Papers by Cristina Varese
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Scientific Reports
To date, the highly adapted cave microbial communities are challenged by the expanding anthropiza... more To date, the highly adapted cave microbial communities are challenged by the expanding anthropization of these subterranean habitats. Although recent advances in characterizing show-caves microbiome composition and functionality, the anthropic effect on promoting the establishment, or reducing the presence of specific microbial guilds has never been studied in detail. This work aims to investigate the whole microbiome (Fungi, Algae, Bacteria and Archaea) of four Italian show-caves, displaying different environmental and geo-morphological conditions and one recently discovered natural cave to highlight potential human-induced microbial traits alterations. Results indicate how show-caves share common microbial traits in contrast to the natural one; the first are characterized by microorganisms related to outdoor environment and/or capable of exploiting extra inputs of organic matter eventually supplied by tourist flows (i.e. Chaetomium and Phoma for fungi and Pseudomonas for bacteria)...
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Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, 2017
A monitoring on the occurrence of nine different pharmaceutical active compounds at the inlet and... more A monitoring on the occurrence of nine different pharmaceutical active compounds at the inlet and outlet of three wastewater treatment plants in Tuscany has been made. Moreover, the overall toxicity of the wastewater was evaluated using two different bioassays.
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The metacommunity framework has been rarely adopted to investigate the underlying ecological mech... more The metacommunity framework has been rarely adopted to investigate the underlying ecological mechanisms shaping microbial communities. With the aid of advanced molecular techniques, we investigated sediment communities of Fungi, Bacteria and Archaea in four Italian show caves aiming to disentangle the effects induced by tourists on species richness and composition from environmental filtering and dispersal driven mechanisms. We modelled community changes against human disturbance —measured as the distance from the tourist path—demonstrating that the presence of visitors in caves decreases fungal species richness and causes species replacement in Bacteria and Archaea. Environmental filtering affects species richness and composition of Fungi and species richness of Archaea, while a minor role was played by dispersal, influencing only species richness in Fungi. We provide new perspectives on the dynamics of microbial communities under human disturbance suggesting that a proper understa...
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Trends in Biotechnology, 2015
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Journal of Plant Physiology, 2011
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Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 2019
In the former Carbochimica site of Fidenza, a bioremediation approach was developed using the tec... more In the former Carbochimica site of Fidenza, a bioremediation approach was developed using the technique of biodegradation of pollutants thanks to a selected autochthonous bacterial-fungal consortium. The soil was heavily polluted up to values of total hydrocarbon equal to 1800 mg/kg. The consortium was selected from the microorganism living in the Fidenza soil, bioaugmented and finally reinoculated in the bio-pile for soil treatment. The approach is absolutely innovative, due to the presence not only of bacterial strains but also for the use of fungal strains operating in synergy with the bacteria. The first data from the trials show an effective soil remediation performance. The LCA analysis allowed to make a global assessment of the environmental impacts of the bio-pile remediation treatment scenario compared to the no-action scenario. Impacts were assessed on 18 impact categories at the midpoint level according to the ReCiPe method. For the bio-augmented bio-pile remediation, the...
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Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 2012
ABSTRACT The treatment of real textile wastewater was carried out by two Bjerkandera adusta strai... more ABSTRACT The treatment of real textile wastewater was carried out by two Bjerkandera adusta strains (MUT 2295 and MUT 3060), showing a significant intrinsic variability in terms of decolorization yields (75% vs 43%). Fungal efficiency was compared with the biological technique already used in a wastewater treatment plant: fungi were active mainly towards the color whereas activated sludge towards the COD. The fungal process was optimized focusing on the biomass immobilization on four inert supports, using static or agitated colonization phases. The best results were obtained in agitation on polyurethane foam cubes; the mycelium homogenously colonized the carriers and resulted more active and stable during time. The so-immobilized fungus was used to treat a real textile effluent and the final process yield was compared to a free pellet approach. The supported biomass maintained the same efficiency than the free one; considering the technical advantages, a fungal treatment by means of a immobilized fungal mycelium showed great applicative potential. In order to provide a method more suitable from an applicative point of view, a twostep biological process was set up: the fungus and the activated sludge were able to synergically work. At the end of the process, both color (more than 60%) and COD (around 50%) were reduced in comparison to the initial values.
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Water, 2017
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Sources, Applications and Recent Developments, 2015
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Water Research, 2008
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BioMed Research International, 2014
Twenty-one moderately halotolerant fungi have been isolated from sample ashes collected from Sebk... more Twenty-one moderately halotolerant fungi have been isolated from sample ashes collected from Sebkha El Melah, a Saharan salt flat located in southern Tunisia. Based on morphology and sequence inference from the internal transcribed spacer regions, 28S rRNA gene and other specific genes such asβ-tubulin, actin, calmodulin, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, the isolates were found to be distributed over 15 taxa belonging to 6 genera of Ascomycetes:Cladosporium(n=3),Alternaria(n=4),Aspergillus(n=3),Penicillium(n=5),Ulocladium(n=2), andEngyodontium(n=2). Their tolerance to different concentrations of salt in solid and liquid media was examined. ExceptingCladosporium cladosporioidesJA18, all isolates were considered as alkali-halotolerant since they were able to grow in media containing 10% of salt with an initial pH 10. All isolates were resistant to oxidative stresses and low temperature whereas 5 strains belonging toAlternaria,Ulocladium,andAspergillusgenera were able to g...
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International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, 2015
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Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology, 2011
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Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology, 2013
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New Biotechnology, 2013
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Papers by Cristina Varese