Caterina Selva

Dr Caterina Selva

ARC Grant-Funded Researcher (A)

School of Agriculture, Food and Wine

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.


My work so far has focused on the study of flower development, specifically on the regulatory networks involved in the formation of reproductive organs. My interest lies in the application of molecular biology techniques to understand how modulation of these networks can be used to alter the floral architecture for application in crop hybrid breeding.

My work so far has focused on the study of flower development, specifically on the regulatory networks involved in the formation of reproductive organs. My interest lies in the application of molecular biology techniques to understand how modulation of these networks can be used to alter the floral architecture for application in crop hybrid breeding.

  • Appointments

    Date Position Institution name
    2021 - ongoing Postdoctoral Researcher University of Adelaide
    2019 - 2020 Research Assistant The University of Adelaide
  • Awards and Achievements

    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2020 Award Dean's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence The University of Adelaide Australia -
    2016 Scholarship Australian Government Research Training PhD Scholarship The University of Adelaide Australia -
    2016 Scholarship ACPFG Supplementary Scholarship Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics Australia -
    2015 Scholarship Scholarship for Young Promising Students Università degli Studi di Milano Italy -
  • Language Competencies

    Language Competency
    English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
    French Can read and understand spoken
    Italian Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
    Spanish; Castilian Can read and understand spoken
  • Education

    Date Institution name Country Title
    2016 - 2020 The University of Adelaide Australia PhD - Plant Genetics
    2012 - 2014 Università degli Studi di Milano Italy Master's Degree - Molecular Cell Biology
    2009 - 2012 Università degli Studi di Milano Italy Bachelor Degree - Biology
  • Research Interests

  • Journals

    Year Citation
    2022 Selva, C., Shirley, N., Houston, K., Whitford, R., Baumann, U., Li, G., & Tucker, M. R. (2022). HvLEAFY controls the early stages of floral organ specification and inhibits the formation of multiple ovaries in barley. The Plant Journal, 108(2), 509-527.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC2
    2020 Selva, C., Riboni, M., Baumann, U., Wurschum, T., Whitford, R., & Tucker, M. R. (2020). Hybrid breeding in wheat: how shaping the floral biology can offer new perspectives. Functional Plant Biology, 47(8), 47-8.
    DOI Scopus11 WoS11 Europe PMC4
    2019 Jia, Y., Selva, C., Zhang, Y., Li, B., McFawn, L. A., Broughton, S., . . . Li, C. (2019). Uncovering the evolutionary origin of blue anthocyanins in cereal grains.. The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology, 101(5), 1057-1074.
    DOI Scopus22 WoS25 Europe PMC9
    2014 Mantegazza, O., Gregis, V., Chiara, M., Selva, C., Leo, G., Horner, D. S., & Kater, M. M. (2014). Gene coexpression patterns during early development of the native Arabidopsis reproductive meristem: Novel candidate developmental regulators and patterns of functional redundancy. Plant Journal, 79(5), 861-877.
    DOI Scopus25 Europe PMC14
  • Conference Items

    Year Citation
    2021 Selva, C. (2021). Let's Fight Food Waste. Poster session presented at the meeting of Presented as part of the Australian session in Food for Earth 2021 (FAO & Future Food Institute).
    2018 Selva, C., Tucker, M. R., Baumann, U., & Whitford, R. (2018). Floral development in barley: characterization of multiovary mutants. Poster session presented at the meeting of International Congress on Sexual Plant Reproduction. Japan.
    2017 Selva, C., Tucker, M. R., Baumann, U., & Whitford, R. (2017). The benefits of sterility: characterizing multiovary mutants for hybrid seed production. Poster session presented at the meeting of Combined biosciences - ComBio. Australia.
  • Theses

    Year Citation
    2020 Selva, C. (2020). Understanding flower development in barley (Hordeum vulgare) through characterization of multiovary (mov) mutants and their potential use in hybrid breeding. (PhD Thesis).

Mentored the Small Group Discovery Experience in the Foundations in Plant Science course (2017)

  • Committee Memberships

    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2021 - ongoing Secretary Association of Italian Researchers in Australasia (ARIA) n.a. Australia
    2018 - 2019 Vice-President Postgraduate Association for Waite Students (PAWS) The University of Adelaide Australia
  • Memberships

    Date Role Membership Country
    2021 - ongoing Member Genetics Society of AustralAsia (GSA) Australia
    2020 - ongoing Member Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) Australia
  • Presentation

    Date Topic Presented at Institution Country
    2020 - 2020 Understanding flower development in barley (Hordeum vulgare) through characterisation of mov1 multiovary mutant Symposium Down Under: Mechanisms controlling plant reproduction The University of Adelaide Australia
  • Position: ARC Grant-Funded Researcher (A)
  • Phone: 83137168
  • Email: caterina.selva@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: Waite
  • Building: Wine Innovation Central, floor 4
  • Org Unit: School of Agriculture, Food and Wine

Connect With Me
External Profiles