Senior Researcher
Integrative Marine Ecology Department
Tel. +39 081 5833268
Fax: +39 081 7641355
e-mail: mariella.ferrante(at)szn.it
ORCID 0000-0002-8102-8018
Research interests
Plankton plays a fundamental role in the transfer of matter and energy and therefore in the functioning of marine ecosystems.
Signal transduction mechanisms are very well defined in multicellular organisms and unicellular model systems, very little is known for marine phytoplankton. Yet, understanding how cells sense and integrate environmental signals is fundamental to explain population dynamics, community interactions and ultimately ecosystem functioning. Diatoms, among phytoplanktonic organisms, are one of the most important and abundant groups.
We study the molecular changes occurring in diatom cells upon reception external stimuli, such as changes in chemical cues produced during sexual reproduction or by grazers. We are also addressing questions related to the molecular and genetics controls of diatom life cycles and their impact on the regulation of growth.
To conduct these studies, it is essential to expand the molecular, genetic and genomic resources available for diatoms. To this end, we sequenced the genome of Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata (http://bioinfo.szn.it/pmultistriata/) and are contributing sequencing genomes and transcriptomes of several species. These resources are also being exploited to study the mechanisms of toxin production in the Pseudo-nitzschia genus. We use genome editing approaches to study gene function and for applied research.
The definition of mechanisms of communication and molecular pathways regulating growth has an impact in ecology, for understanding blooms, and for biotechnology, to obtain biomass. Thus, the research objectives of the laboratory are: i. study of the signals and controls modulating diatom growth, ii. diatom genome sequencing, iii. the exploitation of diatom genetic resources to study specific genes and to improve properties of these promising microalgae.
Selected Publications
- Santin, Anna; Russo, Monia; Croteau, Dany; Ruggiero, Antonella; Russo Spena, Sara; Morales de los Rios, Laura; Corratge-Faillie, Claire; Brignone, Seleem; Lacombe, Benoit; Sanges, Remo; Chiurazzi, Maurizio; d'Alcalà, Maurizio; Bailleul, Benjamin; Falciatore, Angela; Ferrante, Maria Immacolata*; Rogato, Alessandra*. NPF2 is involved in intracellular pH regulation and ion balance in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. 2026. New Phytologist. 10.1111/nph.71169.
- Gust Bilcke, Lucia Campese, Rossella Annunziata, Luz Amadei Martinez, Camilla Borgonuovo, Nadine Rijsdijk, Peter Chaerle, Koen Van den Berge, Sofie D'hondt, Daniele Iudicone, Marina Montresor, Maria Immacolata Ferrante#, Klaas Vandepoele#, Wim Vyverman#. Conserved genetic markers reveal widespread diatom sexual reproduction in the global ocean. 2025, 16:10029. Nature Communications. #shared last authorship doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-65296-9
- Svenja Mager, Francesco Manfellotto, Antonella Ruggiero, Viviana Di Tuccio, Federica Cerino, Stefano Accoroni, Tomohiro Nishimura, Marta Mikhno, Neri Fattorini, Timotej Turk Dermastia, Jasna Arapov, Sanda Skejic, Lesley Rhodes, Kirsty Smith, Antonio Longo, Caterina Manzari, Lisa Campbell, Graziano Pesole, Remo Sanges, Francesca Raffini, Maria Valeria Ruggiero, Monia Teresa Russo, Marina Montresor, Maria Immacolata Ferrante*. Genomic diversity in time and space in the toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata. Harmful Algae, 2025, 102791, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2024.102791.
- Rossella Annunziata*, Bruno Hay Mele, Pina Marotta, Massimiliano Volpe, Laura Entrambasaguas, Svenja Mager, Krzysztof Stec, Maurizio Ribera d’Alcalà, Remo Sanges, Giovanni Finazzi, Daniele Iudicone, Marina Montresor, Maria Immacolata Ferrante*. Trade-off between sex and growth in diatoms: molecular mechanisms and demographic implications. Science Advances 2022, 8(3):eabj9466. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abj9466.
- F. Manfellotto*, G.R. Stella, A. Falciatore, C. Brunet, M.I. Ferrante*. Engineering the Unicellular Alga Phaeodactylum tricornutum for Enhancing Carotenoid Production. Antioxidants 2020, 9 (8), 757. doi:10.3390/antiox9080757
- Cristina Maria Osuna-Cruz, Gust Bilcke, Emmelien Vancaester, Sam De Decker, Nicole Poulsen, Petra Bulankova, Bram Verhelst, Sien Audoor, Darja Stojanovova, Aikaterini Pargana, Monia Russo, Frederike Stock, Emilio Cirri, Georg Pohnert, Per Winge, Atle Bones, Gwenael Piganeu, Maria Immacolata Ferrante, Thomas Mock, Lieven Sterck, Koen Sabbe, Lieven De Veylder, Wim Vyverman and Klaas Vandepoele. The Seminavis robusta genome provides insights into the evolutionary adaptations of benthic diatoms. Nature Communications. 11:3320, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17191-8
- Russo MT, Vitale L, Entrambasaguas L, Anestis K, Fattorini N, Romano F, Minucci C, De Luca P, Biffali E, Vyverman W, Sanges R, Montresor M, Ferrante MI. MRP3 is a sex determining gene in the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata. Nature Communications 2018, 9:5050. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-0749.
- Amato A, Sabatino V, Nylund GM, Bergkvist J, Basu S, Andersson MX, Sanges R, Godhe A, Kiørboe T, Selander E, Ferrante MI. Grazer-induced transcriptomic and metabolomic response of the chain-forming diatom Skeletonema marinoi. The ISME Journal, 12, 1594–1604, 2018. DOI:10.1038/s41396-018-0094-0
- Basu S, Patil S, Mapleson D, Russo MT, Vitale L, Fevola C, Maumus F, Casotti R, Mock T, Caccamo M, Montresor M, Sanges R, Ferrante MI. Finding a partner in the ocean: molecular and evolutionary bases of the response to sexual cues in a planktonic diatom. New Phytologist. 2017. doi: 10.1111/nph.14557
- Mock T, Otillar RP, Strauss J, McMullan M, Paajanen P, Schmutz J, Salamov A, Sanges R, Toseland A, Ward BJ, Allen AE, Dupont CL, Frickenhaus S, Maumus F, Veluchamy A, Wu T, Barry KW, Falciatore A, Ferrante MI, Fortunato AE, Glöckner G, Gruber A, Hipkin R, Janech MG, Kroth PG, Leese F, Lindquist EA, Lyon BR, Martin J, Mayer C, Parker M, Quesneville H, Raymond JA, Uhlig C, Valas RE, Valentin KU, Worden AZ, Armbrust EV, Clark MD, Bowler C, Green BR, Moulton V, van Oosterhout C, Grigoriev IV. Evolutionary genomics of the cold- adapted diatom Fragilariopsis cylindrus. Nature. 2017. 541:536–540. doi: 10.1038/nature20803
