Biology subjects

Stefanelli, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Stefanelli, C..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Integrating morphological and molecular approaches to assess photosynthetic species diversity in the Venice Lagoon

The Venice Lagoon is the largest transitional environment in the Mediterranean Sea and an important biodiversity hotspot. However, it is under increasing climate and anthropogenic pressures, highlighting the need for long-term monitoring of its biodiversity. Three monitoring campaigns were conducted between 2023 and 2025, sampling seaweeds, seagrasses and halophytes. Samples were identified using an integrated morphological and molecular approach, with morphological traits guiding the selection of the most appropriate DNA-barcoding markers. High-quality sequences were obtained for 50% of the samples and compared with reference databases. To improve identification reliability, phylogenetic trees were reconstructed for each major taxonomic group to assess clustering patterns and sequence relationships. Two independent species-delimitation methods, ASAP and GMYC, were also applied. Overall, 81 taxa were identified, 13 belonging to Chlorophyta, 11 to Heterokontophyta, 28 to Rhodophyta, and 29 to Tracheophyta. We further conducted a targeted survey on Sporobolus species using the trnL-trnF marker and genome-size estimates to distinguish between native and non-indigenous ones. The presence of S. x townsendii was confirmed in the central and southern lagoon, while the non-indigenous S. anglicus was more prevalent than the native S. maritimus.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2026

Grass wars: how native and non-indigenous Sporobolus battle heatwaves in salt marshes

O_LIHeatwaves are increasing in frequency and intensity and may alter competitive interactions between native and non-indigenous plant species. C_LIO_LIWe compared the responses of the native Sporobolus maritimus and the non-indigenous Sporobolus anglicus to a simulated 5-day heatwave using an integrative approach combining morphological, physiological, biochemical, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses. C_LIO_LIS. maritimus showed reduced survival, greater physiological damage, and no recovery, indicating high sensitivity to heat stress. Conversely, S. anglicus exhibited a rapid and coordinated response, limited damage to the photosynthetic apparatus, and full recovery after stress. C_LIO_LIThese results highlight the greater resilience of S. anglicus and suggest a potential decline of the native species in the Venetian salt marshes under increasing heat stress. C_LI Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=139 SRC="FIGDIR/small/728445v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (49K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1579ffeorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1c8e490org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@15cbadorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@ef024b_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG We investigated the effects of heatwaves on a native and NIS Sporobolus species from the Venice Lagoon using an integrative, multi-level approach during a simulated 5-day heatwave and recovery phase. The native species showed reduced survival, pronounced physiological damage, and no recovery, indicating high sensitivity to heat stress. Conversely, the NIS exhibited a rapid response, limited impairment of the photosynthetic apparatus, and full recovery. These findings indicate greater resilience of the NIS and suggest a potential decline of the native species in the Venice Lagoon under increasing heat stress. Image created with BioRender (www.biorender.com).

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2024

miR-210 is essential to retinal homeostasis in fruit flies and mice

miR-210 is one of the most evolutionarily conserved microRNAs. Recent studies in Drosophila melanogaster have unveiled that the absence of miR-210 leads to a progressive retinal degeneration characterized by the accumulation of lipid droplets and disruptions in lipid metabolism. Further investigation into lipid anabolism and catabolism revealed significant alterations in gene expression within these pathways. We provide the first morphological characterization of miR-210 KO mice retinas, highlighting a significant photoreceptor degeneration. While exploring potential parallels between miR-210 KO models in flies and mice, we examined mice lipid metabolism, circadian behaviour, and retinal transcriptome yet found no resemblances, suggesting divergent mechanisms of retinal degeneration between the two species. Simultaneously, analysis of the transcriptome in the brains of miR-210 KO flies revealed the potential existence of a shared upstream mechanism contributing to retinal degeneration in both fruit flies and mammals.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2018

bayNorm: Bayesian gene expression recovery, imputation and normalisation for single cell RNA-sequencing data

Normalisation of single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data is a prerequisite to their interpretation. The marked technical variability and high amounts of missing observations typical of scRNA-seq datasets make this task particularly challenging. Here, we introduce bayNorm, a novel Bayesian approach for scaling and inference of scRNA-seq counts. The methods likelihood function follows a binomial model of mRNA capture, while priors are estimated from expression values across cells using an empirical Bayes approach. We demonstrate using publicly-available scRNA-seq datasets and simulated expression data that bayNorm allows robust imputation of missing values generating realistic transcript distributions that match single molecule FISH measurements. Moreover, by using priors informed by dataset structures, bayNorm improves accuracy and sensitivity of differential expression analysis and reduces batch effect compared to other existing methods. Altogether, bayNorm provides an efficient, integrated solution for global scaling normalisation, imputation and true count recovery of gene expression measurements from scRNA-seq data.

bioinformatics↗