Project Objectives
The central idea of this project is the investigation of coral microbiomes, mainly sampled in the Mediterranean Sea. Beyond this, microbiomes of other marine components (e.g., seawater, algae, mollusks) are studied.
General description
In the last 20 years, coral associated microbiomes emerged as an extremely important research field for their key role in the health-status of corals and their potential response to diseases and environmental changes. That is why, especially for the scarcely studied Mediterranean coral species, more research effort is needed. Most of the works that are included in this wide project analyse the bacterial and archaeal communities associated with coral species sampled along longitudinal and latitudinal gradients or specific habitats (Marine Protected Areas, polluted sites, deep coral reefs) in the Mediterranean Sea. Prokaryotic community structure is studied through the Illumina sequencing of the taxonomic marker gene 16S rRNA, and their potential roles played in the microbiome are reconstructed. Moreover, for some projects coral samples are subjected to specific treatments to observe potential changes in their microbiome that are observed also through other types of molecular and culture-based analyses, for example in the presence of diseases or plastic pollution.
Finally, other types of marine microbiomes are also studied, like the ones of symbionts present on corals (hydrozoans and mollusks), of coralline algae and of seawater collected in correspondence of mangrove forests in the Maldives or during cruises in the Mediterranean Sea.
Collaborators
- ENEA Lerici
- STAZIONE ZOOLOGICA ANTON DOHRN Genova
- MARHE CENTER Milano-Bicocca
- ONE OCEAN FOUNDATION
- SMITHSONIAN MARINE STATION Fort Pierce
- ISPRA Roma
- ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA Genova
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