Mycotoxicology and chemoprevention in the food chains - Micotossicologia e chemioprevenzione nelle filiere alimentari

Address: Plesso Bioscienze Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, 43124 Parma, Italy; Plesso Chimico, Parco Area delle Scienze 17/A, 43124 Parma; Strada del Taglio, 10 - 43126 PARMA

Professors and researchers:

Prof. Franco Bisceglie¹ - franco.bisceglie@unipr.it

Technologists:

Dott.ssa Serena Galati¹  

Young Researchers:

Dott.ssa Marica Simoni²

Ph.D

Dott.ssa Sofia Beghi¹

Dott. Mirko Scaccaglia¹

Scholarschip:

Dott.ssa Francesca Degola¹

Dott.ssa Serena Montalbano¹

Affiliation:
¹ - Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability

² - Department of Veterinary Sciences

HOW TO REACH US:

PLESSO BIOSCIENZE:

PLESSO CHIMICO:

DEPARTMENT OF VETERINARY SCIENCES:

Research Themes

Chemoprevention: Identification of protective dietary factors through in vivo and in vitro evaluation on human cell lines of antimutagen, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity proper to foods/substances introduced through the diet. (Prof. A. Buschini; Dott.ssa S. Galati, Dott.ssa S. Montalbano, Dott.ssa S. Beghi)

Food safety/risk assessment: Identification of the toxicological activity of food/food products resulting from natural (mycotoxin) or artificial (additives, preservatives, pesticides) contamination. (Prof. A. Buschini; Dott.ssa S. Galati, Dott.ssa S. Montalbano, Dott.ssa S. Beghi)

Design and validation of new compounds with anti-mycotoxogenic activity: modification of natural scaffolds with antifungal and antifungal properties directed against phytopathogenic species, validation in the field as biopesticides, and evaluation of possible toxicity in humans, physiological responses of target plants and digestive system of ruminants. (Prof. G. Pelosi, Prof. M. Carcelli, Prof.ssa A. Buschini, Prof.ssa D. Rogolino, Prof. F. Bisceglie, Prof. F. Righi; Dott. M. Scaccaglia, Dott.ssa F. Degola, Dott. M. Simoni)

Biocontrol strategies for the containment of aflatoxin contamination on corn crops in the Po Valley: experimentation activities aimed at reducing chemical inputs using natural antagonists and intraspecific biocompetitors of the phytopathogen and toxigen Aspergillus flavus. (Dott.ssa F. Degola)

Pubblications

1. L. Arru, F. Mussi, L. Forti, A. Buschini (2021) “Biological Effect of Different Spinach Extracts in Comparison with the Individual Components of the Phytocomplex” Foods 10(2):382. doi: 10.3390/foods10020382.

2. S. Montalbano, F. Degola, J. Bartoli, F. Bisceglie, A. Buschini, M. Carcelli, D. Feretti, S. Galati, L. Marchi, N. Orsoni, G. Pelosi, M. Pioli , F. M. Restivo, D. Rogolino , M. Scaccaglia, O. Serra, G. Spadola, G. C. V. Viola, I. Zerbini, C. Zani (2021) “The AFLATOX ® Project: Approaching the Development of New Generation, Natural-Based Compounds for the Containment of the Mycotoxigenic Phytopathogen Aspergillus flavus and Aflatoxin Contamination” Int J Mol Sci. 22(9):4520. doi: 10.3390/ijms22094520.

3. Milano F, Mussi F, Fornaciari S, Altunoz M, Forti L, Arru L, Buschini A. Oxygen Availability during Growth Modulates the Phytochemical Profile and the Chemo-Protective Properties of Spinach Juice. Biomolecules. 2019 Feb 4;9(2). pii: E53. doi: 10.3390/biom9020053.

4. Degola F, Marzouk B, Gori A, Brunetti C, Dramis L, Gelati S, Buschini A, Restivo FM. Aspergillus flavus as a Model System to Test the Biological Activity of Botanicals: An Example on Citrullus colocynthis L. Schrad. Organic Extracts. Toxins (Basel). 2019 May 22; 11(5). pii: E286. doi: 10.3390/toxins11050286.

5. C. Dallabona, M. Pioli, G. Spadola, N. Orsoni, F. Bisceglie, T. Lodi, G. Pelosi, F. M. Restivo and F. Degola (2019) “Sabotage at the powerhouse? Unraveling the molecular target of 2-Isopropylbenzaldehyde thiosemicarbazone, a specific Inhibitor of aflatoxin biosynthesis and sclerotia development in Aspergillus flavus, using yeast as a model system” Molecules 24(16):2971 DOI:10.3390/molecules24162971

6. J. Bartoli, S. Montalbano, G. Spadola, D. Rogolino, G. Pelosi, F. Bisceglie, F. M. Restivo, F. Degola, O. Serra, A. Buschini, D. Feretti, C. Zani, and M. Carcelli (2019) “Antiaflatoxigenic thiosemicarbazones as crop-protective agents: a cytotoxic and genotoxic study” Agric. Food Chem. 67(39):10947–10953. DOI:10.1021/acs.jafc.9b01814

7. C. Zani, F. M. Restivo, M. Carcelli, D. Feretti, G. Pelosi, D. Rogolino, F. Degola, S. Galati, F. Bisceglie, A. Buschini (2015) A biotechnological approach for the development of new antifungal compounds to protect the environment and the human health. Journal of Public Health Research 4(3):185-189.

8. D. Rogolino, A. Gatti, M. Carcelli, G. Pelosi, F. Bisceglie, F. M. Restivo, F. Degola, A. Buschini, S. Montalbano, D. Feretti, C. Zani (2017) Thiosemicarbazone scaffold for the design of antifungal and antiaflatoxigenic agents: evaluation of ligands and related copper complexes, Scientific Reports 7, 11214

9. C. Zani, F. Bisceglie, F. M. Restivo, D. Feretti, M. Pioli, F. Degola, S. Montalbano, S. Galati, G. Pelosi, G.V.C. Viola, M. Carcelli, D. Rogolino, E. Ceretti, A. Buschini (2017) “A battery of assays as an integrated approach to evaluate fungal and mycotoxin inhibition properties and cytotoxic/genotoxic side-effects for the prioritization in the screening of thiosemicarbazone derivatives” Food and Chemical Toxicology. 105, 498-505

10. F. Degola, F. Bisceglie, M. Pioli, S. Palmano, L. Elviri, G. Pelosi, T. Lodi and F. M. Restivo (2017) Structural modification of cuminaldehyde thiosemicarbazone increases inhibition specificity toward aflatoxin biosynthesis and sclerotia development in Aspergillus flavus. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 101:6683–6696. DOI 10.1007/s00253-017-8426-y

Main collaborations

International collaborations

- University of Monastir (Tunisia) - Prof. Belsem Marzouk

- Laboratorio de Cultivo y Tejido Vegetal - University Catholic of Maule, Talca (Cile) - Prof. A.D. Arencibia

- Department of Plant Protection, University of Life Sciences in Lublin (Poland) - Prof.sse Agnieszka Jamiołkowska e Elżbieta Mielniczuk

National collaborations

- Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ROMA) (Dott. Mario Carere)

- CREA-Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, Prof. Walter Chitarra e Dott. Luca Nerva (Centro di ricerca viticoltura ed enologia- CREA-VE, sede di Conegliano Veneto e Dott.sse Valeria Terzi e Caterina Morcia (Centro di ricerca genomica e bioinformatica, sede di Fiorenzuola d’Arda)

- Istituto per la Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IPSP-CNR), sede di Torino (Prof. Walter Chitarra, Dott. Luca Nerva, Dott.ssa Sabrina Palmano)

- Dipartimento di Specialità Medico-Chirurgiche, Scienze Radiologiche e Sanità Pubblica, Università di Brescia (Prof.ssa Donatella Feretti, Prof.ssa Claudia Zani)

- Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, UniMORE (Proff. Laura Arru e Luca Forti)

- Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Conserve Alimentari (SSICA), sede di Parma (Dott.sse Elettra Berni e Roberta Virgili)

Active projects

· Mime4health POR-FESR2014-2020 - Bando 2018 POR FESR Emilia-Romagna. “Mime4health - Innovative Milk and Meat products for Consumer’s Health (D41F18000070009) Responsabile per il COMT: Prof.ssa A. Buschini Partecipanti: Dott.ssa Serena Galati, Dott.ssa Serena Montalbano 

· PROGETTO DI RICERCA DI ATENEO (2019-2021). “A sustainable approach to curb food contamination by aflatoxins”: progetto di consolidamento di un piano triennale di ricerca (2015-2018) finanziato dalla Fondazione CARIPLO dal titolo “Aflatox®: A biotechnological approach for the development of new antifungal compounds to protect the environment and the human health” (ref. n° 2014-0555). Responsabile: Prof. Giorgio Pelosi Partecipanti Prof. F. Bisceglie, Prof. M. Carcelli, Dott.ssa F. Degola, Prof. M. Tegoni 

Patents

“Uso di estratti acquosi di spinacio (Spinacia oleracea) nel favorire i processi fisiologici di cicatrizzazione” (MI2015A000246) – Prof.ssa A. Buschini