Ph. D. Student
Dipartimento Infrastrutture di Ricerca per le Risorse Biologiche Marine – MOTax
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente
Università Politecnica delle Marche
via Brecce Bianche
60131 Ancona ITALY
Tel.:
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skype: apurvamule12
Director of Studies: Diana Sarno, Cecilia Totti
Program: PhD Life and Environmental Sciences – XXXV cycle
Academic years: 2019/20 – 2020/21 – 2021/22.
Research Interests
Benthic microalgae inhabit surface sediments in marine coastal regions, especially in intertidal and subtidal areas where they are important primary producers. Diatoms constitute the main component of benthic microalgal communities in coastal waters, both in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Although several studies proved that the biomass and community structure of microphytobenthos can reflect the environmental status, the use of microphytobenthos as bioindicator in marine waters remains poorly explored.
The aim of my PhD is to study the abundance and composition of microphytobenthos communities, with special emphasis on benthic diatoms, at different coastal sites in the Gulf of Naples (Tyrrhenian Sea) and the area of Senigallia (northern Adriatic Sea) affected by different anthropogenic pressure (terrigenous impact, trophic state and pollution) and investigated in different seasons, using a comparative approach. During this study I will also try to cultivate and characterize a number of diatom strains in order to obtain taxonomically validated sequences to be used to facilitate interpretation of HTS-metabarcoding analysis. Finally, I will investigate the interactions between abundance and composition of microphytobenthos communities and environmental factors, e.g. light, type of sediment, nutrients, pollutants, exploring their possible use as indicators of the environmental status.
