Vittoria Locato

Vittoria Locato obtained from the University of Bari: degree in Biological Sciences cum laude (2003), master's degree in "Manager of the procurement and distribution processes of agri-food products" (2004) and the title of PhD in Physiology and Cellular Biotechnology (2008). In an international collaboration with Prof. Christine Foyer's group he worked for 6 months at the Rothamsted Research Institute, UK (2006-2007). He obtained a research grant (2008-2010) and was a researcher (2010-2018) at Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, where he is currently Associate Professor in Plant Physiology.

As of December 2022, he is the author of 42 publications reviewed in Scopus and WOS; H-index Scopus= 20.

An updated list of publications is available at http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0267-039

Dr. Vittoria Locato, born in Taranto, on 18/10/1978, obtained from the University of Bari: degree in Biological Sciences cum laude (2003; thesis: "Hydrolysis of Flavin Adenine Dinucleotide in mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: characterization of a FAD Pyrophosphatase"), master's degree in "Manager of the supply and distribution processes of agro-food products" (2004) and the title of PhD in Cellular Physiology and Biotechnology (2008; thesis: "Redox regulation of stress defenses and programmed cell death in plant cells"). She collaborated on the INNOVALO research project of the Puglia Region (2007). She obtained a research grant for the topic "Antioxidants and regulation of the cellular redox state" (BIO/04) at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Campus Bio-Medico of Rome (2008-2010). He is currently a researcher at the same University, where he teaches in the Biochemistry area for the Degree Course in Medical Radiology Techniques for Imaging and Radiotherapy and in the Biotechnology area applied to nutrition for the Degree Course in Food Science and Human Nutrition. He carries out tutoring activities for students of the Degree Course in Food Science and Human Nutrition.

In an international collaboration with the group of prof. Christine Foyer worked for 6 months at the Rothamsted Research Institute, UK.

He is scientific coordinator of an operative unit within the FIRB 2010 project “Cyclic nucleotides in the response to biotic stress in plants”.

He is currently a reviewer for the journals “Journal of Plant Physiology”, “Environmental and Experimental Botany”, “Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science” and “Plant Growth Regulation”.

Current research lines:

Redox regulation in plant defense responses

Programmed cell death

Food antioxidants

Metabolism of fructans in plants and role in diet

He has participated as a speaker in national and international conferences with the following contributions:

° "Different involvement of ascorbate peroxidase isoenzymes during lethal and sub-lethal heat shock" 8th FISV Convention Riva del Garda, September 28-October 1, 2006.

° "Relationships between cellular redox state (Ascorbate and Glutathione) and PARP activity during the growth of Arabidopsis cell cultures". SEB Annual Main Meeting, Glasgow 31 March-4 April 2007.

° "Characterization of the ascorbate-glutathione cycle isoenzymes under heat shock" 9th FISV Convention Riva del Garda, 26-29 September 2007.

° "Regulation of different ascorbate peroxidase isoforms during programmed cell death and in response to oxidative stress conditions in Bright Yellow - 2 tobacco cells". Annual meeting of the working groups of the Italian Botanical Society: "Plant Biotechnology at the beginning of the third millennium a bridge to the future", held in Fisciano at the University of Salerno from 23 to 25 June 2008.

° “Ophiobolin A blocks cell cycle or induces PCD in a dose-dependent manner” Annual meeting of the Cellular and Molecular Biology Working Group of the Italian Botanical Society Rome from 15 to 17 June 2011.

° “Ophiobolin A activates different defense responses depending on the applied dose in TBY-2 cells.” Joint Meeting AGI-SIBV-SIGA Assisi from 19 to 22 September 2011.

° “Ophiobolin A effect on cell cycle is mediated by alteration in GSH fluxes among cell compartments.” 12th FISV Conference Rome, 24-27 September 2012.

° “Changes in fructan and antioxidant metabolism during durum wheat kernel maturation”. Cellular and Molecular Biology Working Group of the Italian Botanical Society Rome from 17 to 19 June 2013.

1. Cimini S., Locato V., Giacinti V., Molinari M., De Gara L. (2022). A Multifactorial Regulation of Glutathione Metabolism behind Salt Tolerance in Rice. ANTIOXIDANTS, vol. 11, ISSN: 2076-3921, doi:10.3390/antiox11061114

2. Pasqualetti V, Locato V, Fanali C, Mulinacci N, Cimini S, Morgia AM, Easter G, De Gara L. (2021) Comparison between In Vitro Chemical and Ex Vivo Biological Assays to Evaluate Antioxidant Capacity of Botanical Extracts. Antioxidants 10(7):1136.

3. Russo M, Ronci MB, Vilmercati A, Gionfriddo M, Fanali C, Dugo L, Locato V, Mondello L, De Gara L (2020). African baobab (Adansonia digitata) fruit as promising source of procyanidins. European food research and technology, vol. 246, p. 297-306, ISSN: 1438-2377, doi: 10.1007/s00217-019-03342-9

4. Sabetta W, Vandelle E, Locato V, Costa A, Cimini S, Bittencourt Moura A, Luoni L, Graf A, Viggiano L, De Gara L, Bellin D, Blanco E, de Pinto MC. 2019 Genetic buffering of cyclic AMP in Arabidopsis thaliana compromises the plant immune response triggered by an avirulent strain of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. Plant J. vol. 98, p. 590-606* Co-first name

5. Cimini S, Gualtieri C, Macovei A, Balestrazzi A, De Gara L, Location V (2019). Redox Balance-DDR-miRNA Triangle: Relevance in Genome Stability and Stress Responses in Plants. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, vol. 10, 989, ISSN: 1664-462X * Corresponding author

6. Mulinacci N, Valletta A, Pasqualetti V, Innocenti M, Giuliani C, Bellumori M, De Angelis G, Carnevale A, Locato V, Di Venanzio C, De Gara L, Pasqua G. 2019 Effects of ionizing radiation on bio-active plant extracts useful for preventing oxidative damage. Nat Prod Res. vol. 33, p. 1106-1114, ISSN: 1478-6427,

7. Ijaz B, Formentin, E, Ronci B, Locato V, Barizza E, Hyder MZ, Lo Schiavo F, Yasmin T (2019). Salt tolerance in indica rice cell cultures depends on a fine tuning of ROS signaling and homeostasis. PLOS ONE, vol. 14, e0213986, ISSN: 1932-6203

8. Vita F, Franchina FA, Taiti C, Locato V, Pennazza G, Santonico M, Purcaro G, De Gara L, Mancuso S, Mondello L, Alpi A. 2018 Environmental conditions influence the biochemical properties of the fruiting bodies of Tuber magnatum Pico. Sci Rep. 8: 7243.

9. Formentin E, Sudiro C, Ronci MB, Locato V, Barizza E, Stevanato P, Ijaz B, Zottini M, De Gara L, Lo Schiavo F. 2018 H2O2 Signature and Innate Antioxidative Profile Make the Difference Between Sensitivity and Tolerance to Salt in Rice Cells. Front Plant Sci. 9:15 am49

10. Location V, Cimini S, De Gara L. 2018 ROS and redox balance as multifaceted players of cross-tolerance: epigenetic and retrograde control of gene expression. Journal of Experimental Botany. 69(14):3373-3391 . doi:10.1093/jxb/ery168.