SABRINA SABATINI

Sabrina Sabatini
Associate Professor in Molecular Biology at the University of Rome Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
E-mail: sabrina.sabatini@uniroma1.it

The research work of Sabrina Sabatini is focused on the Arabidopsis root meristem as a model system and aims to clarify the fundamental processes that govern the division and differentiation processes of stem cells.

Education:
- 1993: M.Sc. degree in Biology cum laude, Sapienza University of Rome.
- 1998: Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Sapienza University of Rome.

Research Experience:
- 1998-2003: Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Utrecht (NL), Dpt. of Genetics and Cell Biology.
- 2003-2006, 2008: Contract professor at Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences faculty, Sapienza University of Rome.
- 2008-2012: Researcher at the Dpt. of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Sapienza University of Rome.
- 2012-present: Associate Professor at the Dpt. of Biology and Biotechnology, Sapienza University of Rome.

Scientific activities:

-1993-1998: Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Sapienza University of Rome.
-1998-2003: Research work as PostDoc in the laboratory of Prof. Ben Scheres, University of Utrecht (NL). EMBO long term fellowship.
Dal 2003: Career Development Award of the Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation of Harvard University (USA), Dpt. of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Sapienza University of Rome.
Teaching activities abroad:
2016 - present Lesson/seminars for the PhD school in PLANT DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, Retzbach, Germany.

2016 - present Lesson/seminars for the PhD school in MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF PLANT DEVELOPMENT, Ghent University, Belgium.

2018 Invited to organize and deliver a course in ADVANCE TOPICS IN PLANT GENETICS at the University of San Paulo (USP), Brazil.

Editorial Activities:
Editor - Plant Development for "Cell Reports" http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/editorial-board
Senior Editor - Plant Science for "Cogent Biology" https://www.cogentoa.com/journal/biology/editors
Advisory Editor for "Plant & Cell Phisiology" https://academic.oup.com/pcp/pages/Editorial_Board

Projects funded:

2003-2009: “Rientro dei Cervelli”, MIUR, D.M. 13 of 26.1.2001. Coordinator: 90.000 €. Project title: Ruolo dell'ormone auxina e citochininina durante lo sviluppo del meristema radicale di Arabidopsis. http://cervelli.cineca.it/index.php?pag=RC_FI

2003-2008: Career Development Award of the Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation. Coordinator: 750 .000 US $. Project title: Role of the hormone Cytokinin during Arabidopsis root development. http://www.armeniseharvard.org/cda/?lang=it

2009-2012: Grant Istituto Pasteur - Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti. Coordinator: 60.000€. Project title: To the root of organ growth: the control of root meristem activity in Arabidopsis.

Consolidator Grant, European Research Council (ERC) LS3 panel. Grant agreement no.: 260368. Coordinator: 1.500.000 €. Project title: To The Root Of Organ Growth: The Control Of Root Meristem Activity In Arabidopsis. Project acronym: ROMA.
https://erc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/document/file/erc_2010_stg_res...

2013-2015: Grant Istituto Pasteur- Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti. Coordinator: 60.000€. Project title: Size matters: the molecular mechanisms maintaining meristem size during root growth http://www.istitutopasteur.it/ricercatori

Fellowship and Awards:
- AccademiaNet member (http://www.academia-net.org/selection-criteria/) Outstanding women academics and scientists are nominated for the portal by our partners. Our scientific partner organisations have appointed high-ranking persons to the steering committee, which then agreed on a set of standards for all of the partners to use when nominating candidates for AcademiaNet.
- Europen Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) member
- Selected among the 100 most influential women for the economic and social development of our country. https://100esperte.it/search?id=140.

Best High Impact Publications:
1. Sabatini S., Beis D., Wolkenfelt H., Murfett J., Guilfoyle T., Malamy J., Benfey P., Leyser O., Bechtold N., Weisbeek, P. and Scheres, B. An Auxin-dependent distal organizer of pattern and polarity in the Arabidopsis root. Cell 99, 463-472, 1999. IF 36.6

2. Papi, M.*, Sabatini, S.*, Bouchez D., Camilleri C., Costantino P. and Vittorioso P. Identification and disruption of an Arabidopsis zinc finger gene controlling seed germination. Genes & Development 14, 28-33, 2000. *First co-authors. IF 12.6

3. Sabatini S., Heidstra R. and Scheres, B. Scarecrow is involved in positioning the stem cell niche in the Arabidopsis root meristem. Genes & Development 17, 354-358, 2003. IF 12.6

4. Dello Ioio R., Scaglia Linhares F., Scacchi E., Casamitjana-Martinez E., Heisdra R., Costantino P. and Sabatini S. Cytokinins determine Arabidopsis root-meristem size by controlling cell differentiation. Current Biology 17, 678-682, 2007. IF 9.5

5. Dello Ioio R., Nakamura K., Moubayidin L., Perilli S., Taniguchi M., Morita M.T., Aoyama T., Costantino P. and Sabatini S. A genetic framework for the control of cell division and differentiation in the root meristem. Science 322, 1380-84, 2008 IF 41.06

6. Moubayidin L, Di Mambro R, Sabatini S. Cytokinin-auxin crosstalk. Trends in Plant Science 14, 557-62, 2009. IF 12.3

7. Moubayidin, L., Perilli, S., Dello Ioio, R., Di Mambro, R., Costantino, P. and Sabatini, S. The rate of cell differentiation controls the Arabidopsis root meristem growth phase. Current Biology, 20, 1138–1143, 2010. IF 9.5

8. Aichinger E, Villar CB, Di Mambro R, Sabatini S, Köhler C. The CHD3 chromatin remodeler PICKLE and polycomb group proteins antagonistically regulate meristem activity in the Arabidopsis root. Plant Cell. 23, 1047-60, 2011. IF 8.6

9. Perilli S., Di Mambro R., Sabatini S. Growth and development of the root apical meristem. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 5, 17-23, 2012. IF 8.5;

10. Dello Ioio R, Galinha C, Fletcher AG, Grigg SP, Molnar A, Willemsen V, Scheres B, Sabatini S, Baulcombe D, Maini PK, Tsiantis M. A PHABULOSA/cytokinin feedback loop controls root growth in Arabidopsis. Current Biology 22, 1699-704, 2012. IF 9.5

11. Moubayidin L, Di Mambro R, Sozzani R, Pacifici E, Salvi E, Terpstra I, Bao D, van Dijken A, Dello Ioio R, Perilli S, Ljung K, Benfey PN, Heidstra R, Costantino P, Sabatini S. Spatial coordination between stem cell activity and cell differentiation in the root meristem. Developmental Cell. 26, 405-15, 2013. IF 10.4;

12. Del Bianco M, Giustini L, Sabatini S. Spatiotemporal changes in the role of cytokinin during root development. New Phytologist, 199, 324-338, 2013. IF 7.4;

13. Perilli S, Perez-Perez JM, Di Mambro R, Peris CL, Díaz-Triviño S, Del Bianco M, Pierdonati E, Moubayidin L, Cruz-Ramírez A, Costantino P, Scheres B, Sabatini S. RETINOBLASTOMA-RELATED protein stimulates cell differentiation in the Arabidopsis root meristem by interacting with cytokinin signaling. Plant Cell 25, 4469-78, 2013. IF 9.6;

14. Heidstra R, Sabatini S. Plant and animal stem cells: similar yet different. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. 15, 301-12, 2014. IF 37.8;

15. Pacifici E, Polverari L, Sabatini S. Plant hormone cross-talk: the pivot of root growth. Journal of Experimental Botany 66, 1113-21, 2015. IF 5.7;

16. Franciosini A, Moubayidin L, Du K, Matari NH, Boccaccini A, Butera S, Vittorioso P, Sabatini S, Jenik PD, Costantino P, Serino G. The COP9 SIGNALOSOME is required for postembryonic meristem maintenance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Molecular Plant 8, 1623-34, 2015. IF 7.1;

17. Di Mambro R., de Ruvo M., Pacifici E., Salvi E., Sozzani R., Benfey P., Bush W., Ljung K., Di Paola L, Maree L., Grieneisen V., Costantino P., Sabatini S. An auxin minimum triggers the developmental switch from cell division to cell differentiation in the Arabidopsis root. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017;114:E7641-E7649 IF 9.7;

18. Di Ruocco G, Bertolotti G, Pacifici E, Polverari L, Tsiantis M, Sabatini S, Costantino P, Dello Ioio R. Differential spatial distribution of miR165/6 determines variability in plant root anatomy. Development. 2018;145(1). doi:10.1242/dev.153858. IF 6.3;

19. Pacifici E, Di Mambro R, Dello Ioio R, Costantino P, Sabatini S. Acidic cell elongation drives cell differentiation in the Arabidopsis root. EMBO J. 2018 15;37(16). pii: e99134. doi: 10.15252/embj.201899134. IF 10.6;

20. Di Mambro R, Svolacchia N, Dello Ioio R, Pierdonati E, Salvi E, Pedrazzini E, Vitale A, Perilli S, Sozzani R, Benfey PN, Busch W, Costantino P, Sabatini S. The Lateral Root Cap Acts as an Auxin Sink that Controls Meristem Size. Curr Biol. 2019;29(7):1199-1205.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.022. IF 9.2;

21. Barrera-Rojas CH, Rocha GHB, Polverari L, Brito DAP, Batista DS, Notini MM, da Cruz ACF, Morea EGO, Sabatini S, Otoni WC, Nogueira FTS. miR156-targeted SPL10 controls root meristem activity and root-derived de novo shoot regeneration via cytokinin responses. J Exp Bot. 2019 Oct 23. pii: erz475. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erz475. IF 6.3.

Books Chapters

Serino G., Costantino P. and Sabatini S. “Piante transgeniche”. In “Biologia Molecolare”. G. Melino, G. Ciliberto editors. SEU, Roma. 2006

Perilli S. and Sabatini S., “Analysis of root meristem size development” in “Methods Mol Biol.”. 2010;655:177-87.

Perilli S., Moubayidin L. and Sabatini S. (2011) “Molecular basis of cytokinin action during root development" in “Plant Roots: The Hidden Half” 4th Edition. 2016

Di Mambro R, Sabatini S. Developmental Analysis of Arabidopsis Root Meristem. Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1761:33-45. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7747-5_3.