Publications by authors named "N A Ruocco"
Article Synopsis
- Secondary metabolites are compounds that help organisms defend against others or attract mates, and their production is influenced by evolutionary factors.
- This study focused on the ecotoxicological effects of extracts from three marine sponges and two benthic diatoms on marine organisms, specifically the Mediterranean purple sea urchin and other diatoms.
- Results indicated that while unfertilized eggs showed some protection from harmful sponge compounds, treatments with sponge extracts had significant negative effects post-fertilization, and diatom extracts led to increased malformations in both pre- and post-fertilization stages.
Marine sponges represent a good source of natural metabolites for biotechnological applications in the pharmacological, cosmeceutical, and nutraceutical fields. In the present work, we analyzed the biotechnological potential of the alien species () de Weerdt, de Kluijver & Gomez, 1999, previously collected in the Mediterranean Sea (Faro Lake, Sicily). The bioactivity and chemical content of this species has never been investigated, and information in the literature on its Caribbean counterpart is scarce.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Mediterranean purple sea urchin (Lamarck 1816) is a remarkable model system for molecular, evolutionary and cell biology studies, particularly in the field of developmental biology. We sequenced the genome, performed a assembly, and analysed the assembly content. The genome of was sequenced using Illumina NextSeq 500 System (Illumina) in a 2 × 150 paired-end format.
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- The oceans, covering over 70% of Earth, are rich in biodiversity, with sponges acting as vital ecosystem engineers that provide habitats and bioactive compounds.
- A study utilized metataxonomic techniques to analyze bacterial communities in sponges collected from Faro Lake and Porto Paone, employing molecular markers for sponge identification.
- The analysis discovered a variety of bacterial classes, including several first-time findings, and highlighted that certain sponge species hosted specific bacteria previously associated mainly with soil and plants.
Cell death is physiologically induced by specific mediators. However, our power to trigger the process in selected cells is quite limited. The protandric shrimp offers a possible answer.
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