My research interests are focused on the ecology, biology, and the population genetic structure of planktonic organisms. I am using genetic markers to study phytoplankton repartition in space and time, and compare genetic data to environmental factors in order to understand what shapes microbial communities.
During my PhD I investigated the population genetic structure and dynamic of a planktonic diatom species Pseudo-nitzschia-multistriata in the Gulf of Naples (Italy) using genetic markers (i.e. internal transcribed spacer rDNA regions and microsatellites). Those markers were also used to estimate how fast microsatellites can evolve in the field, using mating experiments and estimating mitotic changes that happened in culture.
At Lund University as part of the CAnMove project the goals of my Postdoc are to determine the diversity of microbial communities in several isolated lake of Antarctica, to determine their taxonomic composition and to identify the role of environmental factors (i.e. salinity) and lake-history (i.e. geographic distance and age-formation) on the community structure. To assess these goals I will use a metagenomic approach (i.e. 454 platform).
