Research Fellow
Research Infrastructures for marine biological resources Department
Tel.: +39 081 5833201
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Skype: danie.deluca
Research Interests
I am a post-doctoral research fellow with interest in evolutionary biology, especially molecular systematics, phylogenetics, population genomics and metabarcoding. I apply molecular and bioinformatic tools to characterize genes, species and communities and to assess their evolutionary relationships. My main research lines are:
1) Diversity, distribution, systematics, and evolution of organisms. I study the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of marine (microalgae, cephalopods) and terrestrial organisms (vascular plants) using classical (e.g., Sanger sequencing, microsatellites) and novel approaches (-omic approaches, metabarcoding datasets, SNPs). The goal of this research line is to define the boundaries across species, accelerate the discovery of new taxa, assess their phylogenetic relationships and delimit evolutionary significant units for management and conservation purposes. I also use global metabarcoding datasets in combination with reference libraries to assess the diversity and distribution of marine taxa.
2) Analysis of microbial communities. I use a DNA metabarcoding approach to study the taxonomic diversity and abundance of microorganisms (prokaryotes and eukaryotes) from different environments and matrices to assess their role in the ecosystem.
3) Transcriptome mining for biotechnological applications. I analyse transcriptomic data of marine organisms (microalgae) in combination with bioinformatic and evolutionary approaches to find genes and biosynthetic pathways of potential interest to biotechnologies.
Selected Publicaitons
De Luca, D., Del Guacchio, E., Cennamo, P., Paino, L., Caputo, P. (2023). Genotyping by-sequencing provides new genetic and taxonomic insights in the critical group of Centaurea tenorei. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14, 1130889.
De Luca, D.*, Piredda, R., Trojsi, G., Cennamo, P. (2023). Close but different: metabarcoding analyses reveal different microbial communities in ancient Roman nymphaea. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, 181, 105619.
De Luca, D., Piredda, R, Sarno, D., Kooistra, W.H.C.F. (2021). Resolving cryptic species complexes in marine protists: phylogenetic haplotype networks meet global DNA metabarcoding datasets. The ISME Journal, 15, 1931–1942. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-021-00895-0.
De Luca, D.*, Kooistra, W.H.C.F., Sarno, D. Biffali, E., Piredda, R. (2021). Empirical evidence for concerted evolution in the 18S rDNA region of the planktonic diatom genus Chaetoceros. Scientific Reports, 11, 807.
De Luca, D.*, Lauritano, C. (2020). In Silico Identification of Type III PKS Chalcone and Stilbene Synthase Homologs in Marine Photosynthetic Organisms. Biology, 9(5), 110.
De Luca, D.*, Sarno, D., Piredda, R., Kooistra, W. H. C. F. (2019). A multigene phylogeny to infer the evolutionary history of Chaetocerotaceae (Bacillariophyta). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 140, 106575.
De Luca, D.*, Kooistra, W. H. C. F., Sarno, D., Gaonkar, C. C., Piredda, R. (2019). Global distribution and diversity of Chaetoceros (Bacillariophyta, Mediophyceae): integration of classical and novel strategies. PeerJ, 7, e7410.
