Researcher
Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms Department
Tel. +39 081 5833 653
E-mail: mariavittoria.modica(at)szn.it
Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=duDe9N4AAAAJ&hl=it
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2532-6763
PhD students: Simone Guerriero https://www.szn.it/index.php/it/personale/staff/1405-guerriero-simone/11528-guerriero-simone
Scholarship:
Giacomo Chiappa https://www.szn.it/index.php/it/personale/staff/1427-chiappa-giacomo/11656-chiappa-giacomo
Elisa Nocella https://www.szn.it/index.php/it/personale/staff/1009-nocella-elisa/11659-nocella-elisa-2
ERC Sector: LS8 Evoluzione ed Ecologia, LS2 Genetica e Genomica
Scientific-disciplinary sector BIO/05 Zoologia, BIO/11 Biologia Molecolare
Research interests
I am a zoologist interested in the evolutionary history of marine invertebrates and the mechanisms that generate biological diversity across multiple levels. My research adopts a multidisciplinary approach, integrating diverse fields and experimental methods. I use systematics and phylogeny as key frameworks to investigate the historical and biogeographical patterns of marine biodiversity, as well as to address broader questions in evolutionary and functional biology. My work focuses in particular on the evolution of adaptations linked to trophic ecology, especially in gastropods and cnidarians. In recent years, I have developed research and networking initiatives centered on the characterization of venom composition, activity, and biotechnological potential in marine organisms, with special attention to understudied lineages. I am also interested in the molecular basis of phenotypic plasticity in trophic adaptations.
Selected publications
1. Modica MV, Leone S, Gerdol M, Greco S, Aurelle D, Oliverio M, Fassio G, El Koulali K, Barrachina C, Dutertre S. 2025. The proteotranscriptomic characterization of venom in the white seafan Eunicella singularis elucidates the evolution of Octocorallia arsenal. Open Biology, 15250015
2. Nocella E, Fassio G, Zuccon D, Puillandre N, Modica MV, Oliverio M. 2024. From coral reefs into the abyss: the evolution of corallivory in the Coralliophilinae (Neogastropoda, Muricidae). Coral Reefs 43: 1285–1302 (2024).
3. Farhat S, Modica MV, Puillandre N. 2023. Whole genome duplication and gene evolution in the hyperdiverse venomous gastropods. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 40 (8): msad171
4. Modica MV, Gorson J, Fedosov A, Malcolm G, Terryn Y, Puillandre N, Holford M. 2020. Macroevolutionary analyses suggest that environmental factors, not venom apparatus, play key role in Terebridae marine snail diversification. Systematic Biology 69(3): 413-430
5. Gerdol M, Cervelli M, Oliverio M, Modica MV. 2019. Piercing fishes: porin expansion and adaptation to hematophagy in the vampire snail Cumia reticulata. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35(11): 2654–2668
I am a zoologist interested in the evolutionary history of marine invertebrates and the mechanisms that generate biological diversity across multiple levels. My research adopts a multidisciplinary approach, integrating diverse fields and experimental methods. I use systematics and phylogeny as key frameworks to investigate the historical and biogeographical patterns of marine biodiversity, as well as to address broader questions in evolutionary and functional biology. My work focuses in particular on the evolution of adaptations linked to trophic ecology, especially in gastropods and cnidarians. In recent years, I have developed research and networking initiatives centered on the characterization of venom composition, activity, and biotechnological potential in marine organisms, with special attention to understudied lineages. I am also interested in the molecular basis of phenotypic plasticity in trophic adaptations.
