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ALESSANDRO BOTTON

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Position

Professore Associato

Structure

Dipartimento di Agronomia Animali Alimenti Risorse Naturali e Ambiente - DAFNAE

Address

VIALE DELL'UNIVERSITA', 16 - LEGNARO PD

Telephone

0498272849

E-mail

alessandro.botton@unipd.it

Alessandro Botton graduated cum laude in Agricultural Biotechnology at the University of Padova in the A.Y. 2003-2004. He carried out several studies on different fruit species (mainly apple and peach), focusing on diverse aspects of quality, from the organoleptic parameters to nutritional value and health-related issues, also in relation to pre- and post-harvest management, and mainly from a molecular/physiological point of view. He took the PhD in Crop Science in the A.Y. 2007-2008 with a dissertation titled "A transcriptomic approach to food safety-Fruit allergens and mycotoxins". During his PhD, he spent a few months at the Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg (Germany), carrying out phenotypic characterization of RNAi lines and functional characterization of the AtMob1 gene. After the PhD and up to 2011, he worked as a post-doc on apple fruitlet abscission, ripening of climacteric (peach) and non-climacteric (grape berry) fruits, and on seed-fruit signalling. Since 2011, he is enrolled at the University of Padova, where he is currently Associate Professor. Through the years, Alessandro gained experience also in coordinating projects and collaborating with several colleagues at national/international level. He has been invited to give seminars/ keynotes in summer schools and international conferences. Alessandro is currently carrying out his research on fruit trees (i.e. apple, peach, kiwifruit and grape). His main topics deal with fruit thinning and the abscission physiology in apple fruitlets, floral induction and fertility determinants in peach and grapevine, skin coloration in apple fruit and its molecular mechanisms, new-generation plant bioregulators for fruit quality improvement, setting up of predictive models for plant bioregulators application. All his research activity is certified by several publications in national and international peer-reviewed journals and books.

Notices

Office hours

  • Monday from 10:00 to 12:00
    at Seconda Stecca, 2° Piano (EST) - DAFNAE - Agripolis (Legnaro, PD)
    L'orario di ricevimento è indicativo. Si consiglia di prendere preventivamente accordi via email o telefono (vedi contatti).

Teachings

Publications

Recent publications (a selection)

- Panozzo A., Bolla P.K., Barion G., Botton A., Vamerali T. (2025) Phytohormonal Regulation of Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Leaf Senescence and Yield Response in Field Crops: A Comprehensive Review BIOTECH, 14 (1), art. no. 14,
- Girardi F., Canton M., Populin F., Tijero V., Bettio G., Munné-Bosch S., Rasori A., Cardillo V., Costa G., Botton A. (2024) A gibberellin-assisted study of the transcriptional and hormonal changes occurring at floral transition in peach buds (Prunus persica L. Batsch) BMC PLANT BIOLOGY, 24 (1), art. no. 643
- Canton M., Botton A., Corso M., Cargnello G., Teo G., Curioni A., Vincenzi S., Bonghi C. (2024) Impact of postponed harvests and withering on the aromas development of Yellow Muscat “fiori d'arancio” berries SCIENTIA HORTICULTURAE, 338, art. no. 113817
- D’Incà, E., Foresti, C., Orduña, L., Amato, A., Vandelle, E., Santiago, A., Botton, A., Cazzaniga, S., Bertini, E., Pezzotti, M., Giovannoni, J.J., Vrebalov, J.T., Matus, J.T., Tornielli, G.B., Zenoni, S. (2023) The transcription factor VviNAC60 regulates senescence- and ripening-related processes in grapevine PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 192 (3), pp. 1928-1946
- Botton, A., Girardi, F., Ruperti, B., Brilli, M., Tijero, V., Eccher, G., Populin, F., Schievano, E., Riello, T., Munné-Bosch, S., Canton, M., Rasori, A., Cardillo, V., Meggio, F. Grape Berry Responses to Sequential Flooding and Heatwave Events: A Physiological, Transcriptional, and Metabolic Overview PLANTS 11 (24), art. no. 3574
- Costa, G., Botton, A. (2022) Thinning in peach: Past, present and future of an indispensable practice SCIENTIA HORTICULTURAE 296, art. no. 110895
- Tijero, V., Girardi, F., Botton, A. (2021) Fruit development and primary metabolism in apple AGRONOMY 11 (6), art. no. 1160
- Savazzini, F., Del Duca, S., Vegro, M., Cipriani, F., Ricci, G., Botton, A., Pasini, G., Dondini, L., Tartarini, S. (2020) Immunological characterization of recombinant Mal d 1, the main allergen from apple (Malus x domestica L. Borkh). SCIENTIA HORTICULTURAE, 261, art. no. 108926. DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2019.108926.
- Botton, A; Ruperti, B (2019). The Yes and No of the Ethylene Involvement in Abscission. PLANTS 8: 187. DOI: 10.3390/plants8060187.
- Ruperti, B; Botton, A; Populin, F; Eccher, G; Brilli, M; Quaggiotti, S; Trevisan, S; Cainelli, N; Guarracino, P; Schievano, E; Meggio, F (2019). Flooding Responses on Grapevine: A Physiological, Transcriptional, and Metabolic Perspective. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 10: 339-. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00339.
- Costa, G; Botton, A; Vizzotto, G (2018). Fruit Thinning: Advances and Trends. HORTICULTURAL REVIEWS 46: 185-226. DOI: 10.1002/9781119521082.ch4.


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Alessandro Botton' publications

Research Area

▪ Apple/peach fruitlet abscission / fruit thinning, focusing on the signals exchanged among the different sinks and sources during the critical abscission induction phases, the thinning treatments and the physiological (transcriptional) and metabolic responses of the tree to such chemicals, the characterizazion and parametrization of the response, the attitude to be thinned, and the possibile predictors of the final thinning efficacy; particular interest is focused on the possibility of interfering with phase transition in peach to reduce flowering.

Un corimbo di melo

▪ Climacteric and non-climacteric fruit development and ripening, dealing in particular with the aspects regarding the regulatory network at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level, especially focused on apple, peach and grape berry. Seed-fruit crosstalk during growth and development. Pre- and post-harvest management of fruits to reduce the incidence of injuries and losses.
▪ Stress physiology, especially in grapevine, particularly focusing on the signalling among the different parts of the plant/tree as a reponse to extreme weather events such as flooding, drought and heatwaves.
▪ Fruit quality from the point of view of the nutraceutical properties of fruits and the allergenic potential. Particular attention is focused on the possibility of identify hypoallergenic genotypes and the setting-up of multiple approaches to carry out this task.

Un corimbo di melo

▪ Gene annotation, bioinformatics and systems biology of fruits, as tools to support the transcriptomic analyses that are adopted as the main analytical approach in all the studies listed above and interdisciplinary research as testified by publications.

Thesis proposals

1) Fruitlet thinning and abscission in apple: molecular mechanisms determining fruit load
2) Floral induction and thinning in stone fruits
3) Floral induciton in apple