Roberto Bertolani
Tel: +39 059 205 5545
Email: roberto.bertolani@unimore.it
Extended Curriculum
All publications
Position: Professor emeritus at the Department of Education and Humanities, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Research interests: Evolution and adaptations in tardigrades: reproductive biology, gametes and life histories (with particular emphasis to hermaphroditism and parthenogenesis); karyotype and genome; cryptobiosis: adaptive and microevolutionary aspects; phylogeny, taxonomy and biogeography ecology of soil microarthropods of the agroecosystems: herbicides and tillage effects.
Research approaches and techniques: Integrated approach based on morphology (Light Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy) and gene sequencing. Biological adaptation studies based on induction of physical and chemical stresses, biochemical assays and differential gene expression. Experimental approaches in agroecosystems comparing microarthropods population densities in treated and untreated fields.
Other activities: Collaborator at the Civic Museum of Natural History of Verona, Italy.
Publications (10 with most impact)
Bertolani R., L. Rebecchi - 1993 - A revision of the Macrobiotus hufelandi group (Tardigrada, Macrobiotidae) with observations on the taxonomic characters of eutardigrades. Zool. Scripta, 22: 127-152.
Rebecchi L., M.A. Sabatini, C. Cappi, P. Grazioso, A. Vicari, D. Dinelli, R. Bertolani - 2000 - Effects of a sulfonylurea herbicide on soil microarthropods. Biol. Fertil. Soils, 30: 312-317.
Bertolani R., D. Grimaldi - 2000 - A New Eutardigrade (Tardigrada: Milnesiidae) in amber from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) of New Jersey. In: Studies on fossils in amber, with particular reference to the Cretaceous of New Jersey. D. Grimaldi (ed.), Backhuys Publishers, Leiden The Netherlands, pp. 103-110.
Rebecchi L., T. Altiero, R. Bertolani - 2002 - Banding techniques on tardigrade chromosomes: the karyotype of Macrobiotus richtersi (Eutardigrada, Macrobiotidae). Chromosome Res., 10: 437-443.
Bertolani R., R. Guidetti, K.I. Jönsson, T. Altiero, D. Boschini, L. Rebecchi 2004 Experiences on dormancy in tardigrades. J Limnology, 63 Suppl.: 16-25.
Cesari, M., R Bertolani, L. Rebecchi, R. Guidetti 2009 - DNA barcoding in Tardigrada: the first case study on Macrobiotus macrocalix Bertolani & Rebecchi 1993 (Eutardigrada, Macrobiotidae). Molecular Ecology Resources, 9: 699706.
Cesari M., R. Guidetti, L. Rebecchi, I. Giovannini, R. Bertolani 2013 - A DNA barcoding approach in the study of tardigrades. J. Limnol., 72(s1): 182-198.
Bertola ni R, R. Guidetti, T. Marchioro, T. Altiero, L. Rebecchi, M. Cesari 2014 - Phylogeny of Eutardigrada: New molecular data and their morphological support lead to the identification of new evolutionary lineages. Mol. Phyl. Evol., 76: 110126.
Bertolani R., P,J. Bartels, R. Guidetti,, M. Cesari, D.R. Nelson - 2014 - Aquatic tardigrades in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee, U.S.A., with the description of a new species of Thulinius (Tardigrada, Isohypsibiidae). Zootaxa, 3764: 524536.
Hansen J. G., R. M. Kristensen, R. Bertolani, R. Guidetti 2016 - Comparative analyses of Bertolanius species (Eohypsibiidae; Eutardigrada) with the description of Bertolanius birnae sp. nov. from northern polar regions. Polar Biol., 40: 123-140.