Publications by authors named "Emma Saso"
The distributions of anthozoan corals are undercharacterized due to their wide bathymetric ranges, occurrences in remote locales, and difficulties of identification from morphology alone. Environmental DNA (eDNA) sequencing promises to be a noninvasive strategy to complement conventional approaches for mapping and monitoring the distribution and biodiversity of coral communities. Primers for eDNA metabarcoding have been designed to amplify nuclear and mitochondrial DNA barcodes in shallow scleractinians and mitochondrial in deep-sea octocorals.
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- Keratoisididae is a deep-sea family of octocorals with polyphyletic species and genera, identified using a three-gene-region phylogeny which outlined 12 major groups without clear intergroup relationships.
- New research using advanced phylogenomic techniques has analyzed 109 libraries of conserved genetic elements to clarify these relationships and presented two phylogenetic trees that align on deep nodes, revealing distinct clades within the family.
- The study also found that certain morphological markers are lacking in Keratoisididae, suggesting that further examination of subtle features, like sclerite microstructure and ornamentation, is necessary for better classification.
The dinoflagellate Karenia brevis causes harmful algal blooms commonly referred to as red tides that are prevalent along Florida's gulf coast. Severe blooms often cause fish kills, turbid water, and hypoxic events all of which can negatively impact local fisheries. The stone crab, Menippe mercenaria, is a ˜$25 million per year fishery that occurs primarily along Florida's gulf coast.
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