Molluscs of the marine protected area "Secche di Tor Paterno"

The thesis describes the molluscan biodiversity of the infralittoral off-shore reefs in the "Secche di Tor Paterno" marine protected area lying in the Central Tyrrhenian Sea off the coasts of Lazio south of Roma. Data originate from underwater sampling activities carried out by SCUBA diving in four biocoenoses: Posidonia oceanica leaves and rhizomes, coralligenous concretions and detritic pools. The representativeness of molluscs as descriptors of biocoenoses is evaluated by preliminary comparisons with data about Polychaeta, Pleocyemata (Crustacea) and Brachiopoda obtained in the same survey. The malacocoenoses of the four biocoenoses are treated in detail. Then data are compared with other data sets to assess differences and similarities with other communities. The agreement between death and living assemblages in the reefs is evaluated for the Posidonia oceanica and the coralligenous biocoenosis and was carried out by a set of standard metrics and some benthic ecology methods. Molluscs perform very well as descriptors of biocoenoses, better than the other phyla. The molluscan assemblages of the reefs are very rich in species despite richness is mainly concentrated in the coralligenous and in the rhizomes of Posidonia oceanica. The leaves of Posidonia oceanica host a rather poor assemblage. Detritic pools host a poor but peculiar species assemblage. The dead-live agreement showed that death assemblages are highly representative of sediments of nearby biocoenoses as a result of low bottom transport. Fidelity metrics suggest a good agreement between the living and death assemblages when species richness and taxonomic composition are considered. The study suggests that fidelity is lower when considering the species dominance. These differences could be associated to the trophism of species and possibly to the species life span.

Relationships between plant diversity and environmental heterogeneity in rupicolous grasslands on gypsum. The case study of Alysso-Sedion albi (Habitat 6110).

Plant communities on weathered rock and outcrops are characterized by high values in species richness (Dengler 2006) and often persist on small and fragmented surfaces. Yet very few studies have examined the relationships between heterogeneity and plant diversity at small scales, in particular in poor-nutrient and low productive environment (Shmida and Wilson 1985, Lundholm 2003). In order to assess these relationships both in space and time in relationship, two different approaches were employed in the present study, in two gypsum outcrops of Northern Apennine. Diachronic and synchronic samplings from April 2012 to March 2013 were performed. A 50x50 cm plot was used in both samplings such as the sampling unit base. The diachronic survey aims to investigate seasonal patterning of plant diversity by the use of images analysis techniques integrated with field data and considering also seasonal climatic trend, the substrate quality and its variation in time. The purpose of the further, synchronic sampling was to describe plant diversity pattern as a function of the environmental heterogeneity meaning in substrate typologies, soil depth and topographic features. Results showed that responses of diversity pattern depend both on the resources availability, environmental heterogeneity and the manner in which the different taxonomic group access to them during the year. Species richness and Shannon diversity were positively affected by increasing in substrate heterogeneity. Furthermore a good turnover in seasonal species occurrence was detected. This vegetation may be described by the coexistence of three groups of species which created a gradient from early colonization stages, characterized by greater slope and predominance of bare rock, gradually to situation of more developed soil.

Urine proteome in animals of veterinary interest: species comparison and new biomarkers of nephropathy

Urine is considered an ideal source of biomarkers, however in veterinary medicine a complete study on the urine proteome is still lacking. The present work aimed to apply proteomic techniques to the separation of the urine proteome in dogs, cats, horses, cows and some non-conventional species. High resolution electrophoresis (HRE) was also validated for the quantification of albuminuria in dogs and cats. In healthy cats, applying SDS-PAGE and 2DE coupled to mass spectrometry (MS), was produced a reference map of the urine proteome. Moreover, 13 differentially represented urine proteins were linked with CKD, suggesting uromodulin, cauxin, CFAD, Apo-H, RBP and CYSM as candidate biomarkers to be investigated further. In dogs, applying SDS-PAGE coupled to MS, was highlighted a specific pattern in healthy animals showing important differences in patients affected by leishmaniasis. In particular, uromodulin could be a putative biomarker of tubular damage while arginine esterase and low MW proteins needs to be investigated further. In cows, applying SDS-PAGE, were highlighted different patterns between heifers and cows showing some interesting changes during pregnancy. In particular, putative alpha-fetoprotein and b-PAP needs to be further investigated. In horses, applying SDS-PAGE, was produced a reference profile characterized by 13±4 protein bands and the most represented one was the putative uromodulin. Proteinuric horses showed the decrease of the putative uromodulin band and the appearance of 2 to 4 protein bands at higher MW and a greater variability in the range of MW between 49 and 17 kDa. In felids and giraffes was quantified proteinuria reporting the first data for UTP and UPC. Moreover, by means of SDS-PAGE, were highlighted species-specific electrophoretic patterns in big felids and giraffes.