Marcos Gonçalves

Marcos Gonçalves is a research scientist in the Department of Crop Protection at Instituto Biologico, Brazil. As an agronomist and plant virologist, his research covers surveys, characterization, diagnosis, and epidemiology of viral diseases, including strategies for their control, focusing on maize and sugarcane. He is an invited professor at São Paulo State University, Brazil, involved in research, supervision of graduate students, and training activities.

His main research interests concern the development of new diagnostic tools and studies on vector-transmission of a specific group of plant viruses, including potyviruses and poleroviruses, which infect several crops and cause high yield losses worldwide. 

His current projects, include further investigating the aspects involved in the transmission of the main viruses infecting sugarcane in Brazil and the population structure of their common aphid vector. Other projects include characterization of the maize virome and investigation of the synergism of viruses and mollicutes infections. He also collaborates to elucidate the mechanisms of potyvirus-maize interactions in mastrevirus transmission and proliferation towards future development of resistant maize lines.

During his MAK’IT fellowship, he will explore how an aphid-infecting virus alters plant virus transmission in a changing environment arising from climate change conditions.