Research interests
Identification and classification of phytoplasmas (plant pathogenic unculturable in vitro bacteria), assessment of their biodiversity and molecular evolutionary relationships based on 16S rDNA and other genetic markers. Investigation of phytoplasmal diseases. Bioinformatics tools: LaserGene DNASTAR, Geneious Prime softwares etc. Phylogenetic analysis: ClustalX, TreeView. MegaX softwares. Other tools: pDraw, iPhyClassifier softwares, sequence analysis using NCBI GeneBank database. The physiological differences between healthy and phytoplasma-infected plants and the development of plant disease symptoms are of interest.
Key Achievements. Co-authored more than 63 scientific publications, including 31 articles published in Web of Science-indexed journals with an Impact Factor, 5 conference theses published in international scientific journals with an Impact Factor, and 4 articles published in Web of Science-indexed journals without an Impact Factor. Co-authored and deposited more than 150 nucleotide and amino acid sequences in the international GenBank database maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Discovered, described, and published a previously unknown novel bacterial (phytoplasma) species infecting strawberry plants, designated ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma fragariae’ (Valiunas et al., 2006; EPPO Code: PHYPFG). Related strains of this phytoplasma have subsequently been identified in other regions of the world. Detected, characterized, and published several novel 16Sr phytoplasma subgroups previously unknown to science (Jomantiene et al., 2002; Valiunas et al., 2009a, b; Ivanauskas et al., 2022). In addition, a novel phytoplasma marker gene was developed, adapted and published for research purposes and is now being used by researchers worldwide (Valiunas et al., 2013). Completed two research fellowships at the Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory in the United States. Awarded the State Scholarship for Young Scientists by the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and Science in 2008.
