Ylenia Carotenuto

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• PhD in Marine Environment and Resources
• Researcher at Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn

Monitoring coastal marine environments by evaluating and comparing their chemical, physical, biological, and anthropogenic components is essential for ecological assessment and socio-economic development. In this study, we conducted an integrated multivariate analysis to assess the descriptors of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive at a regiona...

Highly conserved among eukaryotes, the chemical defensome protects organisms against chemical stressors and helps to reestablish the altered homeostatic state. The defensome includes genes such as transporters (e.g., adenosine triphosphate ATP-binding cassette), phase I and phase II detoxification enzymes, and antioxidant enzymes. During their life...

The NEREA (Naples Ecological REsearch for Augmented observatories) initiative aims to establish an augmented observatory in the Gulf of Naples (GoN), designed to advance the understanding of marine ecosystems through a holistic approach. Inspired by the Tara Oceans expedition and building on the scientific legacy of the MareChiara Long-Term Ecologi...

The aim of the present study was to characterize, for the first time, the poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation system in the micro-crustacean copepod Temora stylifera, a widespread species in the coastal area of the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the dominant calanoid of the zooplankton assemblage in the Gulf of Naples. The analysis of endogenous poly(ADP-ribose)...

Marine and coastal ecosystems respond to climate change in various ways, such as the type of ecosystem, the species composition, interactions, and distribution, and the effect of local stressors. Metazoan organisms, particularly zooplankton, are important indicators for monitoring the effects climate-driven warming in marine coastal ecosystems over...

Folate, also known as vitamin B9, plays a crucial role in the one-carbon (1C) metabolism, a conserved pathway from microbes to humans. The 1C metabolism, consisting of the folate and methionine cycles, is essential in many biological processes such as nucleotide and protein biosynthesis, cell proliferation, and embryonic development. Despite its fu...

The use of metabarcoding has greatly improved the assessment of marine metazoans. However, it is still uncertain whether metabarcoding analyses (eDNA) accurately captures the diversity in the field. This study aims to use an integrated approach merging α-taxonomy and organismal eDNA analysis of two genetic markers (COI and 18S), to observe for the...

Prostaglandins (Pgs) are eicosanoid lipid mediators detected in all vertebrates, in some marine invertebrates, macroalgae and in diatoms, a class of eukaryotic microalgae composing the phytoplankton. The enzymes involved in the Pgs pathway were found to be differentially expressed in two strains of the diatom Skeletonema marinoi, named FE7 and FE60...

As Guest Editors, we are very pleased to present this book based on the Special Issue “Ecology of Marine Zooplankton”, published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. Zooplanktonic organisms preside over a crucial position within marine food webs, providing the link between primary producers and higher trophic levels, but also sustainin...

Marine ecosystems, from coastal areas to open waters, teem with a multitude of heterotrophic and mixotrophic organisms collectively forming the zooplankton, the animal component of the plankton [...]

Marine sediments are regarded as sinks for several classes of contaminants. Characterization and effects of sediments on marine biota now require a multidisciplinary approach, which includes chemical and ecotoxicological analyses and molecular biomarkers. Here, a gene expression study was performed to measure the response of adult females of the Me...

Among non-native copepods, the calanoid Pseudodiaptomus marinus Sato, 1913 is the species probably spreading at the fastest pace in European and neighbouring waters since its first record in the Adriatic Sea in 2007. In this contribution, we provide an update on the distribution of P. marinus in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, along the Atlantic...

Iron is an essential element for the functioning of cellular processes. Ferritins, the major intracellular iron storage proteins, convert the free Fe²⁺ into the nontoxic Fe³⁺ which can be stored and transported where needed. To date, little is known about the iron metabolism in copepods; however, in these crustaceans, ferritins have been used as bi...

Molecular tools increasingly refine and improve the identification of zooplankton organisms based on phenotypic features, providing a more robust and comprehensive species description. Integration of data helps revealing the hidden diversity of zooplankton and facilitating the detection of rare and non‐indigenous species. This approach, merging mor...

Centropages typicus is a temperate calanoid copepod occurring in Atlantic and Mediterranean coastal waters, where its reproductive biology and population dynamics are well‐known. C. typicus has also been suggested as a key species for monitoring the impact of environmental changes on copepod secondary production. The aim of this study is to investi...

Living organisms deeply rely on the acquisition of chemical signals in any aspect of their life, from searching for food, mating and defending themselves from stressors. Copepods, the most abundant and ubiquitous metazoans on Earth, possess diversified and highly specified chemoreceptive structures along their body. The detection of chemical stimul...

Copepods represent the numerically dominant component of marine mesozooplankton. Characterizing their diversity in terms of species composition and functional traits is thus fundamental to understand how planktonic organisms interact and communities function. Different modalities of prey capture differently affect the role of copepod species in the...

Plankton is the basis of pelagic food webs and is essential in supporting marine biodiversity and thus socio-economic activities, such as fisheries and aquaculture. It is therefore important to investigate the structure and functionality of plankton communities to understand ecosystem processes. In the frame of the FEAMP-IISPA program, we conducted...

Zooplankton molecular analyses allow for accurate species identification with a proper molecular signature, complementing classic phenotypic-based taxonomy (α taxonomy). For the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene sequences of calanoid copepods were associated with morphological identification, HD and SEM images, us...

Ovothiol is one of the most powerful antioxidants acting in marine organisms as a defense against oxidative stress during development and in response to environmental cues. The gene involved in the ovothiol biosynthesis, OvoA, is found in almost all metazoans, but open questions existed on its presence among arthropods. Here, using an in silico wor...

The glutathione S-transferase (GST) is a complex family of phase II detoxification enzymes, known for their ability to catalyze the conjugation of the reduced form of glutathione (GSH) to a wide variety of endogenous and exogenous electrophilic compounds for detoxification purposes. In marine environments, copepods are constantly exposed to multipl...

The calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa is one of the most frequently used organisms in acute, short-term bioassays to assess effects induced by marine matrices or chemicals on different life stages. Physiological responses in such tests can be highly variable and historical control data (HCD), values recorded from previous studies performed under simil...

Microalgae, dominating protists in aquatic systems, are rich in lipids, a complex molecular class regulating cell physiology and phytoplankton ecology. Investigation of microalgal lipid metabolism is increasing, but common strategies for comprehensive lipid analyses are still lacking. Major methodological gaps are represented by separate analytical...

Background: Copepods are fundamental components of pelagic food webs, but reports on how molecular responses link to reproductive success in natural populations are still scarce. We present a de novo transcriptome assembly and differential expression (DE) analysis in Temora stylifera females collected in the Gulf of Naples, Mediterranean Sea, wher...

Diatoms are the dominant component of the marine phytoplankton. Several diatoms produce secondary metabolites, namely oxylipins, with teratogenic effects on their main predators, crustacean copepods. Our study reports the de novo assembled transcriptome of the calanoid copepod Calanus helgolandicus feeding on the oxylipin-producing diatom Skeletone...

Since 2007, the non-indigenous calanoid copepod Pseudodiaptomus marinus Sato, 1913 has been increasingly recorded in numerous European sites, spreading at an unexpectedly fast pace over a short time-span. This species presents specific biological and behavioural traits which make it of particular interest for ecological and applied research topics....

The sensitivity of the copepods Acartia tonsa, commonly used in standardized tests for environmental risk assessment and A. clausi, the dominant autochthonous congener species in the Mediterranean Sea, was assessed using sediment-derived elutriates from the industrial area of Bagnoli-Coroglio and nickel chloride as referent toxicant. Acute A. claus...

“Infochemicals” (information‐conveying chemicals) dominate much of the underwater communication in biological systems. They influence the movement and behavior of organisms, the ecological interactions between and across populations, and the trophic structure of marine food webs. However, relative to their terrestrial equivalents, the wider ecologi...

Oxylipins are important signal transduction lipoxygenase-derived products of fatty acids that regulate a variety of physiological and pathological processes in plants and animals. In marine diatoms, these molecules can be highly bioactive, impacting zooplankton grazers, bacteria and other phytoplankton. However, the ultimate cause for oxylipin prod...

Diatoms are unicellular eukaryotic organisms that play a key ecological and biogeochemical role in oceans as major primary producers. Recently, these microalgae have also attracted interest as a promising source of functional products with widespread relevance. Progress in the knowledge of cell and molecular biology of diatoms is envisaged as a key...

Diatoms, ubiquitous primary producers in marine systems, synthesize oxylipins, which impair copepod fitness through a maternal effect. While oxylipins do not directly affect the adults, these chemicals alter basic cellular and developmental processes of copepod embryos, thereby negatively affecting egg hatching and naupliar survival. Inspecting the...

The calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa is a reference species in standardized ecotoxicology bioassay. Despite this interest, there is a lack of knowledge on molecular responses of A. tonsa to contaminants. We generated a de novo assembled transcriptome of A. tonsa exposed 4 days to 8.5 and 17 mg/L nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs), which have been shown to...

Since the very first DNA fragment sequenced in early 70’s and the 1980’s Nobel prize to Sanger and Gilbert "for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids", both biology and medicine have taken great steps forward. In particular, marine biologists have taken advantage of technical development and are increas...

Diatoms are dominant photosynthetic organisms in the world's oceans and are considered essential in the transfer of energy to higher trophic levels. However, these unicellular organisms produce secondary metabolites deriving from the oxidation of fatty acids, collectively termed oxylipins, with negative effects on predators, such as copepods, that...

Diatoms are eukaryotic unicellular plants that constitute one of the major components of marine phytoplankton, comprising up to 40% of annual productivity at sea and representing 25% of global carbon-fixation. Diatoms have traditionally been considered a preferential food for zooplankton grazers such as copepods, but, in the last two decades, this...

Diatoms dominate productive regions in the oceans and have traditionally been regarded as sustaining the marine food chain to top consumers and fisheries. However, many of these unicellular algae produce cytotoxic oxylipins that impair reproductive and developmental processes in their main grazers, crustacean copepods. The molecular mode of action...

Many diatoms, a major class of unicellular algae contributing to over 45% of oceanic primary production, are known to induce deleterious effects on reproductive processes in crustacean copepods. This is mainly due to the production of teratogenic oxylipins, including polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs). Here we tested the direct effect of the PUA 2E,4...

Numerous biological activities such as grazer defense and intraspecific signaling have been described for diatom oxylipins, fatty acid derived secondary metabolites produced by some diatom species. As the function and importance of these compounds are still controversial, the production of a subclass of these molecules, nonvolatile oxylipins, was s...

Diatoms are key phytoplankton organisms and one of the main primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. However, many diatom species produce a series of secondary metabolites, collectively termed oxylipins, that disrupt development in the offspring of grazers, such as copepods, that feed on these unicellular algae. We hypothesized that different popul...

We tested the amenability of the calanoid copepod Calanus helgolandicus to be mass cultivated in a large volume system. The copepod was reared on two different occasions (during 2009 and 2010), for at least four generations and six months with a mixed flagellate diet of Isochrysis galbana, Rhodomonas baltica and Prorocentrum minimum, or a mixed die...

There may be biogeographic aspects of interactions between toxic phytoplankton and their zooplankton grazers. Grazers that naturally co-occur with a given species of toxic phytoplankton may have evolved mechanisms to counteract adverse effects of phytoplankton toxins. Conversely, grazers that have no coevolutionary experience with a toxic phytoplan...

Diatoms are key phytoplankton organisms and one of the main primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. However, many diatom species produce a series of secondary metabolites, collectively termed oxylipins, that disrupt development in the offspring of grazers, such as copepods, that feed on these unicellular algae. We hypothesized that different popul...

Diatoms are dominant photosynthetic organisms in the world's oceans and are considered essential in the transfer of energy through marine food chains. However, these unicellular plants at times produce secondary metabolites such as polyunsaturated aldehydes and other products deriving from the oxidation of fatty acids that are collectively termed o...

In this study we develop gene expression tools in Calanus helgolandicus to study the effects of toxic diatom diets on copepod fitness and survival. We demonstrate that when adult females are fed on the control dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum and the flagellate Rhodomonas baltica, which are not known to produce toxic oxylipins, there are no sign...

Several species and strains of diatoms were tested for their effects on egg production, hatching success, faecal pellet production, ingestion rate and food selection in the copepod Temora stylifera. Two of the diatom species tested were well known polyunsaturated aldehyde (PUA) producers: Skeletonema marinoi (SM) and Thalassiosira rotula (TR1), whi...

The copepod Temora stylifera was fed with the pennate diatom Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima for 15days. This diatom does not produce polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) but only synthesizes other oxylipins such as the hydroxyacid (5Z,8Z,11Z,13E,15S,17Z)-15-hydroxy-5,8,11,13,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (15S-HEPE). Effects of this monoalgal diet were compa...

Development and sex differentiation in the copepod Temora stylifera was studied in the presence of maternal and larval diets of the diatoms Thalassiosira rotula and Skeletonema marinoi, either provided alone or supplemented with the control dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum. Both diatoms had deleterious effects on growth compared to the control w...

In the last decade, there has been an increased awareness that secondary metabolites produced by marine diatoms negatively impact the reproductive success of their principal predators, the copepods. Several oxylipins, products of the enzymatic oxidation of fatty acids, are produced when these unicellular algae are damaged, as occurs during grazing....

Microzooplankton grazing and algae growth re- sponses to increasing pCO2 levels (350, 700 and 1050 μatm) were investigated in nitrate and phosphate fertilized meso- cosms during the PeECE III experiment 2005. Grazing and growth rates were estimated by the dilution technique com- bined with taxon specific HPLC pigment analysis. Microzooplankton comp...

Independent of the ongoing acidification of surface seawater, the majority of the calcium carbonate produced in the pelagial is dissolved by natural processes above the lysocline. We investigate to what extent grazing and passage of coccolithophorids through the guts of copepods and the food vacuoles of microzooplankton contribute to calcite dissol...

Within the frame of the Pelagic Ecosystem CO₂ Enrichment (PeECE III) experiment, reproduction and feeding of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus was monitored in relation to phytoplankton development in two mesocosms, at present 1× (350 ?atm) and ca 3× present (1050 ?atm) CO₂ concentrations, respectively. Both mesocosms showed ra...

We integrated field and laboratory data with modeling to determine the extent to which the temporal patterns in population abundance of a copepod species as observed at sea may be explained by differences in production and mortality rates due to diet. A Lagrangian individual-based model utilizing birth and mortality rates whose values and variance...

In situ seasonal oscillations in female abundances, fecundity, egg-hatching success and survivorship of the first naupliar stage (N1) of the copepods Temora stylifera and Centropages typicus, collected from February 2000 to February 2001, were studied at a coastal station located in the Gulf of Naples (Mediterranean Sea). Adult T stylifera and C. t...

Giant liposomes are proposed as a potential delivery system in marine copepods, the dominant constituent of the zooplankton. Liposomes were prepared in the same size range as the food ingested by copepods (mean diameter of about 7 microm). The encapsulation of a hydrophilic and high molecular mass fluorescent compound, fluorescein isothiocyanate-de...

Like marine diatoms, some freshwater diatoms produce a,b,g,d-polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUA) when damaged. Some of these oxylipins are suspected of impairing egg viability in marine copepods. To determine whether these compounds also play a role in influencing the trophic interactions in freshwater environments, we measured growth and reproduction...

From 3 to 6 November 2002, a colloquium was convened at the Benthos Laboratory of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn on Ischia, Italy, with the goal of evaluating the present status of the effects of diatoms on their main consumers, the planktonic copepods, and to develop future research strategies to enhance our understanding of such interactions....

From 3 to 6 November 2002, a colloquium was convened at the Benthos Laboratory of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn on Ischia, Italy, with the goal of evaluating the present status of the effects of diatoms on their main consumers, planktonic copepods, and to develop future research strategies to enhance our understanding of such interactions. The...

A unialgal diet of a non-neurotoxic strain of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense strongly modified egg production and hatching success in the copepod Temora stylifera, even though grazing rates were relatively constant over time. Both exponential and stationary cultures of A. tamarense reduced egg production and hatching success, but the effe...

The growth cycle in nutrient-rich, aquatic environments starts with a diatom bloom that ends in mass sinking of ungrazed cells and phytodetritus. The low grazing pressure on these blooms has been attributed to the inability of overwintering copepod populations to track them temporally. We tested an alternative explanation: that dominant diatom spec...

In order to explain differences in the growth and reproduction of Daphnia pulicaria fed various freshwater diatoms, we measured ingestion rates and carbon incorporation for six cultured diatom species: the single-celled Stephanodiscus hantzschii, Stephanodiscus minutulus and Cyclotella meneghiniana, and the colony-forming Asterionella formosa, Frag...

A unialgal diet of a non-neurotoxic strain of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense strongly modified egg production and hatching success in the copepod Temora stylifera, even though grazing rates were relatively constant over time. Both exponential and stationary cultures of A. tamarense reduced egg production and hatching success, but the effe...

Ecophysiology Laboratory, Stazione Zoologica A. Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy. ianora@szn.it The growth cycle in nutrient-rich, aquatic environments starts with a diatom bloom that ends in mass sinking of ungrazed cells and phytodetritus. The low grazing pressure on these blooms has been attributed to the inability of overwintering cop...

Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope techniques have been applied to study the developmental biology of marine copepods and decapod larvae. The lipophylic probes DiI and DiOC(6) were used to study both the external and internal morphology of these crustaceans, whereas the same DiOC(6) and the specific nuclear probe Hoechst 33342 were used to study em...

The bloom-forming alga Phaeocystis is ingested by a variety of zooplankton grazers, but is thought to be a poor source of food. We examined copepod grazing on solitary Phaeocystis cells by adult females of Temora stylifera, and survival, fecal pellet production, egg production and egg hatching success in Calanus helgolandicus and T. stylifera over...

The fate of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins ingested by the copepod Acartia clausi was studied in unialgal and mixed cultures of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum and the non-toxic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum micans. Acartia clausi fed actively on Alexandrium minutum, but feeding pressure diminished over time. This reduced fee...

Diatoms are major components of the marine microalgae and are generally considered to be the principal food source for small pelagic crustaceans such as copepods. Recently, some species of this algal class have been shown to produce abortifacient compounds (aldehydes) that block copepod embryogenesis, thereby acting as a form of birth control for p...

Diatoms are major components of the marine microalgae and are generally considered to be the principal food source for small pelagic crustaceans such as copepods. Recently, some species of this algal class have been shown to produce abortifacient compounds (aldehydes) that block copepod embryogenesis, thereby acting as a form of birth control for p...

The ultrastructure of Temora stylifera male and female gonads was examined in individuals fed three dinoflagellate and two diatom species which affect copepod hatching success. The results showed that low fertilization success when males were fed the dinoflagellates Prorocentrum micans, Lingulodinium polyedra and Gymnodinium sanguinium was not due...

Temora stylifera (Copepoda, Calanoida) was reared in the laboratory from nauplius stage I to adult, at 20°C with a saturating food concentration of the microflagellate Isochrysis galbana. Animals reached adulthood in 19 days. A complete description of the body morphology of nauplii, copepodids and adults, including their mouthparts and swimming leg...