Simone Cappello

• Full Research / Associate Professor
• Researcher at Italian National Research Council

The development of eco-friendly paint formulations is part of the transition process to more sustainable materials, which involves many industries such as offshore and shipbuilding, where the deterioration of steel in seawater is a key factor. This article aims to produce innovative coatings and test their protective action on DH 36 steel plates. S...

Nowadays, the development of eco-friendly paint formulations is part of the transition process to more sustainable materials, which involves many industrial fields such as offshore and shipbuilding where the deterioration of steel in seawater is a key factor. This article aims to produce suitable innovative coatings and test their protective action...

Introduction: Microbes of sponges have diverse associations, including true symbiosis. Sponges, being evolutionarily ancient sessile filter feeders, host diverse and abundant microbial species that play crucial roles in host metabolism. Although the microbial symbionts of sponges are widely distributed within the organism (up to 40% of their volume...

Hydrocarbon and heavy metal pollution are amongst the most severe and prevalent environmental problems due to their toxicity and persistence. Bioremediation using microorganisms is considered one of the most effective ways to treat polluted sites. In the present study, we unveil the bioremediation potential of Brucella pituitosa strain BU72. Beside...

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and relationships between the mollusc Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819 and hydrocarbon degrading bacteria, in a mesocosm simulating a polluted environment. Quantitative analysis of microbial abundance and screening of functional metabolic genes involved in biodegradation processes, were p...

This study combines a traditional chemical characterization with a simultaneous biological evaluation through histological, immunohistochemical, and enzymatic observations to assess the efficiency and sustainability of soil washing on Hg-contaminated sediment in terms of the bioavailability of the contaminant before and after the treatment, as well...

Hydrocarbons and heavy metals pollution is considered among the most prevalent and serious problems in environment due to their toxicity and persistence. Bioremediation, using microorganisms, is considered as one of the most effective ways to reduce this type of pollution. In the present study, we unveil the bioremediation potential of Brucella pit...

Within the Svalbard archipelago, Kongsfjorden is an important marine ecosystem that is recognised as one of the main representative Arctic glacial fjords. Prokaryotic organisms are key drivers of important ecological processes such as carbon fluxes, nutrient mineralisation, and energy transfer, as well as sentinels of environmental pollution, espec...

Five psychrotolerant Alcanivorax spp. strains were isolated from Antarctic coastal waters. Strains were screened for molecular and physiological properties and analyzed regarding their growth capacity. Partial 16S rDNA, alk-B1, and P450 gene sequencing was performed. Biolog EcoPlates and the API 20E test were used to evaluate metabolic and biochemi...

Biofouling has destructive effects on shipping and leisure vessels, thus producing severe problems for marine and naval sectors due to corrosion with consequent elevated fuel consumption and higher maintenance costs. The development of anti-fouling or fouling release coatings creates deterrent surfaces that prevent the initial settlement of microor...

The need to ensure adequate antifouling protection of the hull in the naval sector led to the development of real painting cycles, which involve the spreading of three layers of polymeric material on the hull surface exposed to the marine environment, specifically defined as primer, tie coat and final topcoat. It is already well known that coatings...

World population growth, with the consequent consumption of primary resources and production of waste, is progressively and seriously increasing the impact of anthropic activities on the environment and ecosystems. Environmental pollution deriving from anthropogenic activities is nowadays a serious problem that afflicts our planet and that cannot b...

Three bacterial species related to the genus Thalassospira (T. lucentensis, T. xianhensis and T. profundimaris), isolated from polluted sediment and seawater samples collected from Priolo Bay (eastern coast of Sicily, Ionian Sea), were analyzed for their biotechnological potential. For this purpose, the presence of specific catabolic genes associat...

Bioremediation is among the most basic and reliable way to eliminate pollutants by transforming the toxic petroleum components into less toxic metabolites. In order to compare the change of bacterial community during oil-biodegradation process, two oil-polluted sediments sampled from Tunisia were analyzed using 16S rDNA clone libraries. During the...

Bioremediation offers a viable alternative for the reduction of contaminants from the environment, particularly petroleum and its recalcitrant derivatives. In this study, the ability of a strain of Pseudomonas BUN14 to degrade crude oil, pristane and dioxin compounds, and to produce biosurfactants, was investigated. BUN14 is a halotolerant strain i...

In agriculture, the use of herbicides is necessary to prevent or restrict the growth of weeds that affect the yields of crops such as cereals and legumes. Intensive agriculture relies heavily on the use of herbicides to increase crop yields and provide abundant, inexpensive, and visually appealing food. However, the distribution and persistence of...

In Antarctic regions, the composition and metabolic activity of microbial assemblages associated with plastic debris (“plastisphere”) are almost unknown. A macroplastic item from land (MaL, 30 cm) and a mesoplastic from the sea (MeS, 4 mm) were collected in Maxwell Bay (King George Island, South Shetland) and analyzed by Fourier transform infrared...

The peculiar biotechnological applications of Oleispira spp. in the natural cleansing of oil-polluted marine systems stimulated the study of the phenotypic characteristics of the Oleispira antarctica RB-8(T) strain and modifications of these characteristics in relation to different growth conditions. Bacterial abundance, cell size and morphology va...

Plastic debris has been identified as a potential threat to Antarctic marine ecosystems, however, the impact of nanoplastics (< 1 μm) is currently unexplored. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a keystone species of Southern Ocean pelagic ecosystems, which plays a central role in the Antarctic food webs and carbon (C) cycle. Krill has been show...

The research presented here was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of recovery technologies in remediating a compromised marine environment. The multidisciplinary approach aims to integrate traditional chemical-physical analysis and to assess the biological parameters of Mytilus galloprovincialis within different experimental mesocosms (W, G,...

Immobilization of microorganisms capable of degrading specific contaminants significantly promotes bioremediation processes. In this study, innovative and ecofriendly biosorbent-biodegrading biofilms have been developed in order to remediate oil-contaminated water. This was achieved by immobilizing hydrocarbon-degrading gammaproteobacteria and acti...

This work presents the results of recovery efficacy of the system “BioFilm Membrane BioReactor” (BF-MBR), in the treatment of oily contaminated seawaters. To this aim, we proposed a multidisciplinary approach that integrates traditional chemical-physical measures together with the assessment on biological sentinel Mytilus galloprovincialis, maintai...

Environmental contamination with hydrocarbons though natural and anthropogenic activities is a serious threat to biodiversity and human health. Microbial bioremediation is considered as the effective means of treating such contamination. This study describes a biosurfactant producing bacterium capable of utilizing crude oil and various hydrocarbons...

The development of new eco-friendly, sustainable and economically-sound technologies to clean up the environment from contaminants is one of the most challenging task of actual biotechnology. In the last years, different physical, chemical and biological technologies have specifically focused on actions to protect and restore environment from xe...

The work was addressed to study the sensitivity of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA) to chemical pollution in the hepatopancreas of the bioindicator organism Mytilus galloprovincialis in the context of a multimarker approach in view of ecotoxicological biomonitoring and assessment application. The study was carried out by means of a transplanting...

Aims The aims of this study were: i) the characterization of the structure of the indigenous microbial community associated with the sediments under study; ii) the isolation and characterization of microbial consortia able to degrade the aged hydrocarbons contaminating the sediments and iii) the assessment of related biodegradation capability of se...

Aims The Algerian coastline is exposed to several types of pollution, including hydrocarbons. The aim of this work was to isolate oil‐degrading bacteria and to explore the intrinsic bioremediation potential of part of its contaminated harbour. Methods and results A collection of 119 strains, capable to grow on mineral medium supplemented with hydr...

Plastic pollution is an emerging threat with severe implications on animals’ and environmental health. Nevertheless, interactions of plastic particles with both microbial structure and metabolism are a new research challenge that needs to be elucidated yet. To improve knowledge on the effects played by microplastics on free-living and fish gut-asso...

The retrieval of a polystyrene macro-plastic piece stranded on the shores in King George Island (South Shetlands, Antarctica) gave the opportunity to explore the associated bacterial flora. A total of 27 bacterial isolates were identified by molecular 16s rRNA gene sequencing and 7 strains were selected and screened for their ability to produce bio...

The retrieval of a polystyrene macro-plastic piece stranded on the shores in King George Island (South Shetlands, Antarctica) gave the opportunity to explore the associated bacterial flora. A total of 27 bacterial isolates were identified by molecular 16s rRNA gene sequencing and 7 strains were selected and screened for their ability to produce bio...

Microbial communities of coastal marine sediment play a key role in degradation of petroleum contaminants. Here the bacterial and archaeal communities of sub-surface sediments (5-10 cm) of the chronically polluted Priolo Bay (eastern coast of Sicily, Italy), contaminated mainly by n-alkanes and biodegraded/weathered oils, were characterized by cult...

The present research is focused on the use of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (QqQ MS) coupled with flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (FM GC × GC) for a multilevel elucidation of biodegradation potentiality of natural marine microbial populations during a bioremediation (biostimulation) treatment. The crude oil u...

The large volumes of oily wastewater discharged to marine environment cause heavy impacts on the coastal marine ecosystem. The selection of an appropriate technology to reduce these impacts should be based on the respect of the discharge limits and on the effective assessment and monitoring of its effects on biological organism preservation. To thi...

An experiment on ibuprofene removal by microbial community was performed in microcosms. About 50% of this compound was removed within 7 days.

A novel floatable and biodegradable sponge for the selective absorption of oil from water and potentially useful as cell carrier for bioremediation treatments was prepared in polycaprolactone (PCL). The eco-friendly process for fabricating the PCL sponge does not involve either synthetic routes or organic solvents, thus minimizing environmental haz...

Investigations on asymmetries showed that deviations from perfect bilateral symmetry are interpreted as environmental changes inducing developmental instability. Since morphological abnormalities increase with pollution, deformations may be considered indicators of the organism exposition to pollution. Therefore, the onset of asymmetry in otherwise...

The availability of dissolved inorganic mercury (DHg) in sediment pore water is a crucial step for the mechanisms of methylmercury (MeHg) generation in the aquatic system. The geochemical form of Hg in sediments and the redox-controlled microbial reactions taking place during early diagenesis regulate the pool of DHg and, consequently, the bioavail...

In the present study, chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal by coagulation and packed-columns of both fresh and bioregenerated granular activated carbon (GAC) is reported as a feasible treatment for saline and oily wastewaters (slops) generated from marine oil tankers cleaning. The use of Ferric chloride (FeCl3), Aluminium sulphate (Al2(SO4)3) and P...

This study aimed to develop a new assay based on the whole cell hybridization in order to monitor alkane hydroxylase genes (_alkB_ system) of the marine bacterium _Alcanivorax borkumensis_ SK2T commonly reported as the predominant microorganism responsible for the biodegradation of _n_-alkanes which are the major fraction of petroleum hydrocarbons....

A collection of forty-two (42) strains was obtained during microbiological screening of a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system developed for the treatment of saline oily waste originated from marine transportation. The diversity of the bacterial collection was analyzed by amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Taxonomic analysis showed high...

Le acque di zavorra, Ballast Water, sono acque portuali prelevate dalle navi mercantili, petroliere, da crociera, etc.. come zavorra per assicurare sicurezza durante la navigazione grazie al bilanciamento della galleggiabilità della nave stessa. I siti di prelievo e di scarico delle acque possono distare anche centinaia di kilometri, ed essere cara...

Petroleum hydrocarbons are the most common environmental pollutants in the world and oil spills pose a great hazard to terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Oil pollution may arise either accidentally or operationally whenever oil is produced, transported, stored and processed or used at sea or on land. Oil spills are a major menace to the environment...

Microbes capable of using hydrocarbons as carbon and energy sources are widely distributed in marine environment and play a significant role in the mitigation of petroleum pollution. For the majority of marine microbes, their isolation and long-term maintenance in the laboratory is difficult. Among the hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria, there is a spe...

In order to better understand the effects of biostimulation and bioaugmentation processes on a marine microbial community, three different mesocosm experiments were planned. Natural seawater (10.000 L) was artificially polluted with crude oil (1 L) and (1) inorganic nutrients (Biostimulating Mesocosm, BM), (2) inorganic nutrients and an inoculum of...

A polyester-based gelcoat nanocomposite was synthesized by using as nanofiller multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) conjugated with a biocidal 1,2,3-triazole to be used as a new eco-friendly antibiofouling coating. 1,2,3-Triazole/MWCNT conjugates containing differently substituted 1,2,3-triazoles have been synthesized and characterized by physica...

The fate of hydrocarbon pollutants and the development of oil-degrading indigenous marine bacteria in contaminated sediments are strongly influenced by abiotic factors such as temperature, low oxygen levels, and nutrient availability. In this work, the effects of different biodegradation processes (bioremediation) on oil-polluted anoxic sediments w...

Supporting Information Table 1 Proteins of HAV, PRI and MES communities identified by the metaproteomic approaches. Protein annotations are shown. Panel (A) shows the overall proteome raw data. Panel (B) includes the list of the identified proteins with the corresponding best hits, protein annotation, presumptive taxonomic affiliation and number of...

Supporting Information Figure 1 SDS‐PAGE: Coomassie‐stained SDS‐PAGE of the protein extracts from HAV, MES and PRI sediments.

Supporting Information Table 2 Metabolite mass featuresputatively identified and semi‐quantified by metabolomic approaches by LC‐MS (‐) and LC‐MS (+) in the sediment samples. For differential quantitative metabolomics, we compared the metabolomes of sediment samples by evaluating the peak area from the chromatographic peaks. A list of the masses id...

Here, we describe the methodologies adopted to ensure that natural seawater, used as "influent water" for the land test, complies with the requirement that should be fulfilled to show the efficacy of the new ballast water treatment system (BWTS). The new BWTS was located on the coast of SW Sicily (Italy), and the sampled seawater showed that bacter...

The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC (MSFD) defines a framework for Community actions in the field of marine environmental policy in order to achieve and/or maintain the Good Environmental Status (GES) of the European seas by 2020. Microbial assemblages (from viruses to microbial-sized metazoa) provide a major contribution to globa...

The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC (MSFD) defines a framework for Community actions in the field of marine environmental policy in order to achieve and/or maintain the Good Environmental Status (GES) of the European seas by 2020. Microbial assemblages (from viruses to microbial-sized metazoa) provide a major contribution to globa...

A microbiological survey of the Priolo Bay (eastern coast of Sicily, Ionian Sea), a chronically polluted marine coastal area, was carried out in order to discern its intrinsic bioremediation potential. Microbiological analysis, 16S rDNA-based DGGE fingerprinting and PLFAs analysis were performed on seawater and sediment samples from six stations on...

Environmental monitoring and bioremediation of imperilled habitats, and more in general disturbed sites, are amongst the focus keys of the European strategies for territory management (see Horizon 2020, the new European Program for Research and Innovation). The anthropogenic disturbance is acting on ecosystems with serious consequences for the envi...

Crude oil is one of the most important natural assets for humankind, yet it is a major environmental pollutant, notably in marine environments. One of the largest crude oil polluted areas in the word is the semi-enclosed Mediterranean Sea, in which the metabolic potential of indigenous microbial populations towards the large-scale chronic pollution...

In the last years aquaculture has contributed significantly to reduce the hunger worldwide. One of the major treats in the development of a massive production is linked to the outbreak of diseases and the abuse of antibiotics, that is to avoid because of the acquisition of antibiotic resistance. For these reasons recently probiotics are used as alt...

Two of the largest crude oil-polluted areas in the world are the semi-enclosed Mediterranean and Red Seas, but the effect of chronic pollution remains incompletely understood on a large scale. We compared the influence of environmental and geographical constraints and anthropogenic forces (hydrocarbon input) on bacterial communities in eight geogra...

Several million of hydrocarbons are spilled every year in different environmental matrices representing a serious risk for most life forms, included human health. Fortunately, many bacteria are able to rapidly adapt their own metabolism in presence of hydrocarbons (i.e. n-alkanes) and play crucial roles in bioremediation of petroleum-polluted envir...

Three bacterial isolates identified as Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2, Rhodococcus erythropolis HS4 and Pseudomonas stutzeri SDM, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, were isolated from crude oil enrichments of natural seawater. Single strains and four bacterial consortia designed by mixing the single bacterial cultures respectively in the following rati...

Twenty-one oil-degrading bacteria were isolated from bilge water. Based on a high growth rate on crude oil and on hydrocarbon degradation ability, 7 strains were selected (from 21 isolated) for further studies. 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that isolated strains were affiliated to Bacillus, Pseudomonas and Halomonas genera; in particular, isolate...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous persistent environmental contaminants generated by natural combustion processes and human activities. PAHs are considered hazardous because of cytotoxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic effects. Sixteen individual PAH compounds have been identified as priority pollutants by the United States Enviro...

The aims of this work is study the influence of different growth conditions (different concentration of carbon source) on the variation of cellular hydrophobicity (capacity to adhere at polystyrene) of two obligate hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria, Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2 and Thalassolituus oleivorans MIL-1. The strains were inoculated, separately,...

In this study has been analyzed the genetic potential (rDNA) versus expression (crDNA) of microbial populations associated to gills of living mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) in natural environment. Data obtained (16S rDNA/crDNA clones libraries) showed as sequences mainly related to Bacteroides/Chlorobi, Firmicutes and Gamma-...

During a preliminary microbiological screening in samples of bilge water, different oil degrading bacterial strains have been isolated. In particular two strains, named PON-SEA-05 and PON-SEA-07, were clustered with Alcanivorax genus (with similarity of 100% and 99%, respectively); the other isolated strains were related to Pseudomonas genus. This...

Throughout the last century the increasing human activities in Antarctic region, particularly research expeditions, fishing, and tourism amplified the risk of oils spills at these high latitudes of the meridional hemisphere. A number of studies have been focused on chronic hydrocarbon contamination near Antarctic research stations revealing the pre...

Oil spill microcosms experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of bioemulsificant exopolysaccharide (EPS2003) on quick stimulation of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria. Early hours of oil spill, were stimulated using an experimental seawater microcosm, supplemented with crude oil and EPS2003 (SW+OIL+EPS2003); this system was monitored for 2 da...

Oil spill microcosms experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of bioemulsificant exopolysaccharide (EPS2003) on quick stimulation of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria. Early hours of oil spill, were stimulated using an experimental seawater microcosm, supplemented with crude oil and EPS2003 (SW+OIL+EPS2003); this system was monitored for 2 da...

Background The red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is one of the major pests of palms. The larvae bore into the palm trunk and feed on the palm tender tissues and sap, leading the host tree to death. The gut microbiota of insects plays a remarkable role in the host life and understanding the relations...

The purpose of present study was the simulation of an oil spill accompanied by burial of significant amount of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHs) in coastal sediments. Approximately 1000 kg of sediments collected in Messina harbor were spiked with Bunker C furnace fuel oil (6500 ppm). The rapid consumption of oxygen by aerobic heterotrophs created highly...

Bioaugmentation (amendment with selected bacterial strains) and/or biostimulation (nutrients addition and/or air supply) are relatively new fields in environmental microbiology for preventing pollution and cleanup contamination. In this study, the efficiency of application of bioaugmentation/biostimulation treatments, for recovery of crude oil-poll...