Alessandro Silvestre Gristina

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Personal Info

Name: Alessandro Silvestre Gristina

Date and Place of Birth: 21.03.1981, Palermo, Italy.

Address: Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), Division of Palermo, National Research Council (CNR), Corso Calatafimi, 414, 90129 Palermo (PA), Italy.

Tel: +39 091 6574578, Fax. +39 091 423424

E-mail: alessandro.gristina@ibbr.cnr.it

Main research interests:

• Conservation Biology

• Molecular Ecology

• Taxonomy, Genetics and Evolution

• Botanical survey and germplasm collection of plant genetic resources from wild and cultivated species

• Germplasm identification, characterization, evaluation

• Landscape analysis (vegetation description and mapping), environmental monitoring and management

• Environmental education

Work experience (from 2014 back to 2008)

Current position from December 2012

Research fellow at Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), Division of Palermo, National Research Council (CNR), Corso Calatafimi 414, 90129 Palermo Italy. Research field: germplasm collection, genetic and morphologic characterization, and conservation of wild and cultivated species in Sicily ( Vitis vinifera, Olea europaea, Capparis spinosa).

September 2013 - until now

Expert in agriculture in the framework of the PROJET CQ-037, " Creation d’une plateforme d’échange d’expérience et de mise en place des systèmes de diversification de la production agricole et de la certification des produits de qualité’ " ENPI Program 2007-2013.

May 2009 - until now

Botanist collaborator, naturalistic guide and environmental educator: lectures, excursions, laboratory for students. PALMA NANA S.C., Associazione Campojonathan, Palermo.

April - June 2013

Botanist collaborator for "Gruppi ricerca Ecologica (GRE)": Preliminary study on the Flora of "Grotta dei Puntali" Natural Reserve and vegetation mapping.

February - October 2012

Botanist collaborator of Forum Plinianum Association for Natura 2000 management plans in Basilicata (Italy).

Mars-May 2012

Expert in biology for PON C-3-FSE-2010-1843, Project VIVITALIA. Lectures on environmental law, marine and terrestrial flora and fauna.

Primary school Leonardo Da Vinci, Palermo.

April 2010- June 2011

Student supervisor for Master thesis in biology for Laboratory of Plant Ecology Biology Departement, University of Leuven, for Prof. Olivier Honnay. Research field: biology, genetics and conservation of rare endemic species in Sicily.

June 2010- November 2011

Botanist collaborator for Wilderness s.n.c Studi Ambientali: study on the flora and vegetation of a relict dune in Isola delle Femmine (Palermo), and environmental restoration and conservation.

August - October 2008

Botanist collaborator of Dott. Corrado Marcenò for Natura 2000 management plans in Sicily (Italy).

April - July 2008

Visiting researcher at Laboratory of Plant Ecology, University of Leuven (Belgium), supervisor Prof. Olivier Honnay Research field: orchid biology and population genetics.

November 2011 - February 2010

Collaborator of The Mediterranean Centre for Arts and Sciences (MCAS), Siracusa. Lecture on Ecology and phylogenesis of Mediterranean orchids, Orchids Pollination Ecology.

October - November 2007

Botanist Collaborator for Natura 2000 sites cartography in Sicily (Italy). Agristudio s.r.l, Firenze.

Education and training

January 2008- December 2010

PhD in Mediterranean Agro-Ecosystems. Morphological and genetic characterization of Capparis spinosa populations in Sicliy. Department of Botany, Department of Environmental and territorial Agronomy, University of Palermo (Italy) Palermo; CNR - National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Plant Genetics ( today IBBR), Section of Palermo.

February 2009

Statistical workshop for multivariate analysis of ecological data, Prof. Micheal Greenacre and Prof. Raul Primicerio, Department of Environmental Science University of Parma (Italy).

October 2005 -October 2007

Master in Ecology and Biogeography: degree mark: 110/110 cum laude. Principal subjects: Botany, Ecology, Biogeography, Zoology, Geology, Physiology, Chemistry. Thesis: First contribution to the knowledge of flora and vegetation of El Rei Valley, Alentejo, Portugal. Landscape management conservation and development. University of Palermo (Italy).

October 2006- January 2007

Professional Practical Training course in Environmental Action and Intervention: study of flora and vegetation of Portugal; creation of environmental educational programme; naturalistic guide. G.A.I.A. Group of Environmental Action and Intervention, Faculty of Science and Technology, Lisbon (Portugal).

July 2006

Scientific guide for the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), Volcanology visitor centre of Stromboli

August 2003 - October 2003

Visiting student at the University of Gavle (Sweden), participation to the international course "Outdoor Education and Biology Studies", Arctic Ecology and Leadership Training; Ecology of the Baltic Sea and Boreal Forests.

September 2000- July 2005

Bachelor of Natural Sciences; degree mark: 110/110 cum laude. Principal subjects: Botany, Zoology, Ecology, Biogeography, Geology, Chemistry, Physics. Thesis: Flora and Vegetation of Tardara Valley (Sicily). University of Palermo (Italy)

September 1995-July 2000

Diploma di maturità classica. Principal subjects: Latin, ancient Greek, Philosophy, Art, History, Italian, Latin and ancient Greek literature, French, Mathematics, Physics, Biology and Chemistry. Liceo Classico Giovanni Meli, Palermo (Italy).

Mother tongue Italian

Other languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Other skills and competences: classic guitar musician, sommelier, winemaker.

Book Chapter

"Monte Sirino" pag. 55-82 in Sistemi ambientali e Rete Natura 2000 della Regione Basilicata Vol. 3, AA. VV. In press.

Posters presented at congress

Gristina A. S., Siragusa M., Carimi F., Garfì G., Fici S. 2009. Preliminary results on ISSR characterization of Capparis spinosa L. in Sicily. Atti 104° Congresso Società Botanica Italiana, Campobasso, 16-19 sett. 2009. Riassunti p. 95

Gristina A. S., Marcenò C. 2009. Dati preliminari sulle fitocenosi acquatiche rinvenute all’interno del SIC “Boschi di Granza” (Sicilia centro-occidentale). Atti 104° Congresso Società Botanica Italiana, Campobasso, 16-19 sett. 2009. Riassunti p. 293

Gristina A. S., Mekers T., Boven L., Honnay O. 2009. Habitat fragmentation and pollinator limitation in Dactylorhiza incarnata (L.) soó. Incontro dei dottorandi in ecologia, Parma, 23-25 febb. 2009.

Gristina A.S., Marcenò C., Tomasello S.. L’utilizzo degli indici di bioindicazione di Ellenberg nello studio della vegetazione e nell’analisi dei gradienti ecologici. 103° Congresso Nazionale della Società Botanica Italiana. Facoltà di Agraria, Università“Mediterranea” di Reggio Calabria 17-19 Settembre 2008. Riassunti p.225

Marcenò C., Marcenò C., Tomasello S. &Gristina A.S.. L’ erbario personale di Cosimo Marcenó: un contributo alla conoscenza della flora siciliana. 103° Congresso Nazionale della Società Botanica Italiana. Facoltà di Agraria, Università“Mediterranea” di Reggio Calabria 17-19 Settembre 2008. Riassunti p.320

Marcenò C., Gristina A.S. Scuderi L.. Nuovi dati distributivi relativi a specie di particolare interesse rinvenute lungo il Bacino del Belice e in aree limitrofe. 102° Congresso Nazionale della Società Botanica Italiana. Orto Botanico, Università di Palermo 26-29 Settembre 2007

Publications

Gristina A. S., Fici S., Siragusa M., Fontana I., Garfì G., Carimi F., 2014.Hybridization in Capparis spinosa L.: molecular and morphological evidence from a Mediterranean island complex. Flora 209, pp 733-741

K. Vandepitte, A. S. Gristina, C. Marcenò, S. Sciandrello & O. Honnay, 2013. Conservation genetics of an endemic from the Mediterranean Basin: high genetic differentiation but no genetic diversity loss from the last populations of the Sicilian Grape Hyacinth Leopoldia gussonei. Conservation Genetics 14, pp 963-972.

K. Vandepitte, A. S. Gristina, K. De H Ert, T. Meekers, I. Roldan-Ruiz & O. Honnay, 2012. Recolonization after habitat restoration leads to decreased genetic variation in populations of a terrestrial orchid. Molecular Ecology, 21, pp 4206-4215.

La Rosa A., Gristina A.S., Romano S., 2011- Segnalazione per la flora siciliana di Trifolium ornithopodioides L. (Fabaceae) e revisione della sua area di distribuzione. Informatore Botanico Italiano 43, pp 81-84.

Marcenò C. & Gristina A.S. 2010 - Su Chaenorhinum rubrifolium (Robill & Castagne ex DC.) Fourr. ssp. Rubrifolium specie nuova per la flora siciliana e sull’ ecologia e distribuzione del genere Chaenorhinum in sicilia- Naturalista Siciliano IV, XXXIV (3-4), 2010, pp. 477-485

Gristina A.S., Marcenò C. 2008. Gli indici di bioindicazione di Pignatti-Ellenberg nello studio floristico-vegetazionale del promontorio di Capo Zafferano (Sicilia nord-occidentale). Naturalista siciliano, S. IV, XXXII (1-2), 2008, pp. 61-96

Selected Publications

(full list available at CNR People)

Propagation of Calendula maritima Guss. (Asteraceae) through biotechnological techniques for possible usage in phytotherapy

Catalano C, Abbate L, Carimi F, Carra A, Gristina AS, Motisi A, Pasta S, Garfì G

Year: 2022

IDPlanT: the Italian database of plant translocation

Abeli T, D’agostino M, Orsenigo S, Bartolucci F, Accogli R, Albani Rocchetti G, Alessandrelli C, Amadori A, Amato F, Angiolini C, Assini S, Bacchetta G, Banfi E, Bonini I, Bonito A, Borettini ML, Brancaleoni L, Brusa G, Buldrini F, Carruggio F, Carta A, Castagnini P, Cerabolini BE, Ceriani RM, Ciaschetti G, Citterio S, Clementi U, Cogoni D, Congiu A, Conti F, Crescente MF, Crosti R, Cuena A, D’antraccoli M, Dallai D, De Andreis R, Deidda A, Dessì C, De Vitis M, Di Cecco V, Di Cecco M, Di Giustino A, Di Martino L, Di Noto G, Domina G, Fabrini G, Farris E, Fiorentin R, Foggi B, Forte L, Galasso G, Garfì G, Gentile C, Gentili R, Geraci A, Gerdol R, Gheza G, Giusso del Galdo G, Gratani L, La Placa G, Landi M, Loi T, Luzzaro A, Alfredo M, Magnani C, Magrini S, Mantino F, Mariotti MG, Martinelli V, Mastrullo S, Medagli P, Minuto L, Nonis D, Palumbo ME, Paoli L, Pasta S, Peruzzi L, Pierce S, Pinna MS, Rainini F, Ravera S, Rossi G, Sanna N, Santini C, Sau S, Schettino A, Schicchi R, Sciandrello S, Sgarbi E, Gristina AS, Troia A, Varone L, Villa M, Zappa E, Fenu G

Year: 2021

Translocation to prevent extinction in face of global change: the case of the sterile relict tree Zelkova sicula (Sicily, Italy)

Garfì G, Buord S, Carra A, Catalano C, Fazan L, Gautier C, Gristina AS, Livreri Console S, Motisi A, Perrotta G, Kozlowski G, Pasta S

Year: 2021

Translocation to prevent extinction in face of global change: the case of the sterile relict tree Zelkova sicula (Sicily, Italy)

Garfì G, Buord S, Carra A, Catalano C, Fazan L, Gautier C, Gristina AS, Livreri Console S, Motisi A, Perrotta G, Kozlowski G, Pasta S

Year: 2021

From glacial refugia to hydrological microrefugia: Factors and processes driving the persistence of the climate relict tree Zelkova sicula

Garfì G, Carimi F, Fazan L, Gristina AS, Kozlowski G, Livreri Console S, Motisi A, Pasta S

Year: 2021

Molecular analysis of the official Algerian olive collection highlighted a hotspot of biodiversity in the Central Mediterranean Basin

Haddad B, Gristina AS, Mercati F, Saadi AE, Aiter N, Martorana A, Sharaf A, Carimi F

Year: 2020

An updated checklist of the Sicilian native edible plants: preserving the traditional ecological knowledge of century-old agro-pastoral landscapes

Pasta S, La Rosa A, Garfì G, Marcenò C, Gristina AS, Carimi F, Guarino R

Year: 2020

Phylogenetic relationship among wild and cultivated grapevine in Sicily: a hotspot in the middle of the Mediterranean Basin

De Michele R, La Bella F, Gristina AS, Fontana I, Pacifico D, Garfi G, Motisi A, Crucitti D, Abbate L, Carimi F

Year: 2019

Transcriptome analysis and codominant markers development in caper, a drought tolerant orphan crop with medicinal value

Mercati F, Fontana I, Gristina AS, Martorana A, El Nagar M, De Michele R, Fici S, Carimi F

Year: 2019

Urgent need for preservation of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. subsp. vinifera) germplasm from small circum-Sicilian islands as revealed by SSR markers and traditional use investigations

Gristina AS, De Michele R, Garfì G, La Mantia T, Fontana I, Spinelli P, Motisi A, Carimi F

Year: 2017

In vitro propagation of the relict laperinne’s olive (Olea europaea L. subsp. Laperrinei)

Haddad B, Carra A, Saadi A, Haddad N, Mercati F, Gristina AS, Boukhalfa S, Djillali A, Carimi F

Year: 2017

Survey of viral infections in spontaneous grapevines from natural environments in Sicily

Pacifico D, Stigliano E, Sposito L, Spinelli P, Garfì G, Gristina AS, Fontana I, Carimi F

Year: 2015

Hybridization in Capparis spinosa L.: molecular and morphological evidence from a Mediterranean island complex

Gristina AS, Fici S, Siragusa M, Fontana I, Garfì G, Carimi F

Year: 2014