Teresa Greca, CRIMAC scholarship recipient, participated in the Annual Meeting of the Algology Group of the Italian Botanical Society (SBI) held on 14 and 15 November in Rome at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Teresa presented her work:
“Environmental Triggers of Spore Formation in Chaetoceros spp.: The Role of Nutrient Limitation and Cell Density”
The study highlights how nutrient deficiency, particularly nitrogen deficiency, and cell density act as environmental triggers, triggering spore formation in different ways in certain species and strains of Chaetoceros. These processes represent crucial adaptive strategies under stressful conditions.
Among the species analysed, C. socialis showed the greatest response in terms of spore formation, while C. costatus proved to be more recalcitrant, showing high intra-specific variability.
The study will be expanded to include an analysis of spore formation dynamics in response to exposure to heavy metals, in order to further evaluate the resilience and physiological responses of these microalgae in contaminated environments.
