::: DATI PERSONALI
Nome: Diego Comparini
Nazionalità: Italiana
Email:
Lingue: Italiano – madrelingua Inglese – fluente
::: Qualifiche e Collaborazioni
Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Agrarie - Sezione Microbiologia – Università di Firenze (2001-2005) Laurea in “Biotecnologie Agrarie” Tesi: “Utilizzo delle microalghe in acquacoltura: scala commerciale”.
Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica “Leo Pardi” - Laboratorio di genetica microbica – Università di Firenze (2005-2009) Laurea Magistrale in “Biotecnologie Industriali e Ambientali” Tesi: “Fenotipo di nodulazione ed espressione del gene nodA in ceppi di Sinorhizobium meliloti”.
Dipartimento di Scienze delle Piante, del Suolo e dell'Ambiente (DIPSA) – Università di Firenze (2010-2013) Dottorato di Ricerca in “Agro-biotecnologie per la produzione tropicale”. Tesi: “Applicazioni delle piante nella ricerca spaziale: effetto della gravità e bioispirazione per la tecnologia spaziale futura”.
Facoltà di Ingegneria Ambientale, Università di Kitakyushu – Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Giappone. 2012-2015 Ricercatore Post-doc / Assistente Professore.
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali (DISPAA) - Università di Firenze 2016-2017 Ricerca post-dottorato per il progetto:
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione, Ambiente e Forestale (DAGRI) - Università di Firenze 2018-2019 Investigatore principale, progetto MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIPS SUNDROPS:
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione, Ambiente e Forestale (DAGRI) - Università di Firenze 2020-2021 Ricerca post-dottorato per il progetto:
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione, Ambiente e Forestale (DAGRI) - Università di Firenze (2021-2022) Ricerca post-dottorato per il progetto: Indagini elettrofisiologiche per lo studio della comunicazione nelle piante.
Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione, Ambiente e Forestale (DAGRI) - Università di Firenze 2022 - presente Investigatore principale, progetto EU “Funding projects presented by young researchers”: EVOLUTE (mEchanical VibratiOns and Light spectra as tools for sustainable agricUlTurE)
::: Pubblicazioni
::: Atti di convegni
JSABEES conference (Japanese Society of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Engineers and Scientists). Okinawa, Japan, 11/2015. Presentazione: “Possible acoustic monitoring of below-ground plant growth and development”. Comparini D., Iwase J., Sato Y., Masi E., Mancuso S., Kawano T.
JSABEES conference (Japanese Society of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Engineers and Scientists). Miyazaki, Japan, 9/2015. Presentazione “Scoring tomato fruit maturation based on measurements of frequency-modulated sound propagation and solar-light reflectance by intact fruits”. Comparini D., Iwase J., Murata Y., Hara A., Takaichi H., Kawano T.
Invited speaker at International Symposium on Plant Signaling and Behavior. 29 June - 2 July, 2015, Paris, France. Presentazione: “Acoustic sensing of belowground plant growth and monitoring of fruit ripening”. Comparini D., Iwase J, Masi E., Mancuso S., Sato Y., Kawano T.
JSABEES conference (Japanese Society of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Engineers and Scientists). Kumamoto, Japan, 11/2014. Presentazione: “Controls of plant growth and development under HB-LEDs: cases of vegetable growth, pigmentation, photosynthesis, and storage”. D. Comparini, T. Kihara, and T.Kawano. Best Presentation Awarded (certificato disponibile).
Annual Meeting of the Society of Plant Signaling and Behavior, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; 07/2013. Presentazione: "Go green, stay green under green light". Comparini D., Yamamoto Y., Moritaka K., Hieu N. H. T., Kihara T., Masago H., Mancuso S., Kawano T.
Annual Meeting of the Society of Plant Signaling and Behavior, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; 07/2013. Action potentials in the root apex are dependent on gravity. Masi E., Ciszak M., Comparini D., Monetti E., Pandolfi C., E. Azzarello, S. Mugnai, Baluska F., S. Mancuso.
Self-burial Mechanism of Erodium cicutarium and Its Potential Application for Subsurface Exploration. Pandolfi C., Comparini D., Mancuso S. Biomimetic and biohybrid systems first International Conference, Living Machines 2012, Barcelona, Spain, July, 2012.
::: Altri Progetti di Ricerca
START Programme (2014), MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan). Progetto: “Electric field resonance-type biological sensing and the development of detecting data analysis system”. Progetto in relazione al suono in collaborazione con l’Università di Kitakyushu e il L’istituto tecnologico di Kyushu.
Regional Innovation Strategy Support Program 2012, MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan). Progetto: "Energy-conserving advanced plant production system with HB-LEDs", Università di Kitakyushu.
European Space Agency (ESA) - Progetto ARIADNA 2012. Subsurface investigation and interaction by self-burying bio-inspired probes. Study Reference Number: 12-6401.
European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) – Noordwijk (NL)
Spin Your Thesis 2010 and 2011 ESA Education’s Projects
- Acclimation of plants to hyper-gravity and analysis of the changes in the electrical roots network.
Center of Applied Space technology and microgravity (ZARM) –
Bremen University (DE)
Drop Your Thesis 2011 ESA Education’s Projects
- Detection of chemical signalling in roots under microgravity conditions using the Drop Tower Facility.
Novespace, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) –
Bordeaux (FR)
Fly Your Thesis 2012 ESA Education’s Projects
- Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in plants during gravity changing conditions - Parabolic Flight Campaign.
Principali interessi
Biotecnologie agricole e ambientali: Studi sui meccanismi biologici e fisiologici delle piante, con particolare focus su applicazioni nell'agricoltura sostenibile.
Comunicazione nelle piante: Investigazione dei meccanismi di comunicazione tra piante e altri organismi, sia attraverso segnali volatili che altri tipi di interazioni chimiche, meccaniche ed elettriche.
Tecnologie innovative per l'agricoltura: Sviluppo di sistemi idroponici automatizzati, l'uso di vibrazioni meccaniche e spettri luminosi specifici per stimolare la difesa delle piante e migliorare la qualità agricola.
Studio dei meccanismi di risposta agli stress abiotici e biotici: Analisi delle risposte delle piante a stress ambientali come stress idrico, salino, e interazioni con patogeni e insetti, nonché lo studio delle strategie di adattamento.
Insegnamenti
2022-2023 e 2023-2024: Docente per "Etologia Vegetale" (Master in Biologia dell'Ambiente e del Comportamento) e "Arboricoltura Generale" (Laurea in Scienze e Tecnologie per la Gestione degli Spazi Verdi e del Paesaggio). Supervisore per numerosi studenti di tesi di Master e laurea.
Altri contributi alla ricerca:
Gestione di diversi progetti educativi ESA, tra cui "Spin Your Thesis" e "Fly Your Thesis", che hanno coinvolto l'acclimatazione delle piante ai cambiamenti gravitazionali e l'uso delle piante come sensori nello spazio. Partecipazione attiva ai progetti PRIN2017 e DAMATIRA, focalizzati sulle risposte delle piante al suono e sul miglioramento delle pratiche agricole sostenibili. Supporto al Regional Innovation Strategy Support Program (Giappone, 2012) e ai Progetti di Rilevanza Nazionale per il miglioramento della produttività del riso attraverso la co-coltivazione con Azolla.
Legenda
::: SHORT CV Diego Comparini :::
::: PERSONAL DETAILS
Name:
Diego Comparini
Nationality:
Italian
Languages:
Italian – mother tongue
English – fluent
::: Qualification & Collaboration
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology -
Microbiology section – University of Florence
(2001-2005)
Bachelor Degree “Agrarian Biotecnology”
Thesis “Use of microalgae interesting for Aquaculture: scaling up for commercial level”.
- Administration and monitoring cultures of microorganisms in photo-bioreactors (microalgae).
Department of Evolutionistic Biology “Leo Pardi” - Microbial genetic laboratory -
University of Florence
(2005-2009)
Master of Science “Industrial and EnvironmentaBiotechnologygy”
Thesis “Phenotype of nodulation and expression of gene nodA in Sinorhizobium meliloti strains”.
- Growth and monitoring nodulation-phenotypes of different strains on Medicago Truncatula plants.
Use of Real-time PCR to monitor genic expression through new primers design and reference genes validation (SYBR Green).
Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Science (DIPSA) – University of Florence
(2010-2013)
Ph.D. in “Agro-biotechnology for tropical production”. Thesis: “Plant applications in space-research: effect of gravity and bio-inspiration for future space technology”.
- Study of mechanisms involved in the early stages of the chemical and electrical response to gravity in root tips focusing on conditions of hyper-and microgravity (Large Diameter Centrifuge – LDC; Parabolic flight; Drop Tower).
- Evaluation of electric network activity of roots through the use of the Multi Electrode Arrays system (MEAs).
- Time-lapse photography technique applied to plants and roots growth.
- Study the Erodium cicutarium seeds and their potential application for soil exploration.
Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu– Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. 2012-2015.
Postdoctoral Research Assistant/Professor.
- Study the effect of light on organisms focusing on using LEDs Technologies for plant research.
- Pigmentation, postharvesting, photosynthetic activity, growth, and development of plants/fruits under different light regimes.
- Study the effect of sound on plants and its application as sensing technology.
- Leader of the joint laboratory Linv@Kitakyushu Research Center.
Department of Agrifood
Production and Environmental Sciences - University of Florence (DISPAA)
2016-2017
Post-doctoral research for the project:
- “Analysis of the air purifying ability of plants” which aims to test the ability of plants to purify the air, reducing harmful volatile substances generated inside the buildings (building materials, detergents, combustion, etc.). Within the project, several investigation tasks have been accomplished, in particular,r to study, through the instrument Proton Transfer Reaction - Time of Flight - Mass Spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS), the influence of different plant species and growing media on changes in the spectrum of organic volatile compounds.
Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI) - University of Florence
2018-2019
Principal investigator, MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIPS PROJECT SUNDROPS:
- Self-DRiving hydrOPonic System - Develop automated hydroponic systems that use high frequency pulsing-light and intermittent/alternate nutrient supply to optimize resources and plant adaptation.
- Aim to research and develop automated hydroponic cultivation system driven by the plant “itself” able to optimize/control the supply of light, water, and nutrients.
Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI) - University of Florence 2020-2021
- Study of the physiological parameters associated with water stress in plants.
- Monitoring and interpreting the electrical signals produced by plants in water stress conditions for water management applications.
- Phenotypic and gas exchange analyses associated with water and salt stress in plants.
Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI) - University of Florence (2021-2022)
Electrophysiological investigations for the study of communication in plants.
- investigating the plant-plant and plant-other organism communication mechanisms, focusing, in this project, on the analysis of the electrical activity linked to the interaction between organisms.
-acquiring and analyzing the electrical signals of plants subjected to different stimuli (for example, the presence of other organisms, or tactile, mechanical, chemical stimulus), and studying their propagation, to increase knowledge on the role of electrical signaling in plant communication
2022-present
Principal investigator, EU project “Funding projects presented by young researchers”: EVOLUTE (mEchanical VibratiOns and Light spectra as tools for sustainable agricUlTurE)
- Mechanical vibrations and light spectra as tools for sustainable agriculture.
- Aim to research an innovative physical approach, introducing two innovative green methodologies to support sustainable agriculture: the use of specific light spectra and mechanical vibrations. For this purpose, the project's main objectives are to reduce the proliferation of pathogens and insects and/or stimulate plant defense responses, with concurrently enhancing product quality.
::: Publications
Main Research Interests
Agricultural and Environmental Biotechnology: Studies on the biological and physiological mechanisms of plants, with a particular focus on applications in sustainable agriculture.
Plant Communication: Investigation of communication mechanisms between plants and other organisms, through volatile signals as well as other types of chemical, mechanical, and electrical interactions.
Innovative Technologies for Agriculture: Development of automated hydroponic systems, the use of mechanical vibrations, and specific light spectra to stimulate plant defense and improve agricultural quality.
Study of Mechanisms of Response to Abiotic and Biotic Stresses: Analysis of plant responses to environmental stresses such as water and salt stress, and interactions with pathogens and insects, as well as the study of adaptation strategies.
Teaching Experience:
Other Research Contributions: