My research activity mostly concerns the biology and ecology of algae. Studies are aimed to:
i) identify the algal species involved in toxic effects towards human health and ecosystem, focusing mostly on the environmental conditions which promote the growth and the toxin production;
ii) investigate the toxic effects towards several organisms through eco-toxicological assays, and understand the toxic mechanism of algal toxins;
iii) characterize the dynamics of growth and production of the main cellular compounds and toxins, at different growth conditions;
iv) study interactions among microalgae and the production of allelopathic compounds or infochemicals;
v) study the algal toxin biosynthesis, in particular palytoxins/ovatoxins biosynthesis, through the gene expression evaluation of the polyketide synthases (PKS);
vi) characterize microalgal strains for bioremediation and industrial application through growth study in photobioreactors or open ponds;
vii) analyse the distribution and biology of populations of marine coralline algae, in particular Lithophyllum spp., in the Mediterranean Sea, through morphological observations and molecular investigations
