Easter Gabriella

Biography

Gabriella Pasqua, born in Rome, July 24, 1953. Full Professor since 2001 and Cheaf of Plant Cell Biotechnology Laboratory at the Department of Environmental Biology, University “Sapienza” of Rome. Graduated Magna cum Laude in Natural Sciences (1977) at the University of Rome "La Sapienza". C.N.R. Scholarship from 1978 to 1981. Researcher at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" from 1981 to 1991. Associate Professor of Botany at the University of Catania from 1992 to 1995 and then at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" since 1995. Coordinator of the Graduate Degree School of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology. Principal Investigator or Coordinator of various national and international projects. Research has mainly focused on the study of plant growth and development, employing cyto-histological, biochemical, and molecular approaches, both in planta and in vitro systems. She also studied the isolation and characterization of bioactive molecules both in crop and medicinal plants. She carried out several studies on stimulating the production of antitumor, antifungal and antioxidant compounds, using different in vitro systems, such as cell suspensions and shoot and root cultures. The application of in vitro cultures allowed the modification of natural and synthetic substrates in the experiments on biotransformation and it provided important information on biosynthetic pathways of certain compounds as camptothecin and xanthones. More recently, the scientific interest of Prof. Pasqua is also directed to the recovery of bioactive molecules from grapevine waste materials to be used in the preparation of nutraceuticals and functional cosmetics. She also begun to study the application of nanobiotechnology as a new strategy for the improvement of plant growth and defense against pathogens in the integrated management of crops in the field and to obtain food products free of pesticide residues and/or contaminants. Teaching: "Botany and Plant Diversity", "Plant cell biotechnology and microbial" and "Cellular plasticity and plant differentiation: industrial application".

Research Interest

1. Collection, characterization, propagation and maintenance of plant germplasm using in vitro culture techniques. 2. Production of bioactive secondary metabolites of pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic and agri-food interest, both in planta and in vitro cultures. 3. Study of the biosynthetic pathways of secondary metabolites and their regulation mechanisms using biochemical and molecular approaches. 4. Study of interactions between primary and secondary metabolic pathways through metabolomic approach. 5. Evaluation of biological activities, with particular interest in antimicrobial activity against pathogens of plants, animals and humans, of natural products biosynthesized in vitro and in planta, constitutively or in response to specific environmental stimuli. 6. Cyto-histological study of plant secretory structures by means of histochemical, immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization techniques. 7. Nanobiotechnology as a new strategy for the improvement of plant growth and defense against pathogens in the integrated management of crops in the field and to obtain food products free of pesticide residues and / or contaminants. 8. Development of formulations containing multiple plant antioxidants to reduce the risk of radiation damage in humans (ASI project).