Research Fellow
Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms Department

Tel.: +39 
E-mail: mariavittoria.modica(at)szn.it
Skype: mvittoria.modica

Curriculum Vitae

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UPbpBzUAAAAJ&hl=it

ERC sectors - Environmental biology, ecology and evolution (LS8), Integrative biology: from genes and genomes to systems (LS2)

Settore scientifico-disciplinare - Zoologia (BIO/05)

Lab Members

Nocella Elisa

Research interests

My research addresses the diversity and evolution of marine invertebrates, mainly gastropod mollusks, with a multidisciplinary perspective integrating several fields and different experimental approaches.
In my research activity, the study of the taxonomy, systematics and phylogeny of these organisms is functional to the understanding of the historical and geographical patterns of marine biodiversity, but also provides a framework to investigate different aspects of evolutionary and functional biology. Among then, I am particularly interested in the impact of larval ecology on genetic connectivity and speciation mechanisms in gastropods, that include several pairs of sister species with divergent larval developmental modes.
Furthermore, I am interested in the evolution of molecular adaptations to trophic ecology, particularly in corallivorous, hematophagous and venomous organisms, and their impact on clades’ diversification patterns. More generally, I carry out a series of research and networking activities revolving around the characterization of the composition, activity and biotechnological potential of marine organisms, with a focus on neogastropod mollusks and deep-sea Mediterranean soft and hard corals.

Selected publications

von Reumont, B.M., Anderluh, G., Antunes, A., Ayvazyan, N., Beis, D., Caliskan, F., Crnković, A., Damm, M., Dutertre, S., Ellgaard, L., Gajski, G., German, H., Halassy, B., Hempel, B.-F., Hucho, T., Igci, N., Ikonomopoulou, M.P., Karbat, I., Klapa, M.I., Koludarov, I., Kool, J., Lüddecke, T., Ben Mansour, R., Modica, M.V., Moran, Y., Nalbantsoy, A., Pachón Ibáñez, M.E., Panagiotopoulos, A., Reuveny, E., Sánchez Céspedes, J., Sombke, A., Surm, J.M., Undheim, E.A.B., Verdes, A., & Zancolli, G. (2022). Modern venomics—Current insights, novel methods, and future perspectives in biological and applied animal venom research. GigaScience, 11, giac048.

Modica, M.V., Gorson, J., Fedosov, A.E., Malcolm, G., Terryn, Y., Puillandre, N., & Holford, M. (2020). Macroevolutionary analyses suggest environmental factors, not venom apparatus, play key role in Terebridae marine snails’ diversification. Systematic Biology, 69(3), 413-430.

Gerdol, M., Cervelli, M., Oliverio, M., & Modica, M.V. (2018). Piercing fishes: porin expansion and adaptation to hematophagy in the vampire snail Cumia reticulata. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35, 2654-2668.

Modica, M.V., Russini, V., Fassio, G., & Oliverio, M. (2017). Do larval types affect genetic connectivity at sea? Testing hypothesis in two sibling marine gastropods with contrasting larval development Marine Environmental Research, 127, 92-101.

Modica, M.V., Lombardo, F., Franchini, P., & Oliverio, M. (2015). The venomous cocktail of the vampire snail Colubraria reticulata. BMC Genomics, 16(11), 441.