Bonello, Pierluigi (Enrico)

Pierluigi Bonello
Kottman Hall, Office 483C
The Ohio State University
2021 Coffey Road
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1087
Phone: (614) 688-5401
FAX: (614) 292-4455
Email address: bonello.2@osu.edu

Appointments
2005-present, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
2000-2005, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Education and training
"Laurea" (= M.Sc.), University of Padova, Italy, 1987
D.Phil., University of Oxford, U.K., 1991
Post-doc, GSF - Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit, Munich, Germany, 1991-1992
Post-doc, University of California, Berkeley and Davis, 1994-1999

Research Interests
My research centers on the molecular mechanisms and ecological role of tree diseases.  Chemical and molecular approaches ranging from transcriptomics to metabolomics and proteomics are used to unravel the bases and consequences of tree-pathogen interactions.  The primary model system we use is pine and the disease called Diplodia tip blight and canker caused by the pathogen Diplodia pinea, but we also study oak affected by the Sudden Oak Death disease in California, and birch in its interactions with special soil-borne mutualistic fungi called mycorrhizal fungi.  With pine we also have a strong interest in how trees mediate interactions between pathogens and insects at a systemic level.  Such interest has recently spilled over to the problem of the emerald ash borer, a devastating insect pest that is seriously threatening the survival of the majority of ash resources in North America.  We are actively searching for resistance factors/genes that may be used in screening and breeding programs in support of conservation efforts and in aid to the forest and ornamental industries.
Besides my role as a faculty in Plant Pathology and a CMIB member, I am an active member of the interdisciplinary graduate program in Environmental Science (http://esgp.osu.edu/) as well as the specialization program in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (http://pmbb.osu.edu/).

Selected Recent Publications
Bonello, P., N. Luchi, P. Capretti, and M. Michelozzi. 2008. Host-mediated effects of Heterobasidion annosum s.s. infection on severity of Diplodia pinea tip blight in Italian stone pine (Pinus pinea L.). Tree Physiology 28, 1653–1660.

Wallis, C.M., Eyles, A., Chorbadjian, R., McSpadden-Gardner, B.B., Hansen, R., Cipollini, D.F., Herms, D.A. and P. Bonello.  2008.  Systemic induction of phloem secondary metabolism and its relationship to resistance to a canker pathogen in Austrian pine.  New Phytologist 177, 767–778.

Ockels, F.S., A. Eyles, B.A. McPherson, D.L. Wood, and P. Bonello. 2007. Chemistry of coast live oak response to Phytophthora ramorum infection. Journal of Chemical Ecology 33, 1721-1732.

Eyles, A., R. Chorbadjian, C.M. Wallis, R.C. Hansen, D.F. Cipollini, D.A. Herms, and P. Bonello. 2007. Cross-induction of systemic induced resistance between an insect and a fungal pathogen in Austrian pine over a fertility gradient. Oecologia 153, 365-374.

Eyles, A., K. Riedl, W. Jones, S. Schwartz, K. Chan, D.A. Herms, D.F. Cipollini, and P. Bonello. 2007. Comparative phloem chemistry of Manchurian (Fraxinus mandshurica) and two North American ash species (F. americana and F. pennsylvanica). Journal of Chemical Ecology 33, 1430–1448.

Blodgett, J. T., A. Eyles, and P. Bonello. 2007. Organ-dependent induction of systemic resistance and systemic susceptibility in Pinus nigra inoculated with Sphaeropsis sapinea and Diplodia scrobiculata. Tree Physiology 27, 511-517.

Bonello, P., T. R. Gordon, D. A. Herms, D. L. Wood, and N. Erbilgin. 2006. Nature and ecological implications of pathogen-induced systemic resistance in conifers: A novel hypothesis. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology  68, 95-104. (Invited review article.)

Wang, D., A. Eyles, and P. Bonello. 2006. Systemic aspects of  host-pathogen interactions in Austrian pine (Pinus nigra): a proteomics approach. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology 68, 149-157.

Departmental website: http://plantpath.osu.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty-directory/bonello-pierluigi-enrico/