My name is Luca, I got a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology and a master’s in Plant and Microbe Biotechnology from the University of Pisa and a PhD in Plant Biology and Biotechnology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. I worked on Kleptoplasty for my master thesis project and this work pushed me to improve my skills in molecular biology and plant physiology pursuing a PhD. Here I have focused my work on exploring different strategies to boost the accumulation of carotenoids and other metabolites of nutritional and industrial interest in photosynthetic plant tissues gaining skills in plastid metabolism, molecular cloning, pigment analysis and working on multiple species: higher plants, algae, moss. But what goes around, comes back around and, finished the PhD, I am back to the University of Aveiro to join the Kleptoslug project, give my best shots and contribute with my knowledge in analytical chemistry and isoprenoid metabolism… and also to surf from time to time!

Keywords: HPLC, Carotenoids, Plastid identity, Photoprotection, Chlorophyll fluorescence, Isoprenoid