Curriculum PDF File

Research lines 1) Study of the role of calcium and nitrogen monoxide in intracellular signaling activated by environmental and developmental stimuli. In particular, the role of calcium as a signal factor was studied using different molecular approaches ranging from the use of fluorescent probes (Zottini et al 2002) to the production of transgenic plants expressing FRET-based probes that allow the analysis of the dynamics of non only at the tissue level but also at the single cell and single organelle level (Costa et al. 2010, Loro et al 2012, Loro et al 2016). Using a fluorescent probe that specifically binds NO coupled with the use of fluorimetric techniques (spectrofluorimeter and confocal fluorescence microscope) it was possible to monitor NO production in response to various external stimuli, but also during growth cells in culture (Carimi et al 2005, De Michele et al 2009). The role of the interactions between NO and salicylic acid (SA), a molecule of great importance both in the response of the plant to attacks by pathogenic organisms, and during various stages of development as well as during senescence was then studied. In this work, experimental evidence of the role of salicylic acid in the induction of NO synthesis was produced for the first time (Zottini et al 2007). 2) Role of the dynamics of organelles and interaction between them in organizing responses to external stimuli. Using transformed plants and confocal microscopy techniques, it was possible to study the dynamics of mitochondria in different plant species and plant growth and development phases to define the relationship between organelle dynamics and the functional state of the cell / plant (Zottini et al 2006, Ruberti et al 2014a). In these studies, an intricate system of internal cell membranes has been shown to play a central role in intracellular signaling (Ruberti et al 2014b). 3) Study of the role of WHIRLY proteins in the regulation of important developmental processes and in the response to abiotic stress. WHIRLYs are plant specific proteins that have been characterized as ssDNA binding proteins because of a characteristic conserved DNA binding domain In Arabidopsis, the WHIRLY family includes three members: WHIRLY1, WHIRLY2 and WHIRLY3, presenting specific target sequences that localized them in the plastids and nucleus (WHIRLY1, WHIRLY3) or the mitochondria (WHIRLY2). Recent experimental evidences show that WHYRLY2 plays a role in the response to different abiotic stresses. 4) Molecular, physiological and ecological studies concerning some application aspects relating to plant species of agronomic importance such as Vitis vinifera (Haile et al 2017, Nascimebene et al. 2016, Pilati et al. 2014, Nascimebene et al 2013) and Oryza sativa (Formentin et al. 2018).

Last update: 08/07/2025