Carolyn A. Napoli

Carolyn Napoli was a plant biologist who co-discovered the mechanism of co-suppression, gene silencing which, like transposon silencing, was first discovered in plants. The significance of the discovery of co-suppression was described by NOVA scienceNOW in 2005.

Research and career

At the University of Florida, in the Soil Sciences Department laboratory of David H. Hubbell, Napoli demonstrated for the first time using electron microscopy, the development of infection by the soil bacterium, Rhizobium trifolii, in Trifolium (clover) root hairs.

Napoli continued her Rhizobium research in the laboratory of Peter Albersheim at the University of Colorado Boulder and later the lab of Larry Gold in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. before leaving for the laboratory of Brian Staskawicz at University of California, Berkeley to work on plant avirulence genes.

Transitioning from academia to industry, Napoli joined collaborator Richard A. Jorgensen at the Oakland-based agricultural biotechnology company Advanced Genetic Sciences, Inc. (AGS) which was acquired later by DNA Plant Technology Corporation. At AGS, Napoli and Jorgensen sought to increase flower pigmentation by overexpressing the gene encoding the Chalcone Synthase (CHS) by using a vector for high-level translation designed by their AGS colleague Jonathan Jones. The antisense CHS construct they deployed in Petunia plants created novel flower color distribution. One of these patterns, dubbed "Cossack Dancer," was featured in The Plant Cell 30-year retrospective, "Refections on Plant Cell Classics,". These observations documented by Napoli and Jorgensen are examples of "co-suppression," In collaboration with Loverine Taylor, Napoli identified a phenotype that was used as a selectable marker for plant breeding research.

Following UCD, Napoli joined the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona (UA) where she focused on designing and distributing resources to the Arabidopsis and maize research communities under the auspices of an National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program grant led by Jorgensen and Vicki Chandler. At UA, Napoli launched the NSF-funded ChromDB (Chromatin Database), a platform for displaying chromatin-associated proteins, including RNAi-associated proteins, for a range of organisms.

Awards and honors

In 2023, Napoli was recognized as a Pioneer Member of the American Society of Plant Biologists.

Death Napoli died August 19, 2025, in Bonny Doon, California.