Descrizione del progetto
Studiare gli effetti della salamoia sul metabolismo sotto stress dell’erba marina protetta Posidonia oceanica
La desalinizzazione ha acquisito importanza come attività di gestione delle risorse idriche, in particolare nei paesi lungo le coste del Mediterraneo. I rifiuti di salamoia prodotti attraverso la desalinizzazione vengono scaricati direttamente nella zona subtidale e possono danneggiare le comunità costiere, dove le praterie oceaniche sono largamente diffuse. Il progetto OSMOTIC SEAGRASS, finanziato dall’UE, intende studiare gli effetti della salamoia sul metabolismo da stress dell’erba marina protetta Posidonia oceanica. Attraverso una serie di esperimenti di laboratorio e sul campo, osserverà il metabolismo antiossidante, la regolazione osmotica e l’intero trascrittoma e li raffronterà con la fisiologia e il metabolismo primario. Questo lavoro fornirà informazioni sui meccanismi di tolleranza della Posidonia oceanica e sugli strumenti per il biomonitoraggio ambientale.
Obiettivo
Desalinization has become an important water management activity, Especially in countries along the Mediterranean Seashore. Desalination produces a discard of brines which are directly discharged to the subtidal; these can cause detrimental effects on coastal communities, most of which are nurtured by seagrass meadows. Posidonia oceanica is a protected seagrass, base of the most ecologically and economically important ecosystems along the Mediterranean coast. Our project aims to assess the effects of brines on the stress metabolism of P. oceanica through laboratory- and field-based experiments. We aim to provide insights of tolerance mechanisms through observations on antioxidant metabolism, osmotic regulation and the whole transcriptome; this will be contrasted with observations on the physiology and primary metabolism. Laboratory experiments can provide valuable information on specific metabolic features but do not necessarily represent responses at the natural, more complex, environment; in contrast, field observations denote responses under realistic conditions but lack information that can be attributed to specific stressors. In this context, the latter will provide valuable information on mechanisms to thrive under hypersalinity and contribute to study biomarkers that could act as environmental biotechnology tools to follow the extent of brine impacts. The research will be led Dr. Claudio Sáez, experienced researcher in the field of biochemical and molecular stress metabolism. Groups of Prof. José Luis Sánchez-Lizaso at Universidad de Alicante (beneficiary) and Dr. Juan Manuel Ruiz at the Spanish Oceanographic Institute (secondment), in addition to the Spanish Association of Desalination and Reuse (industry link) through Dr. Domingo Zarzo, will support the researcher to develop this interdisciplinary project that merges the expertise of highly achieved scientists in the areas of ecology, physiology, biochemistry, transcriptomics and innovation.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
03690 Alicante
Spagna