At the laboratories of the ENEA Trisaia Research Center, researchers carried out isolation activities from different matrices (agri-food, agro-industrial, environmental, etc.) which led to the selection and cryopreservation of microbial isolates (bacteria, fungi, yeasts) with notable application potential in various sectors.
Over the years, microorganisms with antimicrobial activity have been isolated, capable of inhibiting the growth of plant rot agents and usable in biological control programs.
Yeasts for the production of bioethanol from different types of sugars (xylose, lactose, glucose, etc.) have been isolated and characterized.
From decomposing plant matrices, fungi capable of synthesizing ligno-cellulolytic enzymes have been isolated, which are widely used in the production of biofuels from waste materials or in the bio-remediation and detoxification processes of industrial matrices.
Screenings were carried out for the selection of microbial strains useful to produce bio-based molecules in the nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical sectors.
The collection also includes isolates of phytopathogenic bacteria and fungi responsible for serious plant diseases and capable of compromising the production and quality of crops.

The researchers of OU 12 belong to the Department for Sustainability and to the Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources.
OU 12 has specific skills in the biotechnological, phytopathological and microbiological sectors, both classical and molecular. It has advanced facilities in microbiology and fermentation and bioreaction systems, on a laboratory and pilot scale, installed in the Technological Hall of the "Agrobiopolis" Integrated Innovation Center of the ENEA CR of Trisaia.
The researchers are actively engaged in research activities funded by national and international projects: SIMBA “Sustainable Innovation of Microbiome Applications in the Food System” https://simbaproject.eu; the European research infrastructure METROFOOD https://www.metrofood.eu; the National Center for the development of new technologies in agriculture (AGRITECH); the ON-FOODS extended partnership “Research and Innovation Network on Food and Nutrition Sustainability, Safety and Security”; REVINE “Regenerative agricultural approaches to improve ecosystem services in Mediterranean vineyards” https://mel.cgiar.org/projects/revine; PNRR POR “Research and development of technologies for the hydrogen supply chain”

He completed his degree in Agricultural Sciences (with 'cum laude') in 1996 at the University of Bari (Italy), where he also completed his PhD in Plant Pathology. Since 2008, he is permanent researcher at the ENEA Trisaia. His current work activities concern the research and assessment of environmentally friendly means for control the plant disease both in the field and after the harvest (i.e., microbial antagonists, biomolecules, ozone, essential oil). He has gained extensive experience in the development of fermentation processes, on laboratory and pilot scale, to produce microorganisms of agro-industrial interest.
The research is documented by articles in journals of scientific interest and participation in conferences of national and international importance. He is coauthor of the Italian patent No. 0001374382 “Use of Aphanocladium album Preuss W. Gans as limiting parasitic alterations”.

Graduated cum laude in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technologies in 2004, she obtained a PhD in Plant Biology in 2009. Since 2012, she works as researcher at ENEA Trisaia Research Centre, in the Biotechnological Processes for Energy & Industry Lab - Division of Biorefineries and Green Chemistry- Department of Energy Technology & Renewables (TERIN-BBC-PBE). She has broad experience in the use of mass spectrometry for proteomic investigation. Her current research interests are mainly focused on the study of microorganisms involved in biomass deconstruction, bioconversion, and bioremediation, by applying omics approaches. 

Graduated in Biological Sciences, she works in ENEA Trisaia since 2003, in the Biotechnological Processes for Energy & Industry Lab - Division of Biorefineries and Green Chemistry - Department of Energy Technology & Renewables (TERIN-BBC-PBE). She has broad experience in molecular biology, functional genomics, transcriptomics, meta-genomics and bioinformatics. She is mainly focused on the characterization of key genes and pathways involved in secondary metabolism and in the production of relevant metabolites in plant and microbial systems.

Is a PhD in plant molecular biotechnology from the University of Verona. He is a researcher at ENEA (TERIN-BBC-PBE) with solid experience in plant functional genomics applied to the molecular characterization of plant photoperception, flowering, secondary metabolites biosynthesis (carotenoids, flavonoids, and rubber). Besides, his present activity is focused on environmental and bioreactor metagenomics and novel gene discovery. He is skilled on reverse genetics, DNA sequencing (1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd generation), plant and microbial molecular biology, photobiology, and bioinformatics.

Graduated in Biological Sciences, she obtained a PhD in Plant Biology. She is a permanent researcher at ENEA Trisaia Research Centre (IT) and works in the Biotechnological Processes for Energy & Industry Lab - Division of Biorefineries and Green Chemistry- Department of Energy Technology & Renewables (TERIN-BBC-PBE). She has a broad experience in plant and microbial molecular biology, genetic engineering, functional and structural genomics, metagenomics, metabarcoding, proteomics, in vitro plant tissue cultures.

Graduated in Environmental Sciences, since 2000 she is a researcher at the ENEA-Trisaia Research Center where she was involved in studies of interventions for the purification of surface waters and in execution of campaigns for the characterization of water bodies through chemical-physical, microbiological and ecological investigations. From 2003 to 2010 she was Head of the PROT-MICO Group "Development of Innovative Methods of Environmental Measurements and Controls". In 2013 she obtained the qualification of "Trained Taster" and "Panel Leader" in compliance with the ISO 8586/1 and ISO 8586/2 standards. Since 2017 he has gained skills in microbiological field aimed to evaluate the environmental aspects of fermentation processes, to analyze data obtained from microbial growth curves, to evaluate sterility and viability after downstream processes to determine the acceptability of the final product.

Is Professional Technician of Chemical Industries. He collaborated in the commissioning and currently works for the management and performance of the plant for agrifood Reference Materials and systems for their conservation. He has gained substantial operational experience with the various plant equipment, acquiring considerable ability in conducting tests and optimising processes. In particular, he has acquired the ability to: set up and perform complex phases (e.g., vacuum extraction and freeze drying); check the product specifications (e.g., water activity, particle sise); work with hardware and equipment management software; operation and management of systems and instruments (e.g., spray-dryer, falling film evaporator, industrial rotary evaporator, dryer belt, extraction unit for determining the VELP crude fiber content).

After his graduation in Biology, in 1998 he obtained a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He has had training experiences at various Italian and foreign institutions. Among these, in 1998 he was the recipient of an EU-BIOTECH Contract at the CNRS in Strasbourg (FR). On several occasions, he was hired has temporary Professor at different Italian Universities. He obtained the “Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale “ 2014-2023 in various disciplinary sectors including 05 / F1 and 05 / A2, as Full Professor.
He works as a Researcher at ENEA since 2000, where he has been mainly involved on the study of gene structure, gene expression and function in plants of agricultural interest. He is co-author of 64 articles (h-index = 30).

Is a research technician with qualified experience in microbiology applied to the development of fermentation processes for the production of metabolites and/or microorganisms of agro-industrial interest. He is hired at ENEA research centre of Trisaia in 2003, where he has gained substantial experience in operating the pilot bio-reaction and fermentation operational unit present in the hall-technological of the Agrobiopolis centre. In the frame of national and international projects, actively collaborates in achieving the implementation objectives by conducting experimental trials on both a laboratory and pilot scale. The research activities are documented by scientific articles and contributions to national and international conferences. He is co-author of the Italian patent application n. 102023000018729 filed on 12-09-2023 entitled “Extraction method of Torularhodin”