MARTINO MARIA ELENA

Curriculum Vitae
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Family name, First name: Martino, Maria Elena
Researcher ID: R-5272-2018
SCOPUS ID: 45561423600
ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2939-0375
Google scholar page: https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=d87GB34AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra
Date of birth: 05/05/1986
Nationality: Italian

• EDUCATION
2013 PhD in Veterinary Science, Department of Public Health and Veterinary Hygiene University of Padua, Italy. Supervisor: Prof. Barbara Cardazzo
2012 PhD internship, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, UK. Supervisor: Prof. Eward J. Feil
2009 Master Degree of Biotechnology, University of Padua, Italy (final mark 110/110 cum laude).
2007 Bachelor Degree of Biotechnology, University of Padua, Italy (final mark 108/110).

• CURRENT POSITIONS
2018 – Present Associate Professor, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Italy

• PREVIOUS POSITIONS
2014 – 2017 Postdoctoral researcher, Laboratory of Integrative Physiology of Host-Microbe Interactions, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon (IGFL), École normale supérieure (ENS) de Lyon, CNRS, Lyon, France.
2013 Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Public Health and Veterinary Hygiene, University of Padua, Italy.
2008 –2009 Contract of employment project, Department of Public Health and Veterinary Hygiene, University of Padua, Italy.

• PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
2016 Laboratory Management Course – EMBO Course, Heidelberg/ Germany

• FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
2018 – 2021 Prize for Young Researchers “Rita Levi Montalcini”, Ministry of Education, University and Research, Italy
2018 PeerJ Award for Best Talk – Conference: Microbial Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal
2015 – 2017 Marie Skłodowska Curie Individual Fellowship (IF), Program Horizon 2020, Institute of Functional Genomics of Lyon (IGFL), CNRS, France
2012 “Fondazione Ing. Aldo Gini” scholarship awarded by the University of Padua, Italy, receiving a six-month internship at the University of Bath, UK.

• GRANTS
2022 – present Progetto di Eccellenza Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio Padova e Rovigo “Priming Manila Clams Against Multiple Stressors” – Role: Work Package Leader.
2018 – 2022 Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research, Programme “Rita Levi Montalcini for young researchers” (213.173€)
2018 – 2021 Supporting TAlent in ReSearch - STARS Grant Program, University of Padua, Italy (167.000€)
2018 – 2021 Visiting Programme Grant, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo, Italy (31.900€)




• SUPERVISION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
2018 – Present: 2 Postdoctoral researchers (Nuno Filipe Da Silva Soares, Andrea Quagliariello)
2 Research assistants (Elisa Maritan, Gabriel Innocenti)
1 PhD student (Marialaura Gallo) and 10 Graduate students
Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua,Italy
2014 – 2017: 3 Graduate Students, Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon (IGFL), France
2012: 2 Graduate Students, Department of Biology, University of Bath, UK
2009 – 2013: 9 Graduate Students, Department of Public Health, University of Padua, Italy.

• TEACHING ACTIVITIES
2023 – Teacher - Principi Di Bioinformatica E Genomica Microbica (BIO/19), Bachelor Degree Course: Biotechnologies, University of Padua, Italy.
2022 – Present Teacher - Interactions between nutrients, host and microbiota (BIO/19), Master Degree Course: Biotechnologies for Food Science, University of Padua, Italy.
2022 – Present Teacher – Genetics and Molecular Biology of Agrifood Products, Master Degree Course: Biotechnologies for Food Science, University of Padua, Italy.
2019 – 2022 Teacher – Laboratory of Advanced DNA, RNA, Protein analyses, Master Degree Course: Biotechnologies for Food Science, University of Padua, Italy.
2018 – 2019 Teacher – Microbiologia Degli Alimenti, Sistemi Di Produzione E Igiene E Controllo Delle Filiere Alimentari, Master Degree Course: Biotecnologie per l’Alimentazione, University of Padua, Italy.
2018 – 2019 Teacher – Food Microbial Biotechnology, Master Degree Course: Biotechnologies for Food Science, University of Padua, Italy.
2016 Teaching assistant – Next-Generation Sequencing Metagenomics, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France
2012 Teaching assistant – Bioinformatics in bacteria evolution studies, University of Padua, Italy
2011 Teaching assistant – Molecular Biology Laboratory, University of Padua, Italy.

• PRESENTATION AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
2010 – Present Participation to 22 International Conferences (14 Oral and 8 Poster presentations)

• INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
2022 – Present: Member of Budget Committee, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Italy.
2019 – Present: Member of Degree Committee, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Italy.
2019 – Present: DOCTORAL COLLEGE, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Italy.
2011 Graduate Student Advisor, University of Padua, Italy.

• EDITORIAL AND REVIEWING ACTIVITIES
2020 – 2022 Guest Editor Frontiers in Microbiology – Research Topic: Eco-Evolutionary Processes within Microbial Communities
2016 – 2017 Guest Editor Current Opinion in Microbiology – Section Microbiota, Elsevier
2013 – Present Reviewer of several scientific articles for Applied and Environmental Microbiology, PLOS One, Environmental Microbiology, Frontiers in Microbiology, mBIO.

• MEMBERSHIPS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES
2014 – Present Supporting Member, American Society for Microbiology (ASM).



• PARTICIPATION TO RESEARCH PROJECTS AND MAJOR COLLABORATIONS
2017 – present Prof. Vera Bunesova (Czech University of Life Sciences, Czech Republic) to develop a molecular and ecological approach to analyse the evolution of Bifidobacterium animalis species
2017 – present Prof. Chase Beisel (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Würzburg, Germany) to develop CRISPR/Cas9 strategy to genetically modify Lactobacillus plantarum
2013 Participation to Research Project: “PAN Lab – Tipizzazione molecolare batterica” - Responsabile Scientifico: Barbara Cardazzo
2012 – 2014 Prof. Mark Liles (Auburn University, Alabama, USA) to study the ecology and evolution of Aeromonas hydrophila
2012 Dr. David Verner-Jeffreys (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Weymouth, UK) to study antimicrobial resistance in Aeromonas spp.
2011 Participation to Research Project: “Sviluppo e validazione di metodologie analitiche innovative per il rilevamento e la quantificazione di allergeni negli alimenti” – Responsabile Scientifico: Barbara Cardazzo

• CAREER BREAKS
01/2019 – 06/2019 Maternity leave, 4 weeks prior to the birth of my daughter Sofia in January 2019,
5 month full-time maternity leave, and 1 month part-time
08/2021 – 12/2021 Maternity leave, 1 week prior to the birth of my son Leonardo in July 2021,
5 month full-time maternity leave

• PUBLICATIONS
Book chapters
Martino M.E., Fasolato L., Cardazzo B.
“Aeromonas” in Encyclopedia of Food and Health. Edited by: Benjamin Caballero, Paul M. Finglas and Fidel Toldrá. Published by: Elsevier. 18 September 2015.

Research articles (*corresponding author)
1. Quagliariello A., Ramiro R.S., Couce A., Martino M.E.*. Editorial: Integrating multi-scale approaches for predicting microbiome ecology and evolution. (2022) Frontiers in Microbiology, 13 doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.1045045
2. Gallo M, Vento J, Joncour P, Quagliariello A, da Silva Soares N, Maritan E, Beisel C, Martino ME*. Beneficial commensal bacteria promote Drosophila growth by down-regulating the expression of peptidoglycan recognition proteins (2022) iScience 25, 104357, doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104357
3. Maritan E, Gallo M, Srutkovab D, Benadac O, Kofronovac O, Schwarzer M, Martino ME*. Gut microbe Lactiplantibacillus plantarum undergoes different evolutionary trajectories between insects and mammals (2022) in revision in BMC Biology
4. Quagliariello A, Innocenti G, Modi A, Zaro V, Caramelli D, Conati C, Oione D, Dellù E, Radina F, Belcastro MG, Mariotti V, Cristiani E, Martino ME, Muntoni I, Lari M. Ancient oral microbiome reveals gradual adaptation of prehistoric communities to Neolithic dietary shifts towards agriculture (2022) in revision in Nature communications
5. Innocenti G., Martino ME., Stellini E., di Fiore A., Quagliariello A. Assessing the influence of the Mediterranean diet on dental calculus microbiome composition: a pilot study (2022) in revision in Journal of Dental Research
6. da Costa WKA, Brandão LR, Martino ME, et al. Qualification of tropical fruit-derived Lactobacillus plantarum strains as potential probiotics acting on blood glucose and total cholesterol levels in Wistar rats. (2019) Food Research International. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2018.08.035
7. Leenay RT, Vento JM, Shah M, Martino ME, Leulier F, Beisel CL. Genome Editing with CRISPR-Cas9 in Lactobacillus plantarum Revealed That Editing Outcomes Can Vary Across Strains and Between Methods (2019) Biotechnology Journal. doi:10.1002/biot.201700583
8. Martino ME*, Joncour P, Leenay R, Gervais H, Shah M, Hughes S, Gillet B, Beisel C, Leulier F, Bacterial adaptation to diet is a key evolutionary force shaping Drosophila-Lactobacillus symbiosis (2018) Cell Host Microbe 24, 109–119
9. Milan, M., Carraro, L., Fariselli, P., Martino, M.E., Cavalieri, D., Vitali, F., Boffo, L., Patarnello, T., Bargelloni, L., Cardazzo, B. Microbiota and environmental stress: how pollution affects microbial communities in Manila clams. (2018) Aquatic Toxicology, 194, pp. 195-207. DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2017.11.019
10. Matos R, Schwarzer M, Gervais H, Courtin P, Joncour P, Gillet B, Ma D, Bulteau AL, Martino ME, Hughes S, Chapot-Chartier MP, Leulier L. (2017) D-Alanine esterification of teichoic acids contributes to Lactobacillus plantarum mediated Drosophila growth promotion upon chronic undernutrition. Nature Microbiology 2, pages1635–1647 (2017)
11. Duar R, Lin X, Zheng J, Martino ME, Grenier T, Pérez-Muñoz M, Leulier F, Ganzle M, Walter J. (2017) Lifestyles in transition: Evolution and natural history of the genus Lactobacillus. FEMS Microbiol Rev - DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fux030
12. Martino ME, Leulier F. (2017) Guest editorial: Microbiota: Microbiota and animal ecology, evolution and physiology: back to the future. Current Opinion in Microbiology, 38: pp. VIII-X
13. Martino ME, Ma D, Leulier F. (2017) Microbial influence on Drosophila biology. Current Opinion in Microbiology, 38: 165-170
14. Rahman LS, Carraro R, Cardazzo B, Carraro L, Boscolo Meneguolo D, Martino ME, Andreani NA, Bordin P, Mioni R, Novelli E, Balzan S, Fasolato L (2017) Molecular typing of Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains isolated from mollusks in the North Adriatic Sea Foodborne Pathog Dis – DOI: 10.1089/fpd.2016.2263
15. Martino ME*, Bayjanov JR, Caffrey BE, Wels M, Joncour P, Hughes S, Gillet B, Kleerebezem M, van Hijum SA, Leulier F. (2016) Nomadic lifestyle of Lactobacillus plantarum revealed by comparative genomics of 54 strains isolated from different habitats. Environmental Microbiology 18(12):4974-4989. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.13455
16. Fasolato L, Carraro L, Facco P, Cardazzo B, Balzan S, Taticchi A, Andreani NA, Montemurro F, Martino ME, Di Lecce G, Toschi TG, Novelli E. (2016) Agricultural by-products with bioactive effects: A multivariate approach to evaluate microbial and physicochemical changes in a fresh pork sausage enriched with phenolic compounds from olive vegetation water. Int J Food Microbiol. 2;228:34-43. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2016.04.003.
17. Schwarzer M, Makki K, Storelli S, Machuca-Gayet I, Srutkova D, Hermanova P, Martino ME, Balmand S, Hudcovic T, Heddi A, Rieusset J, Kozakova H, Vidal H., Leulier F. (2016) “Lactobacillus plantarum strain maintains growth of infant mice during chronic undernutrition” Science 351:854-7.
18. Martino ME*, Bayjanov JR, Joncour P, Hughes S, Gillet B, Kleerebezem M, Siezen R, van Hijum S, Leulier F*. (2015). Nearly Complete Genome Sequence of Lactobacillus plantarum Strain NIZO2877. Genome Announcements. 3(6):e01370–15.
19. Martino ME*, Bayjanov JR, Joncour P, Hughes S, Gillet B, Kleerebezem M, Siezen R, van Hijum S, Leulier F*. (2015). Resequencing of the Lactobacillus plantarum Strain WJL Genome. Genome Announcements. 3(6):e01382–15.
20. Andreani NA, Carraro L, Martino ME, Fondi M, Fasolato L, Miotto G, Magro M, Vianello F, Cardazzo B. (2015) “A genomic and transcriptomic approach to investigate the blue pigment phenotype in Pseudomonas fluorescens” International Journal of Food Microbiology doi: 10.1016.
21. Hossain MH, Sun D, McGarey DJ, Wrenn S, Alexander L, Martino ME, Xing Y, Terhune JS and Liles M. (2014) “An Asian origin of virulent Aeromonas hydrophila responsible for disease epidemics in United States-farmed catfish” mBIO, 5: e00848-14
22. Rahman M S, Martino ME*, Bordin P, Mioni R, Novelli E, Cardazzo B and Fasolato L. (2014) “Vibrio trends in the ecology of Venice lagoon” Applied and Environmental Microbiology doi: 10.1128/AEM.04133-13
23. Carraro L., Fasolato L., Montemurro F., Balzan S., Martino M.E., Servili M., Novelli E. And Cardazzo B. (2014) “Polyphenols from olive mill waste affect biofilm formation and motility in Escherichia coli K12” BMC Microbiology, doi:10.1111/1751-7915.12119
24. Andreani NA, Martino ME, Fasolato L, Carraro L, Montemurro F, Mioni R, Bordin P, and Cardazzo B. (2013) “Tracking the blue: a MLST approach to characterise the Pseudomonas fluorescens group” Food Microbiology 39:116-126.
25. Martino ME*, Fasolato L, Montemurro F, Carraro L, Novelli E, and Cardazzo B. (2013) “Aeromonas spp.: ubiquitous or specialised bugs?” Environmental Microbiology doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.12215.
26. Martino ME*, Bartolomeoli I, Maifreni M, Marino M, Fasolato L, and Cardazzo B. (2013) “Genotypic and phenotypic diversity of Pediococcus pentosaceus Strains Isolated from Food Matrices” – Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 103:1149-63.
27. Montemurro F., Martino M.E., De Pasquale F., Balzan S., Cardazzo B., Novelli E, Fasolato L. (2011) Isolation And Genotyping Of Aeromonas spp. In Ready-To-Eat Foods. Preliminary Results. Italian Journal of Food Safety. 1(2):39–42.
28. Martino ME*, Fasolato L*, Montemurro F, Rosteghin M, Manfrin A, Patarnello T, Novelli E, and Cardazzo B. (2011) “Determination of microbial diversity in Aeromonas strains based on Multilocus Sequence Typing, phenotype and presence of putative genes of virulence” Applied and Environmental Microbiology 77:4986-5000.
29. Carraro L., Maifreni M., Martino M. E., Novelli E., Frigo F., Marino M., and Cardazzo B. (2011) “Comparison of culture-dependent and -independent methods for bacterial community monitoring during Montasio cheese manufacturing” Research in Microbiology 162: 231-239

Granted Patents:
2017 “Lactobacillus strains promoting juvenile growth” Inventors: Leulier F., Martino M.E. Extension: PCT/FR2018/052070.
2016 “Lactic acid bacteria for the treatment of metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes”. Inventors: Leulier F., Storelli G., Martino M.E., Makki K., Reussiet J., Vidal H. Publication: WO2018104336A1.
2015 “Lactobacillus composition allowing the stimulation of human and animal juvenile growth in cases of malnutrition” Inventors: Leulier F., Storelli G., Schwarzer M., Martino M.E. Publication WO2015173386A1.

Invited presentations:
07/2019 Society of Experimental Biology Meeting (SEB) Conference - Sevilla, Spain
Invited talk: Evolution of host-microbe mutualism
06/2018 Metaorganisms, Microbial Biorefineries and Human Health Conference, Bologna, Italy
Invited talk: Evolution of host-microbe mutualism
09/2016 Colloque CNRS - Les Sciences du Vivant – French Parliament, Paris, France
Invited talk: L’être vivant dans son environnement (Living beings in the environment)
08/2016 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Seminar - Cambridge, Boston, USA
Invited talk: Investigating how symbiotic bacteria adapt to their niche
05/2016 University of Padua – Seminar – Padua, Italy
Invited talk: Investigating how symbiotic bacteria adapt to their niche

Early achievements track-record
Scientific achievements
I am a microbiologist interested in understanding the processes underpinning the ecology and evolution of bacteria. My main track records of research fall into the field of bacterial Eco-Evo where I used microbial genomics and bioinformatics to investigate the evolutionary roots of bacterial adaptation to new environments. During my PhD studies, I worked on understanding microbial ecology and evolution in different habitats and became particularly interested in the evolution of host-associated microbiomes. I thus joined François Leulier’s lab in Lynon (France), where I initiated a new research line aimed at disclosing how gut microbes promote animal growth through the study of microbial evolution. For this project, I was awarded a competitive Marie Skłodowska Curie Individual Fellowship to develop an experimental evolution model of Drosophila/Lactobacillus symbiosis, which led to the publication of my main post-doctoral paper in Cell Host and Microbe. The paper received community-wide recognition and has been covered by highlights in the website of the National Centre of Scientific Research in France (CNRS). In addition, during my postdoc, I participated in the deposition of three patents on the use of Lactobacilli probiotic strains to intervene on the treatment of metabolic diseases and on growth retardation syndromes.
In May 2018, I have obtained a tenure-track position at UNIPD. Here, I decided to establish my own research line focusing on studying the eco-evolutionary mechanisms driving host-microbiome assembly and function. In this light, I have been awarded three Grants (see Section “On-going Grants”) to build my own research team. As PI, I have initially focussed on understanding the mechanisms driving the emergence of host-microbe symbiosis, using fruit flies and mice as animal models. As a result of these works, we recently published/submitted two scientific papers where I am last and corresponding author.
Thanks to the award of the grants mentioned above, I have had a large degree of managerial, financial and scientific autonomy to develop my research. This is illustrated by the facts that I have secured my own funding, I have established my own collaborations and I have hired and managed a research group that includes 1 PhD student, 2 research assistants and 2 postdoctoral researchers. This shows that I already had the opportunity to coordinate personnel, manage risks, develop contingency plans and manage significant research budgets.
Recognition and diffusion of contributions
I have been co-Guest Editor for Current Opinion in Microbiology (Section Microbiota) and I am currently Guest Editor for Frontiers in Microbiology (Research Topic: Eco-Evolutionary dynamics within microbial communities). I have been invited to give seminars to international advanced schools, research institutes and to the French Parliament to talk about the role of microbiota in animal health.