Technician

Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology Department

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn,
Via Acton 55
80133 Naples – Italy

Tel.: 0815833322
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Skype: live:fpefortunato
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/fortunato-biotecnologo/

Curriculum Vitae

Supervisor: Donatella de Pascale
Appointed on project: SECRETED

Main Tasks and Research Interests

Responsible for the SZN Mass Spectrometry facility
Responsible for the Pharmaceutical and Cosmeceutical functional areas
Training and support for undergraduates, PhD students, and Post-docs
Instruction on laboratory equipment functioning for microbiology and chemistry laboratories
Technical and scientific support to research activities among several research projects

My research interest is mainly focused on the sustainable exploitation of marine microorganisms to identify and produce novel bioactive compounds (antimicrobials, antioxidants, anticancer, biosurfactants, siderophores and biopolymers) for several biotechnological applications. The idea is to induce the expression of silent Biosynthetic Gene Cluster (BGCs) of talented bacterial strains (e.g. Actinomycetota) by applying the OSMAC approach, Co-cultivation strategies in order to identify novel secondary metabolites, through the combination of microbiology, genomics and metabolomics

Selected Publications

Casella, V.; Della Sala, G.; Scarpato, S.; Buonocore, C.; Ragozzino, C.; Tedesco, P.; Coppola, D.; Vitale, G.A.; de Pascale, D.; Palma Esposito, F. Novel Insights into the Nobilamide Family from a Deep-Sea Bacillus: Chemical Diversity, Biosynthesis and Antimicrobial Activity Towards Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria. Mar. Drugs 2025, 23, 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/md23010041

Ragozzino, C. *, Palma Esposito, F. *, Buonocore, C., Tedesco, P., Coppola, D., Paccagnella, D. et al. (* Co-authors). Integrated genome and metabolome mining unveiled structure and biosynthesis of novel lipopeptides from a deep-sea Rhodococcus. Microbial Biotechnology, 17, 2024, e70011. https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.70011

Pietro Tedesco, Sergio Balzano, Daniela Coppola, Fortunato Palma Esposito, Donatella de Pascale, Renata Denaro. Bioremediation for the recovery of oil polluted marine environment, opportunities and challenges approaching the Blue Growth, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 200, 2024, 116157, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116157

Fortunato Palma Esposito, Vittoria Vecchiato, Carmine Buonocore, Pietro Tedesco, Brendon Noble, Pooja Basnett, Donatella de Pascale. Enhanced production of biobased, biodegradable, Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) using an unexplored marine bacterium Pseudohalocynthiibacter aestuariivivens, isolated from highly polluted coastal environment, Bioresource Technology, 368, 2023, 128287, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128287

Cavalletti, E.; Romano, G.; Palma Esposito, F.; Barra, L.; Chiaiese, P.; Balzano, S.; Sardo, A. Copper Effect on Microalgae: Toxicity and Bioremediation Strategies. Toxics 2022, 10, 527. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10090527

Giugliano R, Buonocore C, Zannella C, Chianese A, Palma Esposito F, Tedesco P, De Filippis A, Galdiero M, Franci G, de Pascale D. Antiviral Activity of the Rhamnolipids Mixture from the Antarctic Bacterium Pseudomonas gessardii M15 against Herpes Simplex Viruses and Coronaviruses. Pharmaceutics. 2021 Dec 8;13(12):2121. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13122121.

Palma Esposito, F.; Giugliano, R.; Della Sala, G.; Vitale, G. A.; Buonocore, C.; Ausuri, J.; Galasso, C.; Coppola, D.; Franci, G.; Galdiero, M.; de Pascale, D., Combining OSMAC Approach and Untargeted Metabolomics for the Identification of New Glycolipids with Potent Antiviral Activity Produced by a Marine Rhodococcus. 2021, 22, (16), 9055. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22169055

Coppola, D.; Lauritano, C.; Palma Esposito, F.; Riccio, G.; Rizzo, C.; de Pascale, D. Fish Waste: From Problem to Valuable Resource. Mar. Drugs 2021, 19, 116. https://doi.org/10.3390/md19020116

Vitale, G. A.; Sciarretta, M.; Palma Esposito, F.; January, G. G.; Giaccio, M.; Bunk, B.; Spröer, C.; Bajerski, F.; Power, D.; Festa, C.; Monti, M. C.; D'Auria, M. V.; de Pascale, D., Genomics-Metabolomics Profiling Disclosed Marine Vibrio spartinae 3.6 as a Producer of a New Branched Side Chain Prodigiosin. Journal of natural products 2020, 83, (5), 1495-1504. 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.9b01159

Tortorella, E*.; Tedesco, P*.; Palma Esposito, F*.; January, G*. G.; Fani, R.; Jaspars, M.; de Pascale, D., (* Co-authors). Antibiotics from Deep-Sea Microorganisms: Current Discoveries and Perspectives. Marine drugs 2018, 16, (10), 355. https://doi.org/10.3390/md16100355

Palma Esposito, F.; Ingham, C. J.; Hurtado-Ortiz, R.; Bizet, C.; Tasdemir, D.; de Pascale, D., Isolation by Miniaturized Culture Chip of an Antarctic bacterium Aequorivita sp. with antimicrobial and anthelmintic activity. Biotechnol Rep (Amst) 2018, 20, e00281-e00281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.btre.2018.e00281

Gnavi, G.; Palma Esposito, F.; Festa, C.; Poli, A.; Tedesco, P.; Fani, R.; Monti, M. C.; de Pascale, D.; D'Auria, M. V.; Varese, G. C., The antimicrobial potential of algicolous marine fungi for counteracting multidrug-resistant bacteria: phylogenetic diversity and chemical profiling. Research in microbiology 2016, 167, (6), 492-500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resmic.2016.04.009