Andrea Affuso 

Turtle Point

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn

For emergencies: 334 6424670
Tel. +39 081 5833602
e-mail: andrea.affuso(at)szn.it

Reference: Maria Costantini

The Laboratory of Marine Genomics and Epigenetics is aimed at developing novel approaches for the study of genomes of marine organisms by applying multidisciplinaty approaches.

It encompasses approaches for the study of epigenetic modifications to study the evolution of diversity and adaptative capabilities of organisms.

The Lab includes areas equipped for molecular biology and genomic and proteomic analysis.

Systems for experimentation

• Facilities for molecular analysis applied to the study of genomes of marine organisms.
• Systems for the morpho-functional characterization and genome analysis.

Analysis

• Genomic approaches to study genome organization in marine organisms.
• Transcriptomics.
• Genomic analysis of the functioning of marine organisms and systems.
• Gene expression (Real Time qPCR, Western Blot).
• Proteomic approaches to study epigenetic modifications (metilation, de-metilation, acetylation, histone and chromatine modifications, etc.).
• Proteomic approaches (antibodies) to identify epigenetic modifications induced by evolution and interaction of organisms with the environment.

Equipments

• Electrophoresis, DNA and proteins.
• PCRs including gradient.
• Scanners for micro-arrays and gene expression.

Head: Marina Montresor

Activities

The lab contains equipment and infrastructure used for the study of the functional and taxonomic diversity of marine plankton. In particular, in this laboratory analyses are carried out on the taxonomic and molecular diversity of plankton samples collected at the Long Term Ecological Research site MareChiara in the Gulf of Naples as well as elsewhere, in the frame of participation in regional and global projects. Experimental approaches focus on the physiology and life cycles of marine microalgae and on the feeding behaviour of zooplankton.

Systems for experimentation

• Light- and temperature-controlled walk-in incubator and incubators of different volume for in vivo experiments with phyto- and zooplankton.
• Optical system for video footage of zooplankton organisms.
• Plankton wheel for experimentation with phyto-, micro- and mesozooplankton.

Analysis

• Quantitative analysis of marine phytoplankton and zooplankton.
• Preparation of phytoplankton cultures and their morphological and molecular characterization.
• Phylogenetic analysis.
• "Metabarcode" analysis of marine plankton with Next Generation Sequencing approaches.

Instrumentation

• Stereoscopes and optical microscopes
• Microscope with epifluorescence illumination and digital cameras to take photographs and movies.
• Zooscan with related software.
• Camera System for video-registration of zooplankton movement.
• Area equipped for the isolation of cultures and experimentation (laminar flow hood, microscopes for cell isolation, fluorimeter).
• Molecular Laboratory equipped for DNA extraction, PCR, DNA electrophoresis, preparation for NGS sequencing.

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