Ilaria Giovannini

Tel: +39 059 205 5554

Email: ilaria.giovannini@unimore.it

Extended Curriculum

Position: Post-doc in Zoology at the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

Research interests: Biological adaptations to extreme habitats, Reproductive biology and life histories traits, Physiological and morpho-functional adaptations, Molecular phylogeny and taxonomy.

Research approaches and techniques: DNA barcoding, Morphological, karyological, biochemical (e.g. antioxidant molecules, Heat shock proteins) and molecular studies based on Light Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy, Biological adaptation studies based on induction of physical and chemical stresses, RNA interference.

Publications:

Bertolani R., L. Rebecchi, I. Giovannini, M. Cesari – 2011 – DNA barcoding and integrative taxonomy of Macrobiotus hufelandi C. A. S. Schultze 1834, the first tardigrade species to be described, and some related species. Zootaxa, 2997: 19-36.

Cesari M., I. Giovannini, R. Bertolani, L. Rebecchi – 2011 – An example of problems associated with DNA barcoding in tardigrades: a novel method for obtaining voucher specimens. Zootaxa, 3104: 42-51.

Cesari M., R. Guidetti, L. Rebecchi, I. Giovannini, R. Bertolani – 2013 – A DNA barcoding approach in the study of tardigrades. Journal of Limnology, 72: 182-192.

Altiero T., I. Giovannini, R. Guidetti, L. Rebecchi – 2015 – Life history traits and reproductive mode of the tardigrade Acutuncus antarcticus under laboratory conditions: strategies to colonize the Antarctic environment. Hydrobiologia, 761: 277-291.

Savic A. G., R. Guidetti, A. Turi, A. Pavicevic, I. Giovannini, L. Rebecchi, M. Mojovic – 2015 – Superoxide anion radical production in the tardigrade Paramacrobiotus richtersi, the first electron paramagnetic resonance spin-trapping study. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 88: 451-454.

Smith F. W., T. C. Boothby, I. Giovannini, L. Rebecchi, E. L. Jockusch, B. Goldstein – 2016 – The compact body plan of tardigrades evolved by the loss of a large body region. Current Biology, 26: 224-229.

Boothby T. C., H. Tapia, A. H. Brozena, S. Piszkiewicz, A. E. Smith, I. Giovannini, L. Rebecchi, G. Pielak, D. Koshland, B. Goldstein – 2016 – Tardigrade use intrinsically disordered proteins to survive desiccation. Molecular Cell, 65: 975–984.

Giovannini I., T. Altiero, R. Guidetti, L. Rebecchi – 2018 –Will the Antarctic tardigrade Acutuncus antaarcticus be able to withstand environmental stresses related to global climate change? Journal experimental biology, 221, doi:10.1242/jeb160622.