The activities at the Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding (LMGV) are carried out both at the laboratory and field levels, involving the following experimental units: the Research Support Unit (UAP), located at the Leonel Brizola Campus of the State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro Darcy Ribeiro (UENF); the PESAGRO-Rio Experimental Station in Campos dos Goytacazes; the “Antonio Sarlo” State Agricultural School in Campos dos Goytacazes; and the PESAGRO-Rio Experimental Station on Barra do Pomba Island, in the municipality of Itaocara. In addition to these areas, through institutional agreements and collaborative projects, part of the research activities—particularly those involving papaya cultivation — are conducted in partnership with CALIMAN Agrícola, located in the municipality of Linhares, Espírito Santo State. Other collaborative activities are also carried out beyond these areas. For example, research on coconut cultivation has been developed in collaboration with companies in the states of Espírito Santo and Bahia.
The history of LMGV began with the very conception of UENF. The laboratory was founded by Professor Nilton Rocha Leal, who was also one of the first professors hired to support the establishment of the University. In 1993, at the early stages of the institution, Prof. Nilton—who served both as head of LMGV and as Director of the Center for Agricultural Science and Technologies (CCTA) — led the formation of the laboratory team, composed of faculty members, technicians, and field staff. In the same year, Professor Ney Sussumu Sakiyama joined the laboratory, followed in 1994 by Professors Messias Gonzaga Pereira, Telma Nair Santana Pereira, and Luiz Orlando de Oliveira. Professors Ney and Luiz Orlando have since left UENF. Later, in 1997, Professor Antônio Teixeira do Amaral Junior joined the team, and in 1998 Professors Ricardo Enrique Bressan Smith and Rosana Rodrigues were hired.
It is also important to highlight, from a historical perspective, that according to the original organizational model, the Center for Agricultural Science and Technologies (CCTA) included another laboratory, called the Genetic Resources Laboratory. This laboratory was essentially composed of two sectors: Tissue Culture and Genetic Resources. With the extinction of this laboratory, the Genetic Resources Sector was incorporated into the Plant Genetic Breeding Laboratory (LMGV).
During this phase, the establishment of several experimental areas was also organized. These areas later became the operational foundation of the LMGV, where numerous plant breeding programs for crops of importance to the Northern and Northwestern regions of the state of Rio de Janeiro are currently conducted.
Regarding the technical staff, it is important to highlight the effective participation of several technicians who have contributed — and continue to contribute — significantly to the important activities of teaching, research, and extension.
The mid-level technician Vitória Régia, specialized in chemistry, began her activities during the early days of UENF. She initially worked at the former Genetic Resources Laboratory and was later transferred to the LMGV to contribute to the development of activities in the DNA marker unit. She played a decisive role in the establishment of this unit, as well as in the development and stabilization of several important protocols for DNA analysis. Her contributions made possible the development of dozens of master’s dissertations and doctoral theses.
The mid-level technician Elizabete Frota Morens also played a relevant role in the Genetic Resources Sector, with notable dedication at the Research Support Unit (UAP). She was responsible for the management and maintenance of various types of germplasm and was fundamental to the development of several vegetable cultivars that are currently registered by LMGV with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply.
The mid-level technician José Manoel de Miranda continues to work at the laboratory to this day. He has been responsible for the maintenance and installation of several experiments. Initially assigned to the PESAGRO-Rio Experimental Station in Campos dos Goytacazes, he is currently working at the Experimental Area of the “Antônio Sarlo” Agricultural School.
The mid-level technician Geraldo Francisco de Carvalho has also played a prominent role in the various breeding programs for annual and perennial crops developed by the LMGV. Originally from the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), and bringing extensive experience from the maize breeding programs developed at that institution, he contributed this expertise to the LMGV. This experience was undoubtedly a significant advantage, enabling the laboratory to develop several cultivars of field corn, popcorn, sweet corn, and silage corn, all characterized by high productivity and adaptation to cultivation areas in the Northern and Northwestern regions of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
The senior technician Cláudia Pombo Sudré has played a prominent role in several plant breeding programs developed and currently under development for various vegetable species, including peppers, sweet peppers, snap beans, and squash. She works in partnership with Professor Rosana Rodrigues, contributing decisively to the development of numerous master’s dissertations and doctoral theses, as well as to the registration of several cultivars of vegetable crops.
At the very beginning of UENF, in 1993, the LMGV also included the senior technician Cássia Sakiyama, who contributed to the establishment of research activities involving DNA markers. After her departure, she was replaced by the senior technician Rogério Figueiredo Daher, who continued her work for several years until he was appointed as a faculty member at the Agricultural Engineering Laboratory of UENF. Following Rogério’s departure, the senior technician Marcela Santana Bastos Boechat was hired. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biosciences and Biotechnology at the UENF Center for Biosciences and Biotechnology (CBB) and has a strong scientific background in molecular biology. Marcela has played a decisive role in training undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students in molecular techniques applied to plant breeding.
Regarding the faculty members, LMGV has a highly qualified team that has stood out in various activities at UENF in terms of research, teaching, and extension, as well as in important roles in the university administration. For example, Professor Antônio Teixeira do Amaral Junior served as Dean of Research and Graduate Studies from 2012 to 2015, a position later also held by Professor Rosana Rodrigues, who served as Vice-Rector of UENF from 2020 to 2023 and currently holds the position of Rector for the 2024–2027 term. Additionally, Professor Telma Nair Santana Pereira served as Chief of Staff and Dean of Undergraduate Studies during the administration of the first rector elected by the university community, Professor Salassier Bernardo. Furthermore, Professor Alexandre Pio Viana currently serves as Director of the Center for Agricultural Science and Technologies (CCTA) for the 2024–2027 term.
As previously mentioned, Professor Nilton Rocha Leal was the first Head of the Plant Genetic Breeding Laboratory (LMGV) and was responsible for the recruitment of several faculty members within the Center for Agricultural Science and Technologies (CCTA), particularly in the formation of the LMGV team. He worked for several years at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), where he served as a researcher in vegetable breeding and was responsible for the development of several cultivars of different vegetable species.
Professor Messias Gonzaga Pereira was the second faculty member to hold the position of Head of LMGV. After completing his Ph.D. at Iowa State University, he began his academic career at the Federal University of Viçosa, where he was part of the research team led by Professor Tuneo Sediyama, working in one of the earliest and largest soybean breeding programs in Brazil. He brought this extensive experience to LMGV, which was fundamental for consolidating the faculty team and structuring the laboratory in its early years. He has developed breeding programs for beans, maize, papaya, and coconut, and has been responsible for the release of several cultivars.
Professor Antônio Teixeira do Amaral Junior obtained his Ph.D. from the Federal University of Viçosa and, after a period at the State University of Maringá (UEM), joined UENF. He has developed one of the largest popcorn breeding programs in Brazil and has been responsible for the release and registration of 21 cultivars characterized by high yield, excellent expansion capacity, and disease resistance. From 2012 to 2018, he served as Coordinator of the Agricultural Sciences Area at the Rio de Janeiro State Research Foundation (FAPERJ). Together with Professor Alexandre Pio Viana, in 2019 he founded the journal Functional Plant Breeding Journal, which has achieved significant international visibility. He was also responsible for bringing Professor Cosme Damião Cruz to UENF as a Visiting Researcher. Professor Cruz has published more than 650 articles in indexed journals and is the author of the GENES software, widely used by plant breeders, crop scientists, and biotechnologists. Since 2021, Professor Antônio Teixeira do Amaral Junior has served as Head of LMGV.
Professor Alexandre Pio Viana obtained his Ph.D. at UENF in the Graduate Program in Plant Production. In 2001, he was hired as a senior technician in the Crop Science Laboratory, working in the area of fruit production. In the same year, he successfully applied for the position of Professor of Fruit Breeding at the Plant Genetic Breeding Laboratory (LMGV) and assumed the faculty position in 2002. With specialization at the University of California, he has extensive experience in fruit production, having worked for several years with grapevine and banana crops in production areas of the São Francisco River Valley. At LMGV, he develops breeding programs for passion fruit, guava, and grapevine. He is responsible for the release of the sour passion fruit cultivar UENF Rio Dourado. He has also been active in entrepreneurship, being one of the founders of the company Rio Norte Sementes, which commercializes cultivars of several species developed by LMGV in partnership with other laboratories at UENF. After serving as Head of LMGV for nine years, he was elected in 2021 as Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Genetics and Plant Breeding at UENF and currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Brazilian Journal of Fruit Science.
Professor Telma Nair Santana Pereira obtained her Ph.D. from Iowa State University. She is a specialist in the analysis of plant genetic resources and cytogenetics and works in the sector of the same name, which is responsible for foundational studies on several cultivated species as well as previously unstudied ones. Her research provides important contributions by elucidating reproductive aspects of native Brazilian species, whose discoveries support the plant breeding programs developed at LMGV.
Professor Rosana Rodrigues obtained her Ph.D. at UENF in the Graduate Program in Plant Production. She was part of the first group of doctoral students who joined UENF shortly after its establishment in 1993, embracing the vision of what was called the “University of the Third Millennium.” Within this group of graduate students, several individuals distinguished themselves through their academic performance and were subsequently selected to remain at UENF as faculty members. Professor Rosana Rodrigues was part of this group and completed her doctoral studies under the supervision of Professor Nilton Rocha Leal. She has played a prominent role in the development of plant breeding programs for several vegetable species, with a focus on resistance to multiple diseases. With specialization at the University of Florida, she has been responsible for the development of several cultivars of peppers and sweet peppers intended both for fresh consumption and ornamental use.
Professor Helaine Christine Cancela Ramos is the most recently appointed faculty member of the Plant Genetic Breeding Laboratory (LMGV). With a background in Biology, she obtained her Ph.D. at UENF in the Graduate Program in Genetics and Plant Breeding and completed a specialization at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. She works in the areas of genomics and DNA markers, which are important tools supporting the various plant breeding programs developed by LMGV. She currently serves as Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Genetics and Plant Breeding.
History of the Plant Physiology Sector at UENF
The Beginning of Activities
The Plant Physiology Sector (SFV) was established together with UENF in 1993 through the initiative of Professor Nilton Rocha Leal, who at the time served as Director of the Center for Agricultural Science and Technologies (CCTA). During the initial efforts to create UENF, Professor Nilton invited some professors who were in the process of retirement as well as newly graduated Ph.D. researchers in the field. Given the difficulties at that time in hiring five professors to establish a laboratory, as required by the original institutional proposal of UENF, the alternative was to create a Plant Physiology Sector, which would be integrated into the Plant Genetic Breeding Laboratory (LMGV).
In October 1993, Professor Alemar Braga Rena began his activities at the SFV. Recently retired from the Federal University of Viçosa, he brought extensive experience in research and teaching in Plant Physiology. At Viçosa, his studies on coffee plants had already established him as one of the most renowned scientists in the field. Professor Rena played a decisive role in the planning and organization of the SFV. With funding from the state government, several pieces of equipment were acquired, making this sector one of the best-equipped centers for plant physiology research in Brazil at that time. Shortly thereafter, Professor Manoel Teixeira joined Professor Rena, and both initiated their research projects in early 1994. Two research lines were implemented: 1) Physiological evaluations of plants growing in vitro; and 2) Plant–water relations. To support these projects, several graduate students joined the SFV, including Eliemar Campostrini (Ph.D.), Ricardo Bressan-Smith (Ph.D.), Carlos Frederico de Menezes Veiga (M.Sc.), Janie Mendes Jamim (Ph.D.), Luiz Eduardo de Campos Crespo (M.Sc.), and Glória Cristina da Silva Lemos (M.Sc.). The SFV also briefly hosted Dr. Regina Cele Rebouças Machado, a retired professor from CEPLAC.
The beginning of the SFV activities was intense. Graduate students had many responsibilities in establishing the laboratory structure and supporting teaching activities. Within just one year, from 1994 to 1995, experiments were already being properly conducted and analyzed using laboratory equipment and biochemical analyses. In 1995, Professor Manoel Teixeira left UENF and was replaced by Professor Osvaldo Kioshi Yamanishi. With experience in fruit science obtained during his doctoral studies in Japan, Professor Yamanishi introduced a new approach to research on tropical fruit crops at UENF. Over time, fruit science became the central research focus of the SFV.
Teaching has always been a strong component of the SFV. In 1994, the course “Plant Physiology” was created and offered to graduate students in the Plant Production Program at UENF. It was both a rewarding and demanding effort, given that the university was still developing its infrastructure at the time. In 1995, the undergraduate course “Plant Physiology” began to be offered in the Agronomy program, with teaching responsibilities delegated to doctoral students.
Also in 1995, Professor Rena left UENF. His departure led his graduate students to seek new advisors in order to complete their programs. Only Eliemar Campostrini remained directly associated with the SFV under the supervision of Professor Yamanishi. The other students were transferred to different laboratories, resulting in changes to their research projects. In 1996, Professor Antonio Constantino de Campos, a retired professor from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, joined Professor Yamanishi, along with Professor Elisa Mitiko Isejima, who had recently obtained her Ph.D. from the University of São Paulo.
The Rise of the Future SFV Faculty Members
Between 1996 and 1998, the Plant Physiology Sector (SFV) maintained a stable faculty structure. At the end of 1997, Eliemar Campostrini and Ricardo Bressan-Smith defended their doctoral theses. During this period, Professor Osvaldo Kioshi Yamanishi moved to the University of Brasília, and with a postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Campostrini joined him there. Dr. Bressan-Smith remained at UENF, receiving compensation as a visiting professor and teaching undergraduate courses in Agronomy and Biological Sciences. With the opening of faculty recruitment competitions at UENF in late 1998, two positions were allocated to the SFV. In the first position, with an emphasis on Physiological Genetics, Dr. Bressan-Smith was selected and began his activities in May 1999. For the second position, focused on Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, both Professor Elisa Mitiko Isejima and Dr. Campostrini were approved. In 2000, Professor Isejima transferred to the Center for Biosciences and Biotechnology (CBB) at UENF, which opened the way for Dr. Campostrini to return to the university.
Professor Bressan-Smith began his research activities at UENF in 1999. Although newly appointed to the faculty, he soon supervised his first graduate student at the master’s level in the Plant Production Graduate Program at UENF. His research focused on the effects of high temperature on the physiology of common bean, and his first master’s thesis under his supervision was defended in February 2001.
In 1999, Professor Campostrini also began his activities at UENF and subsequently became affiliated with the Plant Production Graduate Program. At that time, he accepted his first graduate student, Alena Torres Netto, initiating studies related to the ecophysiology of agricultural production. In 2000, the SFV welcomed Dr. Jurandi Gonçalves de Oliveira, who had just completed his doctoral studies at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Dr. Jurandi joined UENF as a postdoctoral researcher, supported by a FAPERJ Researcher Fixation Fellowship, with the objective of developing a new research line at the university: Postharvest Biochemistry and Physiology. During his two-year fellowship, Dr. Jurandi dedicated himself to research while supervising undergraduate scientific initiation students, serving as an advisor to graduate students, and collaborating in undergraduate and graduate teaching activities. In 2002, during a new cycle of faculty recruitment at UENF, Dr. Jurandi was selected for a professorship at the LMGV, within the Plant Physiology Sector, and formally assumed the position in June of that year. Since this represented a new research area at UENF, his activities were initially directed toward structuring the SFV to support research in postharvest biochemistry and physiology.
At the beginning of 2002, Dr. Mara de Menezes de Assis Gomes, who completed her graduate studies in Plant Physiology at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), joined UENF supported by a FAPERJ Researcher Fixation Fellowship (2001–2003). Subsequently, she worked as a CNPq postdoctoral fellow (2003–2005). In 2011, Dr. Mara began working at UENF as a faculty member seconded from the state agency FAETEC.
In 2001, an important milestone for the Plant Physiology Sector (SFV) was the relocation of its laboratory facilities to Building P4. With approximately 120 m², the new space allowed the sector to meet the demands at that time for graduate students, undergraduate research fellows, and postdoctoral researchers. New equipment and methodologies were incorporated into the SFV, enabling the expansion of research activities into three major areas of plant physiology, each led by a faculty member: 1) Plant ecophysiology; 2) Plant physiology and biochemistry; and 3) Postharvest physiology and biochemistry. The SFV has consistently sought to expand both its research lines and infrastructure to support the development of research in plant physiology. With this objective, at the end of 2008 Professor Jurandi moved from Building P4 to the CCTA annex, due to the need to expand the available space at the SFV, which could no longer adequately accommodate the activities of its three researchers. Continuing with this effort to expand research activities and improve infrastructure, at the end of 2017 Professor Jurandi moved once again, this time to a new facility, Building P8. This building was constructed with funding from projects approved by FINEP and FAPERJ, providing a significant improvement in infrastructure for the Postharvest Physiology and Biochemistry Unit.