scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Massimo Labra

Other affiliations: University of Milan
Bio: Massimo Labra is an academic researcher from University of Milano-Bicocca. The author has contributed to research in topics: Medicine & Population. The author has an hindex of 41, co-authored 165 publications receiving 5453 citations. Previous affiliations of Massimo Labra include University of Milan.


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this review the results of several researches are critically analyzed, in order to exploit the effectiveness of DNA barcoding in food traceability, and to delineate some best practices in the application of DNABarcoding throughout the industrial pipeline.

357 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A DNA barcoding approach was used to identify species substitutions cases in shark slices sold in Italy under the vernacular name of ‘‘palombo’’, showing a high amount of commercial frauds rising the 80% of analysed “‘Palombo” slices and highlighting a relevant economical impact for consumers.

244 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A nucleic acid double-staining assay based on analytical flow cytometry is proposed, which allows to distinguish viable from damaged and membrane-compromised bacteria and to sort out noise and detritus in bacteria in freshwater and marine waters of the Mediterranean region.
Abstract: The membrane integrity of a cell is a well-accepted criterion for characterizing viable (active or inactive) cells and distinguishing them from damaged and membrane-compromised cells. This information is of major importance in studies of the function of microbial assemblages in natural environments, in order to assign bulk activities measured by various methods to the very active cells that are effectively responsible for the observations. To achieve this task for bacteria in freshwater and marine waters, we propose a nucleic acid double-staining assay based on analytical flow cytometry, which allows us to distinguish viable from damaged and membrane-compromised bacteria and to sort out noise and detritus. This method is derived from the work of S. Barbesti et al. (Cytometry 40:214-218, 2000) which was conducted on cultured bacteria. The principle of this approach is to use simultaneously a permeant (SYBR Green; Molecular Probes) and an impermeant (propidium iodide) probe and to take advantage of the energy transfer which occurs between them when both probes are staining nucleic acids. A full quenching of the permeant probe fluorescence by the impermeant probe will point to cells with a compromised membrane, a partial quenching will indicate cells with a slightly damaged membrane, and a lack of quenching will characterize intact membrane cells identified as viable. In the present study, this approach has been adapted to bacteria in freshwater and marine waters of the Mediterranean region. It is fast and easy to use and shows that a large fraction of bacteria with low DNA content can be composed of viable cells. Admittedly, limitations stem from the unknown behavior of unidentified species present in natural environments which may depart from the established permeability properties with respect to the fluorescing dyes.

240 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that the combined analysis of morphological traits, volatile oil composition and molecular markers represents the optimal approach to verify taxonomy and to correlate it with agronomic traits.

219 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results showed that DNA of hemp control plants was about three times more methylated than clover DNA, for the same amount of root DNA, suggesting that, in normal condition, methylation involves precise sites.
Abstract: The present study was to assess the effect of heavy metal stress on the DNA methylation of a metal-sensitive plant, Trifolium repens L. and of a metal-tolerant plant, Cannabis sativa L. The changes in the level of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) in the root DNA of plants grown on soils contaminated with different concentrations of Ni 2+ , Cd 2+ and Cr 6+ compared with that of untreated plants, were determined by immunolabelling with a monoclonal antibody, using the Slot-Blot technique. Results showed that DNA of hemp control plants was about three times more methylated than clover DNA, for the same amount of root DNA. Heavy metal treatments induced a global dose-dependent decrease of 5mC content, both in hemp and clover, ranging from 20 to 40%. Changes in methylation pattern of 5'-CCGG-3' containing sequences were investigated by methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP) technique. Control plants of the same species showed a very similar pattern, suggesting that, in normal condition, methylation involves precise sites. Heavy metals induced DNA methylation changes mainly related to hypomethylation events. These variations were not randomly directed but involved specific DNA sequences, since the detected polymorphisms were the same in all the plants analysed for each treatment.

210 citations


Cited by
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The protocol routinely used in the laboratory for the floral dip method for Arabidopsis transformation is described, which can be routinely obtained and a minimum of several hundred independent transgenic lines generated from just two pots of infiltrated plants within 2–3 months.
Abstract: Collective efforts of several laboratories in the past two decades have resulted in the development of various methods for Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana. Among these, the floral dip method is the most facile protocol and widely used for producing transgenic Arabidopsis plants. In this method, transformation of female gametes is accomplished by simply dipping developing Arabidopsis inflorescences for a few seconds into a 5% sucrose solution containing 0.01-0.05% (vol/vol) Silwet L-77 and resuspended Agrobacterium cells carrying the genes to be transferred. Treated plants are allowed to set seed which are then plated on a selective medium to screen for transformants. A transformation frequency of at least 1% can be routinely obtained and a minimum of several hundred independent transgenic lines generated from just two pots of infiltrated plants (20-30 plants per pot) within 2-3 months. Here, we describe the protocol routinely used in our laboratory for the floral dip method for Arabidopsis transformation. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants can be obtained in approximately 3 months.

1,626 citations

Journal ArticleDOI

1,380 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Comparative studies on stress-responsive epigenomes and transcriptomes will enhance the understanding of stress adaptation of plants.

1,003 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
26 May 2011-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: The process of selecting and refining a plant barcode is reviewed; the factors which influence the discriminatory power of the approach are evaluated; some early applications of plant barcoding are described and summarise major emerging projects; and outline tool development that will be necessary for plant DNA barcode to advance.
Abstract: The main aim of DNA barcoding is to establish a shared community resource of DNA sequences that can be used for organismal identification and taxonomic clarification. This approach was successfully pioneered in animals using a portion of the cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1) mitochondrial gene. In plants, establishing a standardized DNA barcoding system has been more challenging. In this paper, we review the process of selecting and refining a plant barcode; evaluate the factors which influence the discriminatory power of the approach; describe some early applications of plant barcoding and summarise major emerging projects; and outline tool development that will be necessary for plant DNA barcoding to advance.

993 citations