crops, and in 2016, “Valigie: cervelli in viaggio” (Suitcases: brains on the move), edited by the same publisher. In 2018, she wrote “Angelo, il Dottore dei  Fiori” (Dr Flower), the story of Professor Angelo Garibaldi, Researcher and Co-Founder of Agroinnova, illustrated by Gabriele Peddes and published by Edagricole, Business Media. Adapted also for the theatre, this book has offered the opportunity to make even the youngest ones aware of the fascination of research on plant diseases. For the International Year of Plant Health, she wrote another book for children, entitled “Healthy plants, healthy planet” (FAO), translated into several languages.

• Introduction.- Ancient Spores.- Spores of My Life.- Scary Spores.- Spores of the Future.- Conclusions.