As part of the collaboration between two of the most important European projects dealing with Pinna nobilis, Life Pinna and Life Pinnarca, last week saw the first meeting between the “molecular” teams of the two research groups. It was a fruitful networking action, during which the researchers from the University of Sassari for Life Pinna and Professor Francesca Carella from the University of Naples for Life Pinnarca, along with biologist Daniele Grech from the IMC Foundation, addressed the common issues between the two projects, particularly the need to find synergies for the research of pathogenic organisms and the study of genetic variability among the surviving individuals.

From an operational standpoint, biological samples from the surviving individuals on the seabed of Sant’Antioco will begin to be collected in the coming weeks, on which the researchers from the two groups will work in parallel. Additionally, thanks to Pinnarca, UNISS will genetically analyze precious samples from Spain as well. The online discussion concluded with the hope that researchers from both projects focusing on ecological aspects can soon engage in another crucial topic: the reproduction of Pinna nobilis in aquariums.

Some of the various steps in the extraction of Pinna nobilis DNA in the laboratories of UNISS are as follows:

Incubation during the tissue mantle lysis phase

Homogenization of the DNA-containing solution

Isolation of the final DNA extract