Dr Ezio Rosato

Drosophila melanogaster

In my laboratory, we are interested in behaviour, namely those observable processes initiated by an animal in response to extrinsic and/or intrinsic changes to the environment.

Behaviour is a product of the brain, therefore, we use it as a convenient tool for the analysis of the nervous system.

Over the years, my laboratory has been particularly involved in studying a complex behaviour, the circadian clock, in insects and in particular in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster.

We are interested in the genes that regulate the clock and we study them by characterising their function, by examining their evolution, and by analysing their expression.  We are also engaged in understanding how clock neurons (neurons expressing clock genes) are organised and how circadian information flows through their network. More recently we have started analysing other complex behaviours such as learning and memory, courtship and sleep.

Another area of research we are pursuing is the study of biological rhythmicity in marine invertebrates. The marine environment is particularly complex as the interplay of circadian, lunar and tidal rhythms might influence the habitat of some species. We have analysed the circadian and tidal behaviour of the ragworm Nereis viriens and we are currently studying the circadian behaviour of Northern and Antarctic krill.

Publications

To view my publications please click here

 Current research projects

• Molecular Cogs
• The Rhythmic Brain
• Marine Clocks

Supervision

• Find a PhD.com for Dr E. Rosato

• Departmental PhD Project page for Dr E. Rosato