Researcher
Integrative Marine Ecology Department
Genoa Marine Centre (GMC)
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn–National Institute of Marine Biology, Ecology and Biotechnology
Villa del Principe, Piazza del Principe 4, 16126 Genoa, Italy
Tel. +39 081 5833673
E-mail: ulisse.cardini(at)szn.it
Cardini Lab website: https://www.marinesymbiomes.eu
Google scholar: https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=kNRgrRUAAAAJ&hl
ERC sectors: LS8_8 Coevolution, biological mechanisms and ecology of species interactions; PE10_9 Biogeochemistry, biogeochemical cycles, environmental chemistry
Settori scientifico-disciplinari: BIOS-05/A Ecologia; BIOS-15/A Microbiologia
Lab members
Maira Maselli
Alice Blanckaert
German Zapata-Hernandez
Elena Quintanilla
Johanna Berlinghof
Tamara Smith
Research Interests
My research investigates the biogeochemical dynamics of host-microbe interactions within marine ecosystems, with a specific focus on their responses to climate change. I aim to uncover how these interactions regulate critical metabolic pathways in metaorganisms and mediate nutrient cycling—particularly of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur—thereby influencing ecosystem function. By integrating multiple biological scales and maintaining an environmental perspective, my work seeks to assess the resilience and adaptive potential of symbiotic marine organisms in shaping their ecosystems amid environmental shifts.
Selected Publications
Berlinghof J, Montilla LM, Peiffer F, Quero GM, Marzocchi U, Meador TB, Margiotta F, Abagnale M, WildC, Cardini U (2024) Accelerated nitrogen cycling on Mediterranean seagrass leaves at volcanic CO2 vents. Communications Biology, 7:341
Cardini U, Marín-Guirao L, Montilla LM, Marzocchi U, Chiavarini S, Rimauro J, Quero GM, Petersen JM, Procaccini G (2022) Nested interactions between chemosynthetic lucinid bivalves and seagrass promote ecosystem functioning in contaminated sediments. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13:918675
Malkin S & Cardini U (2021) Facilitative interactions on the rise: cable bacteria associate with diverse aquatic plants. New Phytologist, 232:1897-1900
Cardini U, Bartoli M, Lücker S, Mooshammer M, Polzin J, Lee RW, Micić V, Hofmann T, Weber M, Petersen JM (2019) Chemosymbiotic bivalves contribute to the nitrogen budget of seagrass ecosystems. The ISME Journal, 13:3131–3134
Petersen JM, Kemper A, Gruber-Vodicka H, Cardini U, van der Geest M, Kleiner M, Bulgheresi S, Mußmann M, Herbold C, Seah BKB, Antony CP, Liu D, Belitz A, Weber M (2016) Chemosynthetic symbionts of marine invertebrate animals are capable of nitrogen fixation. Nature Microbiology, 2: 16195
