In July 2025, Dr. Cecilia Grossi, a member of the Plant Signal Transduction Laboratory, was invited to speak at the Phyllosphere 12 international conference, held at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Japan. In her presentation, titled “Biochemical, genetic and functional analyses of Methylobacterium sp. 2A, a highly potent plant growth promoter”, she shared the progress of her research on the role of beneficial bacteria of the genus Methylobacterium in promoting plant growth.

Phyllosphere is a meeting held approximately every five years and brings together specialists from around the world dedicated to the study of leaves and other aboveground parts of plants considered habitats rich in microbial diversity.