Ph. D. Student
Integrative Marine Ecology Department
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Villa Comunale
80121 Napoli - Italia
Tel.: +39 081 5833XXX
Fax: +39 081 7641355
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Contatto Skype: alessiriccardi0
Director of Studies: Emanuela Dattolo
Internal Supervisor: Gabriele Procaccini
External Supervisor: Maria Luisa Chiusano
Advisor: Luca Ambrosino
Program: Open University, XXV cycle
Research Interests
Global warming and light pollution caused by human activities are among the major threats to biodiversity. Ecosystems are largely organized by natural (diurnal and annual) cycles of light and seasonal temperature’s variations that have remained stable on geological and thus evolutionary time scales.
Both, global warming and light pollution interfere with the biological rhythms of marine species, causing alterations in physiology and changes in species' distribution ranges.
In my previous studies, I performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis between two seagrass species (the marine plants Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa) to evaluate differences in environmental adaptation and heat stress response strategies among populations distributed along a latitudinal gradient.
In my PhD project I study the molecular basis of circadian rhythms and photoperiodic responses in marine plants. The endogenous circadian clock integrates cyclic signals from the environment with the metabolic processes occurring daily and seasonally allowing organisms to achieve a spatiotemporal synchronization, which greatly enhances genetic diversity and species fitness. This complex regulatory system is an evolutionary advantage that allows organisms to generate molecular and physiological responses even in the absence of external stimuli. The main objectives of my research are investigating transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of circadian clock-related genes and to define which metabolic pathways they control. To achieve these goals, I need to apply different experimental strategies and bioinformatic tools. These efforts will help predict how seagrasses cope and adapt to future environmental conditions.
