Caterina Villari

Associate Professor, Forest Pathology

Co-director, Southern Pine Health Research Cooperative

Dr. Villari has developed an active program bridging basic and applied forest pathology and spanning disciplines from molecular disease diagnostics to tree defense mechanisms. She employs cutting-edge molecular techniques to diagnose critical forest pathogens directly in the field, and explores new vibrational spectroscopy technologies to identify traits within seedlings that may help them ward off disease. Dr. Villari collaborates closely with the Forest Service, the Georgia Forestry Commission, the private industry sector, and numerous international institutions. In 2018, together with two other UGA colleagues, she co-founded the Southern Pine Health Research Cooperative, of which she is one of the co-directors. Most of her research centers on diseases of pines, and in the last few years, the major focus of her program has been the brown spot needle blight epidemic on loblolly pine.

Awards, Honors and Recognitions:

2022 Fred C. Davison Early Career Scholar Award, UGA

Education

Education:

PhD, Crop Science - Plant Protection Curriculum, University of Padua (Italy), 2012
MS. Plant Health Sciences and Technologies, University of Florence (Italy), 2008
BS, Forest and Environmental Sciences, University of Florence (Italy), 2005

Research

Selected Publications:

Book Chapters

Conrad A., Villari C., Bonello P. 2024. A workflow for metabolomics of forest tree biotic stress response and applications for management. In Monitoring Forest Damage with Metabolomics Methods (pp. 109-126). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119868750.ch5
Hofstetter R.W., Klepzig K.D., Villari, C., 2022. Effects of rising temperatures on ectosymbiotic communities associated with bark and ambrosia beetles. In Bark Beetle Management, Ecology, and Climate Change (pp. 303-341). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822145-7.00007-6

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Hulcr J., Barnes I., Barnes M., Gazis R., Hammerbacher A., Johnson A., Lynch S., Lynn K., Marais G., Mayers C., Nel W., Villari C., Wingfield B., Wingfield M. 2025. From forest to fungus: A roadmap to bark beetle mycobiome research. Phytoparasitica 53:45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-025-01246-x
Meinecke C., Niyas A.M., McCarty E., Quesada T., Smith J., Villari C. 2024. Searching the Pinus taeda foliar mycobiome for emerging pathogens among brown spot needle blight and needlecast outbreaks in the Southeast United States. Phytobiomes Journal, 8:512-528. doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-02-24-0013-R
Lim-Hing S., Montes C., Walker T., Shalizi N., Gandhi K., Villari C. 2024. Enhanced fusiform rust hazard maps for loblolly pine: Incorporating genotype and climate to predict disease. Forest Ecology and Management 569: 122158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122158
Perea S., Meinecke C., Larsen-Gray A., Greene D., Villari C., Gandhi K., Castleberry S. 2024. Winter diet of bats in working forests of the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain. Scientific Reports 14:12778. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63062-3
Lim-Hing S., Gandhi K., Villari C. 2023. The role of Manganese in tree defenses against pests and pathogens. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 210:108641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2024.108641
Meinecke C., De Vos L., Yilmaz N., Steenkamp E., Wingfield M., Wingfield B., Villari C., 2023. A LAMP assay for rapid detection of the pitch canker pathogen Fusarium circinatum. Plant Disease, 107 (10), 2916-2923. doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-04-22-0972-SR.
Bookwalter J., Niyas A. M., Caballero-López B., Villari C., Claramunt-López B. 2023. Fecal matters: implementing classical Coleoptera species lists with metabarcoding data from passerine bird feces. Journal of Insect Conservation, 27, 557-569. doi:10.1007/s10841-023-00479-7
Bookwalter J., Niyas A. M., Caballero-López B., Villari C., Marco-Tresserras J., Burgas A., Ferrandiz-Rovira M., Claramunt-López B. 2023. DNA metabarcoding Passerine bird feces at tree-line uncovers little intra- and inter-species dietary overlap. Community Ecology, 24, 147-157. doi:10.1007/s42974-023-00148-4
McCarty E., Clabo D., Dickens D., Waldrop C., Gandhi K., Villari C. 2023. Loblolly pine susceptibility to Nantucket pine tip moth: do tree genetics play a role? Forest Science 69:520-528. doi:10.1093/forsci/fxad025
Franić I., Allan, E., Prospero, S., Adamson, K., et al. 2023. Climate, host, and geography shape insect and fungal communities of trees. Scientific Reports 13:11570. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-36795-w
Grabarczyk E. E., Querejeta M., Tillman P. G., Wallace R. D., Barnes B. F., Meinecke C. D., Villari C., Gandhi K., LAForest J., Elliott M., Schmidt J. M. 2023. DNA metabarcoding analysis of three material types to reveal Joro spider (Trichonephila clavata) trophic interactions and web capture. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11: 1177446. doi:10.3389/fevo.2023.1177446
Franic I., Prospero S., Adamson K., et al. 2022. Worldwide diversity of endophytic fungi and insects associated with dormant tree twigs. Scientific Data 9:62. doi:10.1038/s41597-022-01162-3
Hadziabdic D., Hamelin R., Stewart J., Villari C. 2022. Forest pathology in changing climate. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 5, 1032035. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.1032035
Fearer C. J., Conrad A. O., Marra R. E., Georskey C., Villari C., Slot J., Bonello P., 2022. A combined approach for early in-field detection of beech leaf disease using near-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 5: 934545. doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.934545.
Hadziabdic D., Bonello P., Hamelin R., Juzwik J., Moltzan B., Rizzo D., Stewart J, Villari C. 2021. The future of forest pathology in North America. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 4:737445. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.737445
Aglietti C., Meinecke C.D., Ghelardini L., Barnes I., van der Nest A., Villari C., 2021. Rapid detection of pine pathogens Lecanosticta acicola, Dothistroma pini and D. septosporum on needles by probe-based LAMP assays. Forests 12:479. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12040479
Hamilton J.L., Fraedrich S.W., Nairn C.J., Mayfield A.E., Villari C., 2021. A field-portable diagnostic approach confirms laurel wilt disease diagnosis in minutes instead of days. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 47:98-109. https://doi.org/10.48044/jauf.2021.010
McNichol B.H., Sullivan B., Munro, H., Montes C.R., Nowak J.T., Villari C., Gandhi K.J.T. Density-dependent variability in an eruptive bark beetle and its value in predicting outbreaks. Ecosphere. 12:e03336. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3336
Pandit K., Smith J., Quesada T., Villari C., Johnson D., 2020. Association of recent incidence of foliar disease in pine species in the southeastern United States with tree and climate variables. Forests 11:1155. https://doi.org/10.3390/f11111155
Hamilton J.L., Workman J.N., Nairn C.J., Fraedrich S.W., Villari C., 2020. Rapid detection of Raffaelea lauricola directly from host plant and beetle vector tissues using loop-mediated isothermal amplification. Plant Disease 104:3151-3158. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-02-20-0422-RE
Hulcr J., Barnes I., De Beer Z.W., Duong T.A., Gazis R., Johnson A.J., Jusino M.A., Kasson M.T., Li, Y., Lynch S., Mayers C., Musvuugwa T., Roets F., Seltmamm K.C., Six D., Vanderpool D., Villari C. 2020. Bark beetle mycobiome: collaboratively defined research priorities on a widespread insect-fungus symbiosis. Symbiosis 81:101-113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-020-00686-9
Munro H.L., Gandhi K.J.K., Barnes B.F., Montes C.R., Nowak J.T., Sheperd W.P., Villari C., Sullivan B.T. 2020. Electrophysiological and behavioral responses Dendroctonus frontalis and D. terebrans (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to resin odors of host pines (Pinus spp.). Chemoecology 30:215-231. doi:10.1007/s00049-020-00311-7.
Bonello P., Campbell F.T., Cipollini D., Conrad A.O., Farinas C., Gandhi K.J.K., Hain F.P., Parry D., Showalter D.N., Villari C., Wallin K.F., 2020. Invasive Tree Pests Devastate Ecosystems—A Proposed New Response Framework. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 3:2. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.00002
Conrad A., Villari C., Sherwood P., Bonello P., 2020. Phenotyping Austrian pine for resistance using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 46:276-286. https://doi.org/10.48044/jauf.2020.020
McNichol B.H., Montes C.R., Barnes B.F., Nowak J.T., Villari C., Gandhi K.J.K., 2019. Interactions between southern Ips bark beetle outbreaks, prescribed fire, and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) mortality. Forest Ecology and Management 446:164-174.
Munro H.L., Sullivan B.T., Villari C., Gandhi K.J.K., 2019. A review of the ecology and management of black turpentine beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Environmental Entomology 48:764-783.
Lopez-Goldar X., Villari C., Bonello P., Borg-Karlson A.K., Grivet D., Sampedro L., Zas R., 2019. Genetic variation in the constitutive defensive metabolome and its inducibility are geographically structured and largely determined by demographic processes in maritime pine. Journal of Ecology doi: doi.org/ 10.1111/1365-2745.13159 (in press).
Mayfiled A.E., Villari. C., Hamilton J.L., Slye J., Langston W., Oten K., Fraedrich S., 2019. First Report of Laurel Wilt Disease caused by Raffaelea lauricola on Sassafras in North Carolina. Plant Disease 103:155.
Rigsby C.M., Villari C., Peterson D.L., Herms D.A., Bonello P., Cipollini D., 2019. Girdling increases survival and growth of emerald ash borer larvae on Manchurian ash. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 21:130-135.
Lopez-Goldar X., Villari C., Bonello P., Borg-Karlson A.K., Grivet D., Zas R., Sampedro L., 2018. Inducibility of plant secondary metabolites in the stem predicts genetic variation in resistance against a key insect herbivore in maritime pine. Frontiers in Plant Science doi: doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01651.
Villari C., Dowkiw A., Enderle R., Ghasemkhani M., Kirisits T., Kjaer E., Marčiulynienė D., McKinney L., Metzler B., Muñoz F., Rostgaard Nielsen L., Pliūra A., Stener L-G, Suchockas V., Rodriguez-Saona L., Bonello P., Cleary M., 2018. Advanced spectroscopy-based phenotyping offers a potential solution to the ash dieback epidemic. Scientific Reports 8:17448.
Mason C.J., Keefover-Ring K., Villari C., Klutsch J.G., Cook S., Bonello P., Erbilgin N., Raffa K.F., Townsend P.A., 2018. Anatomical defenses against bark beetles relate to degree of historical exposure between species and are allocated independently of chemical defenses within trees. Plant, Cell and Environment doi: doi.org/10.1111/pce.13449.
Showalter D.N., Villari C., Herms D.A., Bonello P., 2018. Drought stress increased survival and development of emerald ash borer larvae on coevolved Manchurian ash and implicates phloem-based traits in resistance. Agricultural and Forest Entomology 20:170-179.
Mason C.J., Villari C., Keefover-Ring K., Jagemann S., Zhu J., Bonello P., Raffa K.F., 2017. Spatial and temporal components of induced plant responses in the context of herbivore life history and impact on host. Functional Ecology 31:2034-2050.
Raffa K.F., Mason C.J., Bonello P., Cook S., Erbilgin N., Keefover‐Ring K., Klutsch J.G., Villari C., Townsend P.A., 2017. Defense syndromes in lodgepole–whitebark pine ecosystems relate to degree of historical exposure to mountain pine beetles. Plant, Cell & Environment 40:1791-1806.
Villari C., Mahaffee W.F., Mitchell T.K., Pedley K.F., Pieck M.L. & Peduto Hand F., 2017 Early detection of airborne inoculum of Magnaporthe oryzae in turfgrass fields using a quantitative LAMP assay. Plant Disease 101:170-177.
Farinas C., Villari C., Martin D., Taylor N.J., Peduto Hand F., 2017. Magnaporthe oryzae perennial ryegrass pathotype causes leaf spots and blight on Japanese forest grass in Ohio. Plant Disease 101:507.
Colombari F., Villari C., Simonato M., Cascone P., Ferracini C., Alma A., Guerrieri E., Battisti A., 2016. Rapid on-site identification of the biocontrol agent of the Asian chestnut gall wasp. Biocontrol Science & Technology 26:1285-1297.
Linnakoski R., Jankowiak R., Villari C., Kirisits T., Solheim H., de Beer Z.W., Wingfield M.J., 2016., The Ophiostoma clavatum species complex: a newly defined group in the Ophiostomatales including three novel taxa. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 109:987-1018.
Villari C., Herms D.A. Whitehill J.G.A., Cipollini F.D., Bonello P., 2016. Progress and gaps in understanding mechanisms of ash tree resistance to emerald ash borer, a model for wood-boring insects that kill angiosperms. (Invited Tansley Review) New Phytologist 209:63-79. [featured in the New York Times, Matter, August 27 2015]
Sherwood P*., Villari C.*, Capretti P., Bonello P., 2015. Mechanisms of induced susceptibility to Diplodia tip blight in drought-stressed Austrian pine. Tree Physiology 35:549-562. [* Equally contributed]
Villari C., Faccoli M., Battisti A., Bonello P., Marini L., 2014. Testing phenotypic trade-offs in the chemical defence strategy of Scots pine under growth-limiting field conditions. Tree Physiology 34:919-930 [see Commentary by Sampedro, 2014. Tree Physiology 34:915-918]
Villari C., Tomlinson J.A., Battisti A., Boonham N., Capretti P., Faccoli M., 2013. Use of loop-mediated isothermal amplification for detection of Ophiostoma clavatum, the primary blue stain fungus associated with Ips acuminatus. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 79:2527-2533.
Villari C., Battisti A., Chakraborty S., Michelozzi M., Bonello P., Faccoli M., 2012. Nutritional and pathogenic fungi associated with the pine engraver beetle trigger comparable defenses in Scots pine. Tree Physiology 32:867-879