Habitat Heterogeneity and Connectivity: Effects on the Planktonic Protist Community Structure at Two Adjacent Coastal Sites (the Lagoon and the Gulf of Venice, Northern Adriatic Sea, Italy) Revealed by Metabarcoding.

The Lagoon of Venice (LoV) and the Gulf of Venice (GoV), two adjacent coastal Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites in the northern Adriatic Sea, represent a transitional/marine coupled ecosystem under the influence of regional and local factors. In this study, these sites were sampled on four dates from April 2016 to February 2017 for environmental DNA and relevant abiotic variables, aiming to assess the relative importance of habitat heterogeneity and connectivity in structuring the protist community. High Throughput Sequencing of V4-18S rRNA gene from 56 samples collected at seven stations produced ca 6 million reads, grouped into 7,336 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) at 97% similarity, which were affiliated to protists belonging to 34 taxonomic groups.

Preliminary Results On the Efficacy of Macroalgal Extracts Against Larvae of Aedes albopictus.

Activity of ethanolic extracts of the algae Ulva rigida, Asparagopsis taxiformis, Dictyota dichotoma, and Cystoseira barbata, collected along Italian coasts, was tested against larvae of the Asian tiger mosquito ( Aedes albopictus), a vector of pathogens for animals and humans. Tests were carried out using 10 specimens of 3rd-stage larvae per test, following the World Health Organization standard protocol with minor modifications. Among algal extracts, only D.

Brown seaweed pigment as a dye source for photoelectrochemical solar cells.

Chlorophylls based-dyes obtained from seaweeds represent attractive alternatives to the expensive and polluting pyridil based Ru complexes because of their abundance in nature. Another important characteristic is that the algae do not subtract either cropland or agricultural water, therefore do not conflict with agro-food sector. This pigment shows a typical intense absorption in the UV/blue (Soret band) and a less intense band in the red/near IR (Q band) spectral regions and for these reasons appear very promising as sensitizer dyes for DSSC.