**About the Editors**

**Francesco Vinale**, Ph.D, is Assistant Professor in Plant Pathology and Plant Protection at the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy and Associate Researcher at Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, National Research Council of Italy (CNR). He is author of 4 patents and over 100 articles published on scientific journals, reviews, book chapters, abstracts, and proceedings of national and international congresses. Vinale serves as reviewer for several international journals and collaborates with various companies involved in the development and commercialization of biopesticides and that develop methods to remediate contaminated soil and water through the use of microorganisms. He is responsible for or involved in numerous research projects financed by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and the European Union. Research interests: i) purification and characterization of bioactive microbial metabolites; ii) study of the role of microbial secondary metabolites in complex plant/antagonist/pathogen interactions; iii) study of the three-way interaction between microbial antagonists, plant and pathogens by using proteomic or metabolomic approaches; iv) effect of bioactive microbial metabolites on plant growth promotion and induction of disease resistance; v) application of beneficial microorganisms and / or their metabolites in agriculture and industry; vi) study of the role of microbial metabolites involved in pathogenic events; vii) study of the role of microbial enzymes or metabolites in decontamination of polluted soil and water (bioremediation); viii) biochemical characterization of fungal antagonists or pathogens; ix) metabolomics.

**Maria Luisa Balestrieri**, Ph.D, is a Full Professor in Biochemistry at the Department of Precision Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy where she has been a faculty member since 2004. She completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1997 at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. She was Research Assistant in Biochemistry at the Basic and Applied Research Unit, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (USA) in 1998. From 1999 to 2003, she was Research Assistant in Biochemistry at the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Italy. Her major research interests lie in the area of molecular mechanism of cellular redox homeostasis in the control of human chronic degenerative diseases, with particular regard to cancer and type 2 diabetes, as well as in the biochemistry of bioactive naturally occurring food metabolites with antioxidant and anticancer properties. She serves as an expert researcher evaluator of REPRISE and is the research unit principal investigator of current research grants in the fields of life science and agrifood. She is a member of the Italian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
