DEFENCE OF THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION BY ZALA KOGEJ ZWITTER

Defence of the Doctoral Dissertation by Zala Kogej Zwitter

IPS invites you to the Defence of the Doctoral Dissertation by Zala Kogej Zwitter titled: Epidemiology, Genetic Diversity, and Comparative Genomics of 16SrV Phytoplasmas Infecting Grapevine and Hazelnut. The defence will take place on Tuesday, 14 July 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at the NIB Large Lecture Hall (Večna pot 121, Ljubljana). You can also join the defence via the following link: Zoom, Meeting ID: 865 2768 4710, Passcode: 397512.

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Nataša Mehle.

Co-Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Denis Kutnjak.

Short summary:

In the dissertation we showed that selected 16SrV phytoplasma genotypes are present in grapevine, hazelnut, and leafhoppers, supporting a shared multi-host system. By combining genetic typing with genome sequencing, we compared isolates across hosts and developed a method for obtaining phytoplasma genomes directly from field samples.

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