Biomarkers of environmental stress

Research Line: TA.P04.030.001 – Biophysics and molecular biology in the study of environmental processes
People: Elisabetta Morelli

The general objective of this research is the identification of cellular and molecular biomarkers in plant organisms (unicellular algae and higher plants) in response to exposure to environmental stress, in order to identify specific responses useful for the assessment of the ecotoxicological risk . Particular attention is devoted to the environmental impact of emerging pollutants, derived from nanotechnologies.

Keywords: marine phytoplankton, higher plants, nanoparticles, nano-plastics, heavy metals, biomarkers, antioxidant enzymatic activity.

The issues recently addressed concerned:

  • Impact of emerging pollutants, such as engineered nanoparticles, on the marine environment: ecotoxicology and interactions with phytoplankton.
  • Interactions between nanoplastics and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by marine unicellular algae.
  • Degradation of EPS by natural populations of marine heterotrophic bacteria.

• Identification of cellular and molecular biomarkers in plant organisms (unicellular algae and higher plants) in response to exposure to environmental stress: inhibition of the growth rate of algal cultures, antioxidant enzymatic activity, measurement of ROS, measurement of lipid peroxidation , induction of phytochelatins, cellular content of chlorophylls and carotenoids.

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