Lorena Rebecchi
Tel: +39 059 205 5553
Email: lorena.rebecchi@unimore.it
Extended Curriculum
All publications
Position: Associate Professor in Zoology (SSD BIO-05) at the Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
Research interests: Biological adaptations to extreme habitats, Evolution of reproductive strategies and life histories traits, Comparative biology, Phylogeny and systematics, Biodiversity, Soil biology. Studied animals: tardigrades, insects, crustaceans, microarthopods, moles.
Research approaches and techniques: Morphological comparative studies based on Light Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy. Biological adaptation studies based on induction of physical and chemical stresses, biochemical assays and differential gene expression. Molecular studies based on sequencing of portions of nuclear and mitochondrial genes.
Teaching: Invertebrate Biology (Biologia degli invertebrati), Animal Biology (Biologia Animale), Animal Model for Experimentation (Modelli animali per la sperimentazione).
Other activities: Member of the Quality Assurance Group (PQA) of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; Quality Assurance Manager (RQD) of the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
Publications (10 with most impact)
Bertolani R., L. Rebecchi - 1993 - A revision of the Macrobiotus hufelandi group (Tardigrada, Macrobiotidae), with some observations on the taxonomic characters of eutardigrades. Zoologica Scripta, 22: 127-152.
Rebecchi L., V. Rossi, T. Altiero, R. Bertolani, P. Menozzi - 2003 - Reproductive modes and genetic polymorphism in the tardigrade Richtersius coronifer (Eutardigrada, Macrobiotidae). Invertebrate Biology, 122: 19-27.
Rebecchi L., M. Cesari, T. Altiero, R. Guidetti – 2009 Survival and DNA degradation in anhydrobiotic tardigrades. Journal of Experimental Biology, 212: 4033-4039.
Rizzo A.M., M. Negroni, T. Altiero, G. Montorfano, P. Corsetto, P. Berselli, B. Berra, R. Guidetti, L. Rebecchi – 2010 - Antioxidant defences in hydrated and desiccated states of the tardigrade Paramacrobiotus richtersi. Comparative Biochemistry and. Physiology, Part B, 156: 115-121.
Guidetti R., T.Altiero, L. Rebecchi – 2011 - On dormancy strategies in tardigrades. Journal of Insect Physiology, 57: 567–576.
Campbell L.I., O. Rota-Stabelli, G.E. Edgecombe, T. Marchioro, S.J. Longhorn, H. Philippe, M.J. Telford, L. Rebecchi, K.J. Peterson, D. Pisani - 2011 - MicroRNAs and phylogenomics resolve the phylogenetic relationships of the Tardigrada, and suggest the velvet worms as the sister group of Arthropoda. PNAS, 108: 15920-15924.
Guidetti R., T. Altiero, T. Marchioro, L. Sarzi Amadč, A.M. Avdonina, L. Rebecchi – 2012 – Form and function of the feeding apparatus in Eutardigrada (Tardigrada). Zoomorphology, 131: 127-148.
Bonifacio A., R. Guidetti, T. Altiero, V. Sergo, L. Rebecchi – 2012 – Nature, source and function of pigments in tardigrades: in vivo Raman imaging of carotenoids in Echinicus blumi. PLoS ONE 7(11): e50162. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050162.
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.
Boothby T.C., U. Tapia, A.H. Brozena, S. Piszkiewicz, A.E. Smith, I. Giovannini, L. Rebecchi, G.J. Pielak, D. Koshland, B. Goldstein – 2017 - Tardigrades use intrinsically disordered proteins to survive desiccation. Molecular Cell, 65: 975–984.