Commento all'intervento del Ministro del MUR Manfredi svolto in occasione della tavola rotonda Quale futuro per il CNR del 14 Dicembre 2020

TED presentato al Tempo delle Donne - Corriere della sera

Esposte piantine di nocciolo della varietà tonda gentile delle langhe autenticate con il Marchio "DNA tested" di proprietà del CNR, derivato dall'analisi di autenticazione genetica condotta con la piattaforma Foodcode Convegno : ricerca e innovazione per la filiera certificata della tonda gentile trilobata. Castellero d'Asti , Festa della nocciola.

L'articolo ricorda che la Scienza non può essere asservita ad alcun regime totalitario

L'articolo ricorda che l'esercizio della Scienza deve essere libero e autonomo, contraddistinto e valutato da prodotti originali quali finanziamenti, pubblicazioni e brevetti e non sottoposto ad alcuna sanzione

L'articolo analizza i recenti avvenimenti in seno al più grande ente di ricerca d'Italia, CNR, relativi ad una trasformazione in atto, di natura ambientale, che va selezionando un più funzionale ricercatore-massa rispetto al ricercatore tradizionale.

L'articolo dimostra che la trasformazione del ricercatore indipendente (RI) in ricercatore massa (RM) è dovuta alla presenza di un eccesso di controlli inibitori nel sistema di propagazione del segnale di comunicazione intramurale del CNR.

Commento scientifico sulle cause antropogeniche dell'epidemia di SARCOV2 e sui possibili rimedi da adottare per ostacolare l'emergenza nel futuro di pandemie simili

Commento scientifico sulle affermazioni fatte dal premio Nobel Luc Montagnier riguardo all' origine del Corona virus SARSCOV2

Commento scientifico su articoli apparsi su Nature Medicine e New England Journal of Medicine, riguardanti l'origine e le modalità di infezione di Covid-19. Divulgazione scientifica

Si tratta di un decalogo che riporta caratteristiche, pregi e limiti della Sceinza così come resi evidenti dal diffondersi della pandemia SARS-COV2

Animal Tubulin-Based-Polymorphism (aTBP), an intron length polymorphism method recently developed for vertebrate genotyping, has been successfully applied to the identification of several fish species. Here, we report data that demonstrate the ability of the aTBP method to assign a specific profile to fish species, each characterized by the presence of commonly shared amplicons together with additional intraspecific polymorphisms. Within each aTBP profile, some fragments are also recognized that can be attributed to taxonomic ranks higher than species, e.g. genus and family. Versatility of application across different taxonomic ranks combined with the presence of a significant number of DNA polymorphisms, makes the aTBP method an additional and useful tool for fish genotyping, suitable for different purposes such as species authentication, parental recognition and detection of allele variations in response to environmental changes.

Background: Plant discrimination is of relevance for taxonomic, evolutionary, breeding and nutritional studies. To this purpose, evidence is reported to demonstrate TBP (Tubulin-Based-Polymorphism) as a DNA-based method suitable for assessing plant diversity. Results: Exploiting one of the most valuable features of TBP, that is the convenient and immediate application of the assay to groups of individuals that may belong to different taxa, we show that the TBP method can successfully discriminate different agricultural species and their crop wild relatives within the Papilionoideae subfamily. Detection of intraspecific variability is demonstrated by the genotyping of 27 different accessions of Phaseolus vulgaris. Conclusions: These data illustrate TBP as a useful and versatile tool for plant genotyping. Since its potential has not yet been fully appreciated by the scientific community, we carefully report all the experimental details of a successful TBP protocol, while describing different applications, so that the method can be replicated in other laboratories. Keywords: Genotyping, Legumes, ?-Tubulins, Intron Length Polymorphism, TBP (Tubulin Based-Polymorphism)

Microorganisms belonging to the genus Prototheca are achlorophyllous microalgae, occasionally behaving as environmental pathogens that cause severe mastitis in milk cows, as well as localized or systemic infections in humans and animals. Among the different species belonging to the genus, Prototheca zopfii genotype 2 (recently reclassified as P. bovis) and P. blaschkeae are most commonly associated with bovine mastitis. To date, no pharmacological treatment is available to cure protothecal mastitis, and infected animals must be quarantined to avoid spreading the infection. The few antibiotic and antifungal drugs effective in vitro against Prototheca give poor results in vivo. This failure is likely due to the lack of specificity of such drugs. As microalgae are more closely related to plants than to bacteria or fungi, an alternative possibility is to test molecules with herbicidal properties, in particular, antimicrotubular herbicides, for which plant rather than animal tubulin is the selective target. Once a suitable test protocol was set up, a panel of 11 antimicrotubular agents belonging to different chemical classes and selective for plant tubulin were tested for the ability to inhibit growth of Prototheca cells in vitro. Two dinitroanilines, dinitramine and chloralin, showed strong inhibitory effects on P. blaschkeae at low micromolar concentrations, with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of 4.5 and 3 M, respectively, while both P. zopfii genotype 1 (now reclassified as P. ciferrii) and P. bovis showed susceptibility to dinitramine only, to different degrees. Suitable screening protocols for antimitotic agents are suggested.

We present a new method for the authentication of the biological identity of raw meat and processed meat products that is based on length polymorphism found in the introns of the members of the animal beta-tubulin gene family. The method, denominated aTBP for animal TubulinBased-Polymorphism, is shown to be capable of assigning an exclusive genomic fingerprinting to ten different animal species, eight of which are largely consumed as food products. Besides an exclusive DNA profiling, each species is characterized by the presence of specific diagnostic fragments, that assist their selective recognition in admixtures and products sold in the market. The aTBP method is also shown to be effective in both DNA/DNA and weight/weight mixtures where the presence of the low abundance species can be detected at the level of 0.5% and 1% respectively. Detection by aTBP genome profiling is also obtained from either frozen/thawed or cooked samples. The composition of 25 market products made by meat was also assessed with respect to what declared in the label. The results are discussed with reference to biosurveillance and disclosure of frauds and contaminations in comparison with other DNA-based diagnostic methods currently used.

Registrazione presso l'Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi del marchio DNA tested per la certificazione genetica dei prodotti dell'agroalimentare

The DNA polymorphism diffusely present in the introns of the members of the Eukaryotic beta-tubulin gene families, can be conveniently used to establish a DNA barcoding method, named tubulin-based polymorphism (TBP), that can reliably assign specific genomic fingerprintings to any plant or/and animal species. Similarly, many plant varieties can also be barcoded by TBP. The method is based on a simple cell biology concept that finds a conveniently exploitable molecular basis. It does not depend on DNA sequencing as the most classically established DNA barcode strategies. Successful applications, diversified for the different target sequences or experimental purposes, have been reported in many different plant species and, of late, a new a version applicable to animal species, including fishes, has been developed. Also, the TBP method is currently used for the genetic authentication of plant material and derived food products. Due to the use of a couple of universal primer pairs, specific for plant and animal organisms, respectively, it is effective in metabarcoding a complex matrix allowing an easy and rapid recognition of the different species present in a mixture. A simple, dedicated database made up by the genomic profile of reference materials is also part of the analytical procedure. Here we will provide some example of the TBP application and will discuss its features and uses in comparison with the DNA sequencing-based methods.

Flax is both a valuable resource and an interesting model crop. Despite a long history of flax genetic transformation only one transgenic linseed cultivar has been so far registered in Canada. Implementation and use of the genome-editing technologies that allow site-directed modification of endogenous genes without the introduction of foreign genes might improve this situation. Besides its potential for boosting crop yields, genome editing is now one of the best tools for carrying out reverse genetics and it is emerging as an especially versatile tool for studying basic biology. A complex interplay between the flax tubulin family (6?-,14 ?-, and 2 ?-tubulin genes), the building block of microtubules, and the CesA (15-16 genes), the subunit of the multimeric cellulose-synthesizing complex devoted to the oriented deposition of the cellulose microfibrils is fundamental for the biosynthesis of the cell wall. The role of the different members of each family in providing specificities to the assembled complexes in terms of structure, dynamics, activity, and interaction remains substantially obscure. Genome-editing strategies, recently shown to be successful in flax, can therefore be useful to unravel the issue of functional redundancy and provide evidence for specific interactions between different members of the tubulin and CesA gene families, in relation to different phase and mode of cell wall biosynthesis.

New food commodities, particularly pasta, bread and cookies, made with mixed flours containing ancient wheat species and other cereals, have become popular in recent years. This calls for analytical methods able to determine authenticity of these products. Most DNA-based methods for the authentication of foodstuff rely on qPCR assays specifically targeting each plant species, not allowing the identification of unsearched ingredients. Moreover, the discrimination among closely related plant species, particularly congeneric ones like Triticum spp, remains a challenging task. DNA fingerprinting through tubulin-based polymorphism (TBP) and a new assay, TBP light, have been optimized for the authentication of different wheat and farro species and other cereals and tested on a set of commercial food products. The assay has a sensitivity of 0.5-1% w/w in binary mixtures of durum wheat in einkorn or emmer flour and was able to authenticate the composition of test food samples and to detect possible adulterations.

Si tratta di un metodo di riconoscimento genetico della identità di specie animali in cibo e preparati alimentari