Michele Castelli’s subgroup

The central topic of the research activities of the Michele Castelli’s sub-group is symbiosis sensu lato, namely the study of the interactions between different organisms, spanning from parasitism to mutualism, from evolutionary and functional perspectives

This subject includes several research lines pertaining numerous systems of study, such as in particular ciliate protists and their Rickettsiales and Holosporales symbionts, vector arthropods (ticks) and non-vector arthropods, and involving multiple approaches, including experimental activity with live organisms, molecular biology, comparative genomics, microscopy.

Current members

Michele Castelli (Researcher and sub-group leader)

Carlo Croci (Ph.D Student)

Luca Erriquez (Research Fellow)

Leandro Gammuto (PostDoc)

Former members

Michele Giovannini (co-supervised guest PhD student, University of Pisa)

Awarded grants

• European Commission H2020-MSCA-RISE-2019 Project “Next Generation Taxonomy:
  Ciliophora and their bacterial symbionts as a proof of concept” (project number 872767). Role: Beneficiary Unit Leader
• National Italian PNRR (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza) project PE13 INF-ACT “One Health Basic and Translational Research Actions addressing Unmet Needs on Emerging Infectious Diseases INF-ACT” (project number PE_0000007). Role: Project beneficiary

Publications

Teaching

2021-present: Module “Parassitologia” (3 credits) in the course “Micologia e Parassitologia con Tecniche di Laboratorio” from the Master’s degree program in “Biologia Sperimentale ed Applicata”, University of Pavia (Language: Italian),