Publications

New paper is out

As part of the project, a paper was published in the scientific journal Environmental Microbiome. The results of this research represent the first comprehensive analysis of aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs in the Adriatic Sea in a one-year study of the coastal and open sea. This research is also one of the first reports on their genus-level ecology related to biotic and abiotic environmental factors and paves the way for further research on this important functional bacterial group in the marine environment.

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PhD thesis

PhD student Iva Stojan defended her doctoral dissertation on 05/03/2024 under the title Ecology of the microbial community with an emphasis on aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs in the central Adriatic, under the mentorship of the ADRISAAF PI Danijela Šantić, PhD, and project collaborator Željka Trumbić, PhD.

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New paper is out

This study provides the first comprehensive insight into the seasonal and spatial dynamics of the picoplankton community in the Adriatic Sea in terms of abundance, the dynamics of major bacterial groups, and archaeal and bacterial diversity. Read more here.

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New paper is published in the Frontiers in Microbiology

Recent advances in new molecular biology methods and next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have revolutionized metabarcoding-based research to study complex microbial communities in diverse environments. The inevitable first step in sample preparation is the isolation of DNA, which introduces a number of biases and inconsistencies.In this study, we evaluated the effects of five DNA isolation methods (B1: standard phenol/chloroform/isoamyl extraction, B2 and B3: isopropanol and ethanol precipitation, -both B1 modifications, K1: DNeasy PowerWater Kit (QIAGEN) , K2: a modified DNeasy PowerWater Kit (QIAGEN)) and a direct PCR approach (P), which completely bypasses the isolation step, were evaluated for DNA composition and yield of bacterial “mock-ups” and marine communities from the Adriatic Sea.

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New paper is published in Acta Adriatica

During the last seven years, when we started to study these organisms, we have collected a considerable number of samples from different environments, from the coast, the estuary, and the open sea. Here we have compiled data from 34 georeferenced study sites from four studies that summarize all that is known about aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs and examine the spatial and vertical distribution and environmental factors affecting this community in the Adriatic Sea.

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New paper is published

Thanks to collaboration with colleagues at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, we have published a new paper showing the differential response of plankton (neuston) to changes in the marine environment following the deposition of pyrogenic particles from biomass burning. Read more here.

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New paper is published in Frontiers in Marine Science

We have discovered the existence of different types of microbial food web that develop in certain conditions prevailing in the marine environment. These types of microbial networks differ in their structure, stability, efficiency and functions they perform in marine ecosystems. The results of this research will provide a better understanding of the functioning of marine ecosystems, as well as the changes that can be expected in marine ecosystems as a result of global warming.

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New paper is out

A new paper in collaboration with colleagues from Czechia and Poland is published. Read more here.

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Project results published in the Scientific Reports

The paper about artificial neural network analysis of microbial diversity is published in the [Scientific Reports] (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-90863-7)

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Our results are published as book chapter in The Montenegrin Adriatic Coast

As part of the book, we were invited to describe our scientific research and include the possible negative effects of pollution on the picoplankton community in the Adriatic Sea. Šantić D., Vrdoljak Tomaš A., Lušić J. (2020) Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Picoplankton Community in the Central and Southern Adriatic Sea. In: Joksimović A., Đurović M., Zonn I.S., Kostianoy A.G., Semenov A.V. (eds) The Montenegrin Adriatic Coast. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 109.

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