Ferruccio Ritossa

Italian geneticist (1936–2014)

Ferruccio Ritossa

Born| (1936-02-26)February 26, 1936

Pinguente, Istria

Died| January 9, 2014(2014-01-09) (aged 77)
Known for| Discovery of the heat shock response
Scientific career
Fields| Genetics, molecular biology
Institutions| Istituto di Genetica e Biofisica, University of Bari, University of Bologna

Ferruccio Ritossa (February 26, 1936 – January 9, 2014) was an Italian geneticist best known for his discovery of the heat shock response in the model organism Drosophila (fruit flies).[1][2]

## Early life and education[edit]

Ritossa was born in the town of Pinguente in Istria in 1936, one of three sons. His father, a butcher, was killed in the foibe killings when Ritossa was a young child.[1][3] His mother moved the family to Italy and taught school in an orphanage, where her three children were also educated. Ritossa attended the University of Bologna to study agricultural sciences and graduated in 1958.[1] He became interested in genetics, particularly in then-emerging molecular studies of the field, and joined a newly established course in biophysics taught by Adriano Buzzati-Traverso at the University of Pavia, where Buzzati-Traverso had begun to establish Drosophila research and collections. Buzzati-Traverso founded a laboratory, now the Istituto di Genetica e Biofisica, in Naples and invited Ritossa to join him there.[1][4]

## Heat shock studies[edit]

Ritossa was interested in the newly emerging field of molecular genetics and began to study the polytene chromosomes found in Drosophila salivary glands. These chromosomes exhibit characteristic changes called "puffs" under certain conditions, now known to reflect activation of transcription.[1][2] As Ritossa later recalled,[5] an accidental change in the temperature of a laboratory incubator unexpectedly revealed a distinct "puffing" pattern, and in following up on this serendipitous discovery he found that RNA was reliably and rapidly produced in puffs induced by temperature, later described as "the first known environmental stress acting directly on gene activity".[1] The paper describing these observations was reportedly rejected by the high-impact scientific journal Nature[1] and eventually published in the journal Experientia in 1962.[6] The paper was not initially widely cited.[1][4] Its significance became more widely appreciated in the 1970s as new information emerged, particularly with the discovery of heat shock proteins reported in 1974[7] and the identification of heat-shock responses in other organisms, now recognized as a universal response.[1][4]

## Subsequent career[edit]

Ritossa spent several years working in the United States, first working with Robert von Borstel at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and later with Sol Spiegelman and Kim Atwood at the University of Illinois.[1] He returned to Italy to rejoin Buzzati-Traverso's laboratory institution in Naples and remained there till 1969, when he joined the faculty at the University of Bari. After 15 years he moved again to the University of Bologna, from which he retired in the 1990s.[1] Although he was for some time better known for his work on nucleic acid hybridization with Spiegelman and Atwood than for heat shock, growing interest in the field recognized his contributions, including through a 1982 meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory that was the first specifically on heat shock.[1][4] He was recognized with a medal by the Cell Stress Society International,[8] which now maintains an award for early-career scientists in his honor.[9]

## Retirement[edit]

After retiring from his faculty position, Ritossa moved to a farm near Dozza and became a sculptor.[1][4][8] He died on January 9, 2014.[1]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Capocci, Mauro; Santoro, M. Gabriella; Hightower, Lawrence E. (September 2014). "The life and times of Ferruccio Ritossa". Cell Stress and Chaperones. 19 (5): 599–604. doi:10.1007/s12192-014-0525-4. PMC 4147064. PMID 25142515.
2. ^ a b Majno, Guido; Joris, Isabelle (2004). Cells, tissues, and disease : principles of general pathology (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 187\. ISBN 9780199748921.
3. ^ Capocci, Mauro (2016). "Ritossa, Ferruccio". Biographical Dictionary of Italians.
4. ^ a b c d e De Maio, Antonio; Santoro, M. Gabriella; Tanguay, Robert M.; Hightower, Lawrence E. (March 2012). "Ferruccio Ritossa's scientific legacy 50 years after his discovery of the heat shock response: a new view of biology, a new society, and a new journal". Cell Stress and Chaperones. 17 (2): 139–143. doi:10.1007/s12192-012-0320-z. PMC 3273555. PMID 22252402.
5. ^ Ritossa, F (June 1996). "Discovery of the heat shock response". Cell Stress & Chaperones. 1 (2): 97–8. PMC 248460. PMID 9222594.
6. ^ Ritossa, F. (December 1962). "A new puffing pattern induced by temperature shock and DNP in drosophila". Experientia. 18 (12): 571–573. doi:10.1007/BF02172188. S2CID 32525462.
7. ^ Tissiéres, Alfred; Mitchell, Herschel K.; Tracy, Ursula M. (April 1974). "Protein synthesis in salivary glands of Drosophila melanogaster: Relation to chromosome puffs". Journal of Molecular Biology. 84 (3): 389–398. doi:10.1016/0022-2836(74)90447-1. PMID 4219221.
8. ^ a b "Ferruccio Ritossa, Sculptor, CSSI Medalist & Distinguished Lifetime Member". CSSI. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
9. ^ "Ferruccio Ritossa Early Career Award". CSSI. Retrieved 16 January 2021.