Research Fellowship
Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology Department
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn,
Villa Comunale
80121 Napoli - Italia
Tel.: 0815833270
e-mail: fortunato.palmaesposito(at)szn.it
Skype: live:fpefortunato
Supervisor: Donatella de Pascale
Appointed on project: SECRETED
Research Intersts
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) for several biotechnological applications. The workflow covers and optimise all the steps of a bio-discovery pipeline involving: the collection of environmental samples, the isolation of microorganisms applying innovative approaches, the prioritization of those strains integrating genomic insights and functional screening, cultivation (micro and lab-scale), the extraction of metabolites, dereplication by High Resolution Mass Spectrometry and final purification and identification of active molecules. However, the high rediscovery rate of already known metabolites, could turn the biodiscovery process into a waste of resources. My research idea is to induce the expression of silent Biosynthetic Gene Cluster (BGCs) of talented bacterial strains (e.g. Actionobacteria) by applying the OSMAC approach, Co-cultivation strategies and genome mining, in order to identify novel metabolites. The combination of microbiology, genomics and metabolomics together with collaborations and networking with other European labs will allow to achieve this goal.
Selected Publications
Di Cesare Mannelli, L. *, Palma Esposito, F. *, et al., (* Co-authors). Pharmacological Activities of Extracts and Compounds Isolated from Mediterranean Sponge Sources. Pharmaceuticals 2021, 14(12), 1329.
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.
Ausuri, J.; Vitale, G. A.; Coppola, D.; Palma Esposito, F.; Buonocore, C.; de Pascale, D., Assessment of the Degradation Potential and Genomic Insights towards Phenanthrene by Dietzia psychralcaliphila JI1D. Microorganisms 2021, 9, (6).
Tedesco, P.; Palma Esposito, F.; Masino, A.; Vitale, G. A.; Tortorella, E.; Poli, A.; Nicolaus, B.; van Zyl, L. J.; Trindade, M.; de Pascale, D., Isolation and Characterization of Strain Exiguobacterium sp. KRL4, a Producer of Bioactive Secondary Metabolites from a Tibetan Glacier. Microorganisms 2021, 9, (5).
Coppola, D.; Lauritano, C.; Palma Esposito, F.; Riccio, G.; Rizzo, C.; de Pascale, D., Fish Waste: From Problem to Valuable Resource. 2021, 19, (2), 116.
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.
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.
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.
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.
