Address book
Contacts
BARBARA BALDAN
Position
Professoressa Ordinaria
Structure
Address
VIA U. BASSI, 58/B - PADOVA
Telephone
0498276240
2015-up to now: Full Professor of Botany at DeBio, University of Padova.
EDUCATION:
1987-1990: Ph.D Course in Evolutionary Biology- Laboratory of Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology, DeBio, UniPd (Italy). Thesis defence: October 1990.
1988: One-year stay at the l'IJM, Universitè Paris VII, France.
1989: One-year stay at the IBPC (CNRS), Paris, France.
1981-1985: University Course in Biology, University of Padova, Italy. Degree in Biology with full marks and honours (110/110 cum laude).
RELEVANT ROLES
2024- : member of the GEV 05 Committee (VQR 2020-2024)
2024- : member of the SBI committee (role: secretary)
2015-2021: Director of the Botanical Garden, UniPd
2016-present: Rector’s delegate in the Scientific Committee of the Azienda Agraria Sperimentale "L. Toniolo", Legnaro, Padova
2016-2018: member of the ASN Committee (05/A1 sector)
2015-2020: member of the Scientific Committee of the DiBio, UniPd
2013-2015 Vice-director of Centro di Ateneo Botanical Garden, UniPd.
2012-2015: member of the scientific committee of the Botanical Garden
2012-2015: appointed member of School of Sciences committee, UniPd
2009-2015: Head of the Molecular Biology (3+2 years) Degrees, School of Sciences,
2009-present: member of PhD committee, Scuola di Dottorato in Bioscienze e Biotecnologie, Evolutionary Biology
2008-2022: Scientific coordinator of the Electron Microscopy Service of DiBio,
DISTINCTIONS
1991: Zeiss prize for the best work in electronic microscopy field
Author of 109 publications in international journals with referees and I.F. and of three book chapters. Total citations: 3314; H-index: 34 (Scopus). In the past, the research work has mainly concerned plant cell biology: programmed cell death in plants and plant propagation (micropropagation, in vitro organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis); in the last years, the research has been addressed to the characterization (by molecular, biochemical, physiological approaches) of microbial endophytes, living in grapevine inner tissues, for their potential application to improve crop productivity and plant disease biocontrol. Very recently, linked to the new research activity in the Botanic Garden of Padova, molecular biology studies have been set up: a) molecular identification of fungal specimens from the historical Saccardo’s collection, known at international level and conserved in the Herbarium of the Botanic Garden belonging to Padova University; b) the study of MADS-box genes that are expressed in the floral buds and in the reproductive structures of basal angiosperms that belong to the Nymphaeales order, with the purpose to better understand the MADS-box genes expression pattern involved in these species, thus contributing to an update of the ‘ABC(D)E’ model in these organisms; c) morphological and molecular studies on reproductive structure development in Gymnosperms (Ginkgo and Cycas); d)
Characterization of bacterial communities living in compost and studies on their effect in crops.
Notices
Pubblicazioni
Recent publications:
1. Montanari S., Trenti F., Nesler A., Navazio L., Baldan B., Guella G., Longa C. M. O., Perazzolli M. (2025) The sustainable fungicide choline pelargonate inhibits Botrytis cinerea and Phytophthora infestans growth by altering membrane structure and lipid content. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, 213: 106471, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pestbp.2025.106471
2. Natale, S., Canella, M., Moschin, S. et al. Microscopy observations reveal a new glandular morphology in four Pinguicula L. species. BMC Res Notes 17, 367 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-024-07021-1
3. Forin, N., Vizzini, A., Amalfi, M. et al. New insights on the Xylaria species (Ascomycota, Xylariales) with bright-coloured exudates: Xylaria aurantiorubroguttata sp. nov. and revision of X. haemorrhoidalis and X. anisopleura type collections. IMA Fungus 15, 37 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-024-00168-3
4. Moschin, S., Nigris, S., Offer, E. et al. Reproductive development in Trithuria submersa (Hydatellaceae: Nymphaeales): the involvement of AGAMOUS-like genes. Planta 260, 106 (2024).
5. Antonella Muto, Emanuela Talarico, Greta D’Apice, Maurizio Di Marzo, Silvia Moschin, Sebastiano Nigris, Nicola Babolin, Eleonora Greco, Fabrizio Araniti, Adriana Chiappetta, Lucia Colombo, Barbara Baldan, Leonardo Bruno (2024). Development of pollinated and unpollinated ovules in Ginkgo biloba: unravelling the role of pollen in ovule tissue maturation, Journal of Experimental Botany, Volume 75, Pages 3351–3367
6.Elisabetta Offer, Silvia Moschin, Sebastiano Nigris and Barbara Baldan (2023).Reproductive Mechanisms in Ginkgo and Cycas: Sisters but not Twins, Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 42:5, 283-299
7.D'Apice, G.*, S. Moschin*, S. Nigris, R. Ciarle, A. Muto, L. Bruno, and B. Baldan, (2022). Identification of key regulatory genes involved in the sporophyte and gametophyte development in Ginkgo biloba ovules revealed by in situ expression analyses. American Journal of Botany 109(6): 1–12.https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1862
8.Tondello A, Fasolo A, Marcato S, Treu L, Bonato T, Zanardi W, Concheri G, Squartini A, Baldan B (2021). Characterization of bacterial communities isolated from municipal waste compost and screening of their plant-interactive phenotypes. Science of the Total Environment
9.D'Apice, G*, Moschin, S*, Araniti, F, Nigris, S, Di Marzo, M, Muto, A, Banfi, C, Bruno, L, Colombo, L, Baldan, B (2021) The role of pollination in controlling Ginkgo biloba ovule development. New Phytologist 232 (6), 2353-2368.
10.Moschin S, Nigris S, Ezquer I, Masiero S, Cagnin S, Cortese E, Colombo L, Casadoro G, Baldan B (2021) Expression and functional analyses of Nymphaea caerulea MADS-box genes contribute to clarify the complex flower patterning of water lilies. Frontiers in Plant Science DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.730270
11.Nigris, S, D’Apice, G, Moschin, S, Ciarle R, Baldan B (2021) Fleshy Structures Associated with Ovule Protection and Seed Dispersal in Gymnosperms: A Systematic and Evolutionary Overview. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 40 (4), 285-302 https://doi.org/10.1080/07352689.2021.1938397
Area di ricerca
Molecular characterization of fungi from Saccardo's mycological herbarium
The main objective of this research project is the molecular identification of fungal specimens belonging to one of the most important collections in the world: Pier Andrea Saccardo's mycological herbarium. This collection, preserved at the Botanical Garden of Padua, has a special scientific importance due to the presence of various specimens that have been used by Saccardo for the morphological descriptions of new fungal species and are therefore known as types. For this purpose, it will be necessary to develop a method for the extraction of DNA from ancient herbarium material and to select specific molecular markers to be used for the univocal identification of the species in the collection. Then, the obtained data will be used for the creation of a database, accessible to the national and international mycological community, in which the analyzed species of the collection will have linked the relevant molecular information used for their identification.
Floral evolution of Nymphaeales using MADS-box genes as markers
Nymphaeales is an order of aquatic plants placed to the base of the angiosperms phylogeny that includes three families: Nymphaeaceae, Cabombaceae and Hydatellaceae (APG III system of flowering plant classification, 2009). The study of MADS-box genes involved in the floral development of some Nymphaeales’ members could offer insights in their phylogeny.
This research line aims to obtain sequences of MADS-box genes from representative species of the Nymphaeales’ families, to use these molecular data to investigate the relationships between these families, and to improve information about the aspect of some of the earliest flowers that appear in the history of angiosperms.
Plant endo-microbiome: towards a sustainable crop management
By influencing metabolic and biochemical pathways, beneficial bacterial communities, harbored within plant tissues can interact with their hosts. This project aims to characterize beneficial traits of endophytes, isolated from Vitis vinifera, for their potential utility, as alternative environmentally friendly approach, in plant growth promotion and stress alleviation. In parallel we are considering the biological control as innovative strategy which involves the use of beneficial organisms (bacteria) able to cope with plant pathogens, directly interacting with them by the production of many antimicrobial molecules. Among these metabolites, we are investigating lipopeptides. Insights into biocontrol effects are pivotal to develop new agricultural practices for decreasing plant pathogens and negative impact of agricultural chemicals on the environment.
