ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5065-143X
Current Organisation
Istituto per le Risorse Biologiche e le Biotecnologie Marine Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Sede Ancona
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-11-2021
DOI: 10.1186/S40850-021-00096-4
Abstract: The striped venus clam Chamelea gallina is an economically important species in Adriatic Sea fisheries. The use of hydraulic dredging for its catch has a long history in Italy and its management faced several stages of development in the last 40 years. A great effort has been made in the past two decades to move from poorly or weakly managed fisheries to a well-structured co-management system to improve the sustainability of this fishery. However, a prerequisite for appropriate resource management is a sound knowledge of the biology and reproductive strategy of the species. We investigated three major biological features– the gametogenic cycle, size at sexual maturity and partial fecundity – by microscopic, histological and video analysis techniques. We demonstrated that its breeding season is driven by rises in seawater temperature and chlorophyll-a concentration and that its spawning period lasted from March to September. Size at sexual maturity was reached very early in the life cycle. As regards partial fecundity – the number of mature oocytes potentially released by females with ripe gonads in a single release event – varied in relation to size. Nevertheless, the reduction on the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) from 25 to 22 mm (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/2237) lead to a 40% reduction in the number of emitted eggs. We suggest that the ability of Adriatic clam stocks to withstand the strong fishing pressure of the past 40 years and the present one is due to their high reproductive potential and multiple spawning events combined with the effect of management measures (closed areas/seasons, quota, MCRS) and technical constraints on the gear and the sieve on board. Moreover, since the reduced MCRS for Venus shells is still larger than the size at maturity, it will probably not be detrimental to the reproductive capacity of the stock.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 08-01-2022
DOI: 10.3390/JOF8010065
Abstract: Fungi are a ubiquitous component of marine systems, but their quantitative relevance, bio ersity and ecological role in benthic deep-sea ecosystems remain largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated fungal abundance, ersity and assemblage composition in two benthic deep-sea sites of the Ross Sea (Southern Ocean, Antarctica), characterized by different environmental conditions (i.e., temperature, salinity, trophic availability). Our results indicate that fungal abundance (estimated as the number of 18S rDNA copies g−1) varied by almost one order of magnitude between the two benthic sites, consistently with changes in sediment characteristics and trophic availability. The highest fungal richness (in terms of Amplicon Sequence Variants−ASVs) was encountered in the sediments characterized by the highest organic matter content, indicating potential control of trophic availability on fungal ersity. The composition of fungal assemblages was highly erse between sites and within each site (similarity less than 10%), suggesting that differences in environmental and ecological characteristics occurring even at a small spatial scale can promote high turnover ersity. Overall, this study provides new insights on the factors influencing the abundance and ersity of benthic deep-sea fungi inhabiting the Ross Sea, and also paves the way for a better understanding of the potential responses of benthic deep-sea fungi inhabiting Antarctic ecosystems in light of current and future climate changes.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2018
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 09-05-2022
DOI: 10.3390/MICROORGANISMS10050993
Abstract: The contamination of coastal marine sediments with heavy metals (HMs) is a widespread phenomenon that requires effective remediation actions. Bioremediation based on the use of bacteria is an economically and environmentally sustainable effective strategy for reducing HM contamination and/or toxicity in marine sediments. However, information on the efficiency of marine-derived fungi for HM decontamination of marine sediments is still largely lacking, despite evidence of the performance of terrestrial fungal strains on other contaminated matrixes (e.g., soils, freshwater sediments, industrial wastes). Here, we carried out for the first time an array of parallel laboratory experiments by using different combinations of chemical and microbial amendments (including acidophilic autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria, as well as filamentous marine fungi) for the bioremediation of highly HM-contaminated sediments of the Portman Bay (NW Mediterranean Sea), an area largely affected by long-term historical discharges of mine tailings. Our results indicate that the bioleaching performance of metals from the sediment is based on the addition of fungi (Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma sp.), either alone or in combination with autotrophic bacteria, was higher when compared to other treatments. In particular, fungal addition allowed obtaining bioleaching yields for As eight times higher than those by chemical treatments and double compared with the addition of bacteria alone. Moreover, in our study, the fungal addition was the only treatment allowing effective bioleaching of otherwise not mobile fractions of Zn and Cd, thus overtaking bacterial treatments. We found that the lower the sediment pH reached by the experimental conditions, as in the case of fungal addition, the higher the solubilization yield of metals, suggesting that the specific metabolic features of A. niger and Trichoderma sp. enable lowering sediment pH and enhance HM bioleaching. Overall, our findings indicate that fungi can be more effective than acidophilic autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria in HM bioleaching, and as such, their use can represent a promising and efficient strategy for the bioremediation of marine sediments highly contaminated with heavy metals.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 16-07-2019
DOI: 10.3390/D11070113
Abstract: Deep-sea hypersaline anoxic basins (DHABs) are one of the most hostile environments on Earth. Even though DHABs have hypersaline conditions, anoxia and high hydrostatic pressure, they host incredible microbial bio ersity. Among eukaryotes inhabiting these systems, recent studies demonstrated that fungi are a quantitatively relevant component. Here, fungi can benefit from the accumulation of large amounts of organic material. Marine fungi are also known to produce bioactive molecules. In particular, halophilic and halotolerant fungi are a reservoir of enzymes and secondary metabolites with valuable applications in industrial, pharmaceutical, and environmental biotechnology. Here we report that among the fungal taxa identified from the Mediterranean and Red Sea DHABs, halotolerant halophilic species belonging to the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium can be used or screened for enzymes and bioactive molecules. Fungi living in DHABs can extend our knowledge about the limits of life, and the discovery of new species and molecules from these environments can have high biotechnological potential.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-10-2020
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-05-2021
DOI: 10.3390/JOF7050391
Abstract: The Antarctic Ocean is one of the most remote and inaccessible environments on our planet and hosts potentially high bio ersity, being largely unexplored and undescribed. Fungi have key functions and unique physiological and morphological adaptations even in extreme conditions, from shallow habitats to deep-sea sediments. Here, we summarized information on ersity, the ecological role, and biotechnological potential of marine fungi in the coldest biome on Earth. This review also discloses the importance of boosting research on Antarctic fungi as hidden treasures of bio ersity and bioactive molecules to better understand their role in marine ecosystem functioning and their applications in different biotechnological fields.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2020
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 18-01-2023
DOI: 10.3390/D15020133
Abstract: Interactions between fishing and dolphins can be detrimental, since on one hand dolphins can be lethally entangled by nets and trawls, and on the other dolphins can predate fish caught by nets. For dolphins, this interaction can be dangerous as they can be wounded or accidentally killed for fishers, the predation of their catch results in economic losses due to reduced quantity and/or quality of catches and damage to fishing gear. During July and November 2020, we surveyed the “dolphin–fisheries conflict” through compiling 209 fisher interviews from nine locations in Italy and Croatia. Fishers mentioned the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) as the species primarily interacting with fishing, with the major issue being catch damage by predation. The interaction probability varied among gears and seasons, with some fishing activities (e.g., passive nets) more affected than others (e.g., bottom trawls), especially in terms of economic loss (1000–10,000 €/year on average). More than 70% of the fishers claimed that dolphin populations have increased over the last 10 years, in different degrees and based on different areas. Dolphin bycatch rates are generally low however, 34.6% of respondents reported having captured at least one dolphin during their career. The fishers’ attitude towards acoustic deterrents (“pingers”) as a mitigation measure revealed that few of them were aware of these devices or were using them.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 12-04-2017
DOI: 10.3390/MD15040118
Location: Italy
No related grants have been discovered for GIULIO BARONE.