Curriculum vitae
Manuel Benedetti
Dates: from 01-November 2011 to December 2013
Name and address of employer: Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, 5 P.le Aldo Moro,
University of Rome “Sapienza”
Type of sector: Plant Biology and Biotechnology
Occupation and position held: Postdoctoral position in Plant Biology and Biotechnology (Aim of the
research: Molecular and Biochemical characterization of transgenic plants with an improved cell wall
degradability)
Main activities: molecular biology (cloning), plant biotechnology (constitution of transgenic plant), plant
defense responses analysis (by RT-PCR, histochemical assay and test of resistance-susceptibility to
pathogens such as B. cinerea, P. carotovorum and P. syringae), plant sugars analysis (by HPAEC-PAD
chromatography and MALDI-TOF spectrometer) and biochemistry (biochemical assays, protein expression
and purification).
Dates: from 01-November 2006 to 01-November 2008
Name and address of employer: Department of Plant Biology, 5 P.le Aldo Moro, University of Rome
“Sapienza”
Type of sector: Plant Biology and Biotechnology
Occupation and position held: PhD student in Plant Biotechnology (Aim of the research: Investigation of
the biotechnological applications of the polygalacturonase inhibiting protein)
Main activities: molecular biology (cloning, in vitro evolution by error prone PCR, site-directed
mutagenesis, generation of fusion proteins and constitution of yeast expression libraries), plant
biotechnology (constitution of transgenic plant), biochemistry (biochemical assays, protein expression and
purification)
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Dates: 16 October 2012
Name of organisation providing education: University of Rome, “Sapienza”
Principal subjects covered: Plant Physiology
Title of qualification awarded: Expert in the field of Plant Physiology
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Dates: from November 2008 to March 2012
Name of organisation providing education: University of Rome, “Sapienza”
Principal subjects covered: Molecular Biology, Plant Biotechnology, Plant Physiology and Biochemistry
Title of qualification awarded: PhD in Botany
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Dates: from October 1999 to July 2006
Name of organisation providing education: University of Rome, “Sapienza”
Principal subjects covered: Biology (specialization in biotechnology)
Title of qualification awarded: degree in Biology (110 cum laude/110)
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Good knowledge of the heterologous expression system P. pastoris (transformation procedure,
inducible and constitutive expression) and S. cerevisiae (transformation procedure, inducible
expression)
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Good knowledge in culturing phytopathogenic fungi belonging to Fusarium, Colletotrichum,
Botrytis and Rhizoctonia genus
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Good knowledge of the techniques employed in the purification of proteins. Purified proteins:
Polygalacturonase Inhibiting Protein 2 of P. vulgaris (from A. thaliana, N. benthamiana and P.
pastoris), several fungal polygalacturonases (from P. pastoris and from phytopathogenic fungi such
as F. moniliforme, C. lindemuthianum, R. solani) , the Human Serum Albumin (from P. pastoris)
and the Wall Associated Kinase 1 of Arabidopsis thaliana (from P. pastoris). Methods used:
ammonium sulphate precipitation, ultrafiltration, Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (ion
exchange
chromatography,
hydrophobic
interaction
chromatography,
size-exclusion
chromatography), affinity chromatography (including His-Trap affinity chromatography).
The purified proteins were subjected to structural study (circular dichroism, Small Angle X-Ray
Scattering and X-Ray Crystallography)
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Good knowledge of the methods employed in the protein detection (by SDS-PAGE and western
blotting) and quantification (by UV-absorbance, Bradford assay)
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Italian
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English (good for reading, writing and verbal skills)
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Comunications at Congresses
- 8° Convegno FISV-Federazione Italiana Scienze della Vita”, 28 September-1 October, 2006; Riva del
Garda (TN) Italia. Poster presentation “Structural requirement for the interaction between fungal endoPG
and their plant inhibitor (PGIPs)” (authors: Spinelli F, Mariotti L, Benedetti M, Salvi G, Cervone F, De
Lorenzo G, Caprari C.)
- XIII International Congress “Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction” M.P.M.I. , Sorrento (NA), Italia. 21-27
July 2007. Poster presentation “Analysis of the structural requirements for the interaction between fungal
endoPGs and their plant inhibitors (PGIPs) to design novel recognition specifity” (authors: Benedetti M,
Spinelli F, Mariotti L, , Salvi G, De Lorenzo G, Cervone F, Caprari C.)
- 9° Convegno FISV-Federazione Italiana Scienze della Vita”, 28 September-1 October, 2007; Riva del
Garda (TN) Italia. Poster presentation “Structural studies for the interaction between fungal PGs and their
plant inhibitor” (authors: Benedetti M, Mariotti L, Spinelli F, Federici L, Casasoli M, De Lorenzo G, Caprari
C, Cervone F)
- XLVII Congresso della Società Italiana di Fisiologia Vegetale (S.I.F.V.) 30 June-2 July 2008, Pisa (Italy).
Oral Presentation “Mutagenesis studies to improve the polygalacturonase inhibiting protein (PGIP).” Poster
presentation “MUTAGENESIS STUDIES TO IMPROVE THE POLYGALACTURONASE INHIBITING PROTEIN (PGIP).
(authors: Manuel BENEDETTI, Lorenzo MARIOTTI, Francesco SPINELLI, Giulia DE LORENZO, Felice
CERVONE and Claudio CAPRARI)
- XLVII Congresso della Società Italiana di Fisiologia Vegetale (S.I.F.V.) 30 June-2 July 2008, Pisa (Italy).
Poster presentation “Pectin modification to improve plant biomass utilization” (authors: FERRARI S;
FRANCOCCI F; V. LIONETTI; GALLETTI R; BENEDETTI M; DE LORENZO G; BELLINCAMPI D; CERVONE F)
- XIV International Congress IS-MPMI. July, 2009 Quèbec city (Canada). Poster presentation “Mutagenesis
studies to improve the polygalacturonase inhibiting protein (PGIP).” (authors: Manuel BENEDETTI, Elisa
BASTIANELLI, Giulia DE LORENZO, Felice CERVONE and Claudio CAPRARI)
- II Congresso della Società Italiana di Biologia Vegetale (S.I.B.V.) 12-14 July 2010, Rome (Italy). Poster
presentation “IN VITRO EVOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS THE RESIDUE 224 OF PGIPs AS A PRIMARY SPOT OF
VARIABILITY
FOR IMPROVEMENT OF INHIBITION CAPABILITY” (authors: Manuel BENEDETTI, Elisa
BASTIANELLI, Giulia DE LORENZO, Gianni SALVI, Felice CERVONE e Claudio CAPRARI)
- II Congresso della Società Italiana di Biologia Vegetale (S.I.B.V.) 12-14 July 2010, Rome (Italy). Poster
presentation “The structure of homogalacturonan is critical for plant biomass processing” (authors:
LIONETTI V, FRANCOCCI F, FERRARI S, BELLINCAMPI D, PONTIGGIA D, MARIOTTI L, BASTIANELLI E,
BENEDETTI M, DE LORENZO G, CERVONE F)
- XII Cell Wall Meeting, 25- 30 July 2010 Oporto (Portugal). Poster presentation “Study of the complex
between the PG of Fusarium phyllophilum and the PGIP2 of Phaseolus vulgaris by intermolecular
crosslinking and Small Angular X-Ray Scattering (SAXS)”
(authors: Manuel BENEDETTI, Claudia LEGGIO, Giulia DE LORENZO, NV PAVEL, Felice CERVONE)
- XV International Congress IS-MPMI, 29 July 2012-2 August 2012, Kyoto (Japan). Poster dal titolo “A
polygalacturonase inhibitor confers to transgenic tabacco resistance against fungi and oomycetes.”
(authors: Orlando Borras-Hidalgo, Claudio Caprari, Manuel BENEDETTI, Giulia DE LORENZO, Felice
CERVONE)
- XII Congresso della “Federazione Italiana Scienze della Vita” (FISV) 24-27 September 2012, Rome (Italy).
Poster presentation “Structural resolution of the complexes formed by the polygalacturonase inhibiting
protein 2 from Phaseolus vulgaris and three different fungal polygalacturonases by Small Angle X-Ray
Scattering (SAXS)”. (authors: Manuel Benedetti, Claudia Leggio, Luca Federici, Giulia De Lorenzo, Nicolae
Viorel Pavel and Felice Cervone)
- XII Congresso della “Federazione Italiana Scienze della Vita” (FISV) 24-27 September 2012, Rome (Italy).
Poster presentation “Protein engineering and improvement of plant resistance to pathogens: exploitation
of a polygalacturonase inhibitor”. (authors: Daniela Pontiggia, Manuel Benedetti, Simone Ferrari, Felice
Cervone and Giulia De Lorenzo)
- XIII Cell Wall Meeting, 7 – 12 July, 2013 (Nantes, France). Comparative analysis of the complexes formed
by PGIP-2 from P. vulgaris and four fungal polygalacturonases by Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) and
site-directed mutagenesis. (authors: Andreani F., Benedetti M., Sicilia F., Leggio C., Di Matteo A.,
Federici L., De Lorenzo G., Pavel N.V., Cervone F.)
- XVI International Congress IS-MPMI, 6-10 July 2014, Rhodes (Greece). Release of damage-associated
molecular patterns in transgenic plants confers resistance against fungal and bacterial pathogens.
(authors: Benedetti M., Pontiggia D., Raggi S., Ferrari S. , De Lorenzo G. and Cervone F.)
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Publications
1) ARTIFICIAL EVOLUTION CORRECTS A REPULSIVE AMINO ACID IN POLYGALACTURONASE INHIBITING
PROTEINS (PGIPs).
(authors: Manuel Benedetti, Elisa Bastianelli, Giulia De Lorenzo, Gianni Salvi and Claudio Caprari)
Journal of Plant Pathology (2011), 93 (1), 89-95.
2) STRUCTURAL RESOLUTION OF THE COMPLEX BETWEEN A FUNGAL POLYGALACTURONASE AND A PLANT
POLYGALACTURONASE INHIBITING PROTEIN (PGIP) BY SMALL ANGLE X-RAY SCATTERING.
(authors: Manuel Benedetti, Claudia Leggio, Luca Federici, Giulia De Lorenzo, Nicolae Viorel Pavel, Felice
Cervone)
Plant Physiology (2011),157 (2), 599-607
3) AGROBACTERIUM TUMEFACIENS-MEDIATED INTRODUCTION OF POLYGALACTURONASE INHIBITING
PROTEIN 2 GENE FROM PHASEOLUS VULGARIS (PVPGIP2) INTO SUGAR BEET (BETA VULGARIS L.)
(authors: Reza Mohammadzadeh, Mohammadreza Zamani, Mostafa Motallebi, Paiman Norouzi, Esmat
Jourabchi, Manuel Benedetti and Giulia De Lorenzo)
Australian Journal of Crop Science (2012), 6(8), 1290-1297
4) A SINGLE AMINO-ACID SUBSTITUTION ALLOWS ENDO-POLYGALACTURONASE OF FUSARIUM
VERTICILLIOIDES TO ACQUIRE RECOGNITION BY PGIP2 FROM PHASEOLUS VULGARIS.
(authors: Manuel Benedetti, Federico Andreani, Claudia Leggio, Luciano Galantini, Adele Di Matteo,
Nicolae Viorel Pavel, Giulia De Lorenzo, Felice Cervone, Luca Federici, Francesca Sicilia)
PLOS ONE (2013), November 19, 2013DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080610
PhD THESIS (TITLE: Biotechnological applications of the polygalacturonase inhibiting protein 2 of
Phaseolus vulgaris, PvPGIP2)