September 3, 2025
9:30 – 9:45 EVENT ACCESS OPENS
9:45-10:00 OPENING and WELCOME SPEECHES
Conference chairs (B. Chouaia, S. Gorrasi, N. Grandi, M. Picone)
Session one: Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Microbial Diversity
Chairs: M. Fenice, P. Venier
10:00-10:40 PLENARY LECTURE
PL1. Henk Bolhuis (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research – NIOZ, The Netherlands)
"Salt, salter, saltest: ecology and -omics at different salinities"
ORAL SESSION (S1. Part I)
10:40-11:05 O1. Susanna Gorrasi (University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy)
"Neglected microbial diversity of coastal hypersaline environments and marine transition areas: study of its dark matter and hidden treasure" (Maricostems project, PRIN 2022)
11:05-11:30 O2. Bárbara Muñoz Palazon (University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy; University of Granada,
Granada, Spain)
"A metagenomic exploration of extremophilic microbiota of the Saline di Tarquinia marine saltern"
11:30-11:45 Break
11:45-12:10 O3. Elisa Banchi (National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics – OGS,
Trieste, Italy)
"The Venice Lagoon through a metagenomic lens"
12:10-12:35 O4. Matteo Florio Furno (University of Turin, Torino, Italy)
"Exploring marine fungi: antiviral discoveries from the plastisphere"
12:35-13:00 O5. Riccardo Frizzo (University of Padova, Padova, Italy)
"Multi-omics approaches in salt marsh environments"
13:00-14:00 Lunch Break
ORAL SESSION (S1. Part II)
Chairs: M. Fenice, P. Venier
14:00-14:25 O6. Eleonora Metta (University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy)
"Preliminary characterization of the prokaryotic community living in a multi-pond solar saltern located in south Sardinia"
14:25-14:50 O7. Federica Parisi (University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy)
"Marine fungi-derived compounds with antibacterial, antifungal, and antibiofilm activities"
14:50-15:15 O8. Andrea Cattaneo (University of Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italy)
"From Antarctic coasts to biotechnology: the psychrophilic Rhodoglobus sp. strain CPHL_1 as a source of enzymes and bioremediation tools"
15:15-15:45 POSTER SESSION
15:45-16:00 Break
Session two: Viral Diversity
Chairs: S. Gorrasi, N. Grandi
16:00-16:40 PLENARY LECTURE
PL2. Sonia Dávila Ramos (Research Center for Cell Dynamics, UAEM, Mexico)
"Exploring the viral dark matter of saline ecosystems"
Session three: Methodologies and Analytical Tools for Microbial Community Studies
Chairs: S. Gorrasi, N. Grandi
SEMINAR TALKS
16:40-17:10 ST1. Bárbara Muñoz Palazon (University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy; University of Granada,
Granada, Spain)
"From DNA puzzles to microbial stories: a journey into shotgun metagenomics"
17:10-17:40 ST2. Eleonora Metta (University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy)
"Beyond DNA: metatranscriptomics in the study of viral and microbial communities"
17:40-18:10 ST3. Bessem Chouaia (University of Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italy; French National Institute for
Agriculture, Food, and Environment -INRAE, France)
"Best practices in metagenomic analyses"
18:10-18:20 CLOSING REMARKS
All times in the programme are given in Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2), corresponding to Rome, Italy time.