Biology subjects

Reale, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Reale, S..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Tracking kdr Alleles Associated with Pyrethroid Resistance in Aedes albopictus across Italy: A Nationwide Genotypic Dataset by MosqIRIT Network.

This data paper presents a curated, georeferenced dataset of the frequencies of the two main target site mutations (V1016G and F1534C) associated with resistance to pyrethroid insecticides in Aedes albopictus in Italy. Populations were collected in 102 out 107 Italian provinces between 2023 and 2025. Specimens were sampled by members of the Mosquito Insecticide Resistance Italian Network (MosqIRIT) as part of RN2 activities within the INF-ACT project. Genotyping was performed on 3,517 individuals by specific allele-specific PCR assays. Each record includes metadata on sampling site, administrative location, developmental stage, collection method, and mutation-specific genotype frequencies. To support spatial analysis modelling effort, the dataset integrates geographic, eco-climatic, and demographic data. This resource will support mosquito control programs, pyrethroid resistance monitoring and managing, as well as ecological modelling, and is compliant with the FAIR data program.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2026

The volatile fatty-acid fingerprint of human fear

Human axillary odour can convey information about emotional state, but the molecular composition of fear related volatile emissions remains undefined. Here, we combine low background dual chamber axillary sampling, synchronous real time and offline mass spectrometry, chemical domain group independent component analysis and hierarchical Bayesian modelling to identify a molecular finger-print of acute fear during immersive virtual reality fear induction. In 37 healthy adults, this framework recovered five axillary volatile components associated with a continuous physiology derived fear index. The fingerprint comprised increased emissions of acetic, butyric, caproic and caprylic acids, octanal and acetone, together with decreased sulcatone, decanal, geranylacetone and citraconic anhydride. This coordinated pattern was reproducible across individuals and emerged from unsupervised chemical decomposition followed by regularised Bayesian selection, without prior biochemical constraints. Posterior predictive checks and leave one participant out refitting supported its robustness within the cohort. Its composition and directionality are consistent with sympathetic autonomic metabolic mobilisation, suggesting contributions from fatty acid handling, acetone related metabolism and axillary gland output. These findings define a candidate molecular cue of acute human fear and establish a replicable methodological template for decoding the chemical language of human emotion.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Enantiopurity-Dependent Peptide Coacervates and Asymmetric Organocatalysis

Membraneless compartmentalization via liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) has emerged as a powerful strategy to organize biochemical reactions. Recently, peptide-based coacervates demonstrated the potential to function as microreactors by enhancing reaction kinetics through increased local concentrations and altered microenvironments. Here, we introduce an O-methylated diphenylalanine-based tripeptide LLLPFF-OCH3 containing an N-terminal proline, designed to undergo LLPS, and simultaneously function as an enantioselective organocatalyst. Comprehensive characterization via confocal microscopy, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), micro-Raman and attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy, diffusion-surface plasmon resonance (D-SPR), and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed the formation of stable liquid droplets. In contrast, a racemic mixture of LLLPFF-OCH3 and DDDPFF-OCH3 failed to form liquid droplets and instead formed a solid precipitate, unveiling a critical role of enantiopurity in LLPS. Proof-of-concept catalytic studies proved enantioselective organocatalytic activity of the LLLPFF-OCH3 liquid coacervates. Beyond catalysis these results may have broader implications in understanding prebiotic chemistry and neurodegeneration.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2025

Protein Secondary Structure Patterns In Short-Range Cross-Link Atlas

Cross-linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) has become a powerful tool in structural biology for investigating protein structure, dynamics, and interactomics. However, short-range cross-links, defined as those connecting residues fewer than 20 positions apart, have traditionally been considered less informative and largely overlooked, leaving significant data unexplored in a systematic manner. Here, we present a system-wide analysis of short-range cross-links, demonstrating their intrinsic correlation with protein secondary structure. We introduce the X-SPAN (Cross-link Structural Pattern Analyzer) software, which integrates publicly available XL-MS datasets from system-wide experiments with AlphaFold-predicted protein structures. Our analysis reveals distinct cross-linking patterns that reflect the spatial constraints imposed by secondary structural elements. Specifically, -helices exhibit periodic cross-linking patterns consistent with their characteristic helical pitch, whereas coils and {beta}-strands display nearly monotonic distributions. A context-dependent protein grammar reinforces short-range cross-link specificity. Short-range cross-links can enhance the statistical inference of secondary structures within integrative modeling workflows. Additionally, our work establishes a framework for benchmarking AlphaFolds local prediction accuracy and provides novel quality control criteria for XL-MS experiments. We anticipate that X-SPAN and our short-range cross-link database will serve as a valuable resource for exploring local secondary structure rearrangements and their potential roles in protein function and allosteric regulation.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Genomic and epidemiological evidence for the emergence of a putative L. donovani/L. infantum hybrid with unusual epidemiology in Northern Italy

Leishmania (L.) infantum is the main causative agent of animal and human leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean basin. Despite its clinical significance, little is known on the genetic diversity of L. infantum parasites circulating in Italy. Here, we apply a comparative genomics approach on seven L. infantum isolates from different hosts (human, dog, cat, marten) and geographic regions (Emilia-Romagna, Sicily, Sardinia) as a first attempt to explore the breadth of parasite genetic heterogeneity in Italy. We revealed important genome instability at karyotype levels, with each isolate presenting a unique aneuploidy profile. Read depth analysis further identified strain-specific changes in gene dosage, which affected important virulence factors most of which are encoded by multi-copy gene arrays, such as amastins or surface antigen-like proteins. SNP-based clustering analysis of these genomes together with over 80 publicly available L. infantum and L. donovani genomes placed the Italian isolates into three geographically distinct clusters, with two isolates grouping with Spanish strains, two isolates grouping with Tunisian strains, and three isolates clustering with putative L. infantum/L. donovani hybrids isolated in Cyprus. As judged by microsatellite profiling of 73 isolates from dogs, sand flies and VL cases, these hybrid isolates are representative of a sub-population of parasites circulating in northeastern Italy that preferentially infects humans, but not dogs. In conclusion, our data uncover a remarkable heterogeneity of L. infantum isolates that indicates different geographic origin, including a novel hybrid-like genotype associated with an unusual infection pattern, placing Italy at the crossroad of Leishmania infection in the Mediterranean region.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Biodiversity lost: The phylogenetic relationships of a complete mitochondrial DNA genome sequenced from the extinct wolf population of Sicily

Using next-generation sequencing, we obtained for the first time a complete mitochondrial DNA genome from a museum specimen of the extinct wolf (Canis lupus) population of the island of Sicily (Italy). Phylogenetic analyses showed that this genome, which was aligned with a number of historical and extant complete wolf and dog mtDNAs sampled worldwide, was closely related to an Italian wolf mtDNA genome (TN93 and p-distances = 0.0012), five to seven times shorter than divergence among Sicilian and any other known wolf mtDNA genomes (distance range = 0.0050 - 0.0070). Sicilian and Italian haplotypes joined a basal clade belonging to the mtDNA haplogroup-2 of ancient western European wolf populations (Pilot et al. 2010). Bayesian calibration of divergence times indicated that this clade coalesced at MRCA = 13.400 years (with 95% HPD = 4000 - 21.230 years). These mtDNA findings suggest that wolves probably colonized Sicily from southern Italy towards the end of the last Pleistocene glacial maximum, when the Strait of Messina was almost totally dry. Additional mtDNA and genomic data will further clarify the origin and population dynamics before the extinction of wolves in Sicily.

zoology↗