Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent model organism to study cell division. My principal expertise and research interests are focused on the mechanisms underlying spindle assembly in different Drosophila cells, such as S2 tissue culture cells, larval brain neuroblasts and male meiotic cells. These cells exploit different pathways for spindle formation and are therefore very useful for the analysis of this process.

In particular I am pursuing the indentification of new genes involved in: 

 

1)the structure and function of centrioles/centrosomes

 

2) the control of kinetochore-driven microtubule growth

 

3) the correct execution of male meiosis

 

I have an extensive background in microscopy, live imaging, and cell biology in larval brain neuroblasts ,male meiotic cells and in tissue culture cells. I am applying my expertise in cell biology and microscopy to studies in Drosophila cell division. The mechanisms of the spindle assembly are currently investigated using both direct and inverse genetics (RNAi in vivo, RNAi in colture cells) toghether with cytological and molecular approaches (immunostaining, Western Blot, PCR, DNA cloning, fusion protein expression and purification). In addition I use time lapse videomicroscopy to analyze in vivo the dynamics of spindle assembly in physiological/pertubated conditions using Metamorph software. 

 

1.Mengoli V*, Bucciarelli E*, Lattao R, Piergentili R, Gatti M, Bonaccorsi S. The analysis of mutant alleles of different strength reveals multiple functions of topoisomerase 2 in regulation of Drosophila chromosome structure. PLoS Genet., 2014, 10 :e1004739. 

 

2.Kim M.Y.*, Bucciarelli E.*, Morton D.G., Williams B.C., Blake-Hodek K., Pellacani C., Von Stetina J.R., Hu X., Somma M.P., Drummond-Barbosa D., Goldberg M.L. Bypassing the Greatwall-Endosulfine Pathway: Plasticity of a Pivotal Cell-Cycle Regulatory Module in Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics, 2012, 191:1181-97.

 

3.Gatti M., Bucciarelli E., Lattao R., Pellacani C., Mottier-Pavie V., Giansanti M.G., Somma M.P., Bonaccorsi S. The relative roles of centrosomal and kinetochore-driven microtubules in Drosophila spindle formation. Exp Cell Res., 2012, 318:1375-80. 

 

4.Bucciarelli E.*, Pellacani C., Palena A., Naim V., Gatti M., Somma M.P. Drosophila Dgt6 interacts with ?-tub, Msps/XMAP215 and Ndc80 to promote kinetochore-driven MT formation. Current Biol., 2009,17:1839-45. 

 

5.Somma M.P., Ceprani F., Bucciarelli E., Naim V., De Arcangelis V., Piergentili R., Palena A., Ciapponi L., Giansanti M.G., Pellacani C., Petrucci R., Cenci G., Vernì F., Fasulo B., Goldberg M.L., Di Cunto F., Gatti M. Identification of Drosophila mitotic genes by combining co-expression analysis and RNA interference. PLoS Genet., 2008, 4: e1000126.

 

6. Bucciarelli E.*, Giansanti M.G., Bonaccorsi S., Gatti M. Drosophila SPD-2 is an essential centriole component required for PCM recruitment and astral-microtubule nucleation. Curr Biol., 2008, 18: 303-9.

 

7. Bucciarelli E.*, Giansanti M.G., Bonaccorsi S., Gatti M. Spindle assembly and cytokinesis in the absence of chromosomes during Drosophila male meiosis. J. Cell Biol., 2003, 160: 993-9. 

Comment in J. Cell Biol. 160:989-990.

 

8. Giansanti M.G., Bonaccorsi S., Bucciarelli E., Gatti M. Drosophila male meiosis as a model system for the study of cytokinesis in animal cells. Cell Struct Funct., 2001, 26: 609-17.

 

9. Pelliccia F., Barzotti R., Bucciarelli E., Rocchi A. 5S ribosomal and u1 small nuclear RNA genes: a new linkage type in the genome of a crustacean that has three different tandemly repeated units containing 5S ribosomal DNA sequences. Genome 2001, 44: 331-5.

 

10. Barzotti R., Pelliccia F., Bucciarelli E., Rocchi A. Organization, nucleotide sequence, and chromosomal mapping of a tandemly repeated unit containing the four core histone genes and a 5S rRNA gene in an isopod crustacean species. Genome 2000, 43: 341-5.

 

-within IBPM

Dr. Maria Patrizia Somma 

 

-with other institutions:

Maurizio Gatti, Dip. Biologia e Biotechnologie “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza

Silvia Bonaccorsi, Dip. Biologia e Biotechnologie “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza

Laura Fanti, Dip. Biologia e Biotechnologie “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza

Michael L. Goldberg, Dept. of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Cornell University

Ithaca, NY, USA