School of Molecular Biosciences

Dr Marika Salonna

  • Lecturer (Molecular Biosciences)

Biography

 

Dr Marika Salonna is a molecular biologist with a background in evolutionary and developmental biology. She completed a BSc in Biological Sciences and an MSc in Cellular and Molecular Biology before earning her PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Bari, Italy.

During her PhD, she investigated the evolution of Yamanaka factors across deuterostomes, using Botryllus schlosseri as a model organism to explore the conserved ancestral roles of these genes in chordate pluripotency. Her work also included the use of DNA barcoding for tunicate species identification and phylogenetic reconstruction.

Following her PhD, Marika joined the University of Aberdeen as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, where her research focused on the canonical Wnt signalling pathway - specifically the evolutionary diversification of TCF/LEF transcription factors and the roles of their alternative transcripts during Xenopus embryonic development. She later transitioned into a Teaching Fellow role at the University of Aberdeen before joining the University of Glasgow in June 2025 as a Lecturer (Learning, Teaching and Scholarship) in Molecular Biosciences.

 

Publications

Prior publications

Article

Nuria P. Torres-Aguila, Marika Salonna, Sebastian M. Shimeld, Stefan Hoppler, David E. K. Ferrier (2026) Long-read sequencing reveals increased isoform diversity in key transcription factor effectors of intercellular signalling at the invertebrate-vertebrate transition BMC Biology Marika Salonna. ISSN 1741-7007 (doi: 10.1186/s12915-026-02522-w)

Connor Ross et al. (2025) WNT-mediating TCF/LEF transcription factor gene expression in early human pluripotency and cell lineages differs from the rodent paradigm Journal of Cell Science Marika Salonna. ISSN 1477-9137 (doi: 10.1242/jcs.264257)

Torres-Aguila, N.P., Salonna, M., Hoppler, S., Ferrier, D.E.K. (2022) Evolutionary diversification of the canonical Wnt signaling effector TCF/LEF in chordates Development Growth and Differentiation Scopus - Elsevier. ISSN 1440169X 00121592 (doi: 10.1111/dgd.12771)

Vanni, V., Salonna, M., Gasparini, F., Martini, M., Anselmi, C., Gissi, C., Manni, L. (2022) Yamanaka Factors in the Budding Tunicate Botryllus schlosseri Show a Shared Spatio-Temporal Expression Pattern in Chordates Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology Scopus - Elsevier. ISSN 2296634X (doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.782722)

Salonna, M., Gasparini, F., Huchon, D., Montesanto, F., Haddas-Sasson, M., Ekins, M., McNamara, M., Mastrototaro, F., Gissi, C. (2021) An elongated COI fragment to discriminate botryllid species and as an improved ascidian DNA barcode Scientific Reports Scopus - Elsevier. ISSN 20452322 (doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-83127-x)

Mucciolo, S., Desiderato, A., Salonna, M., Mamos, T., Prodocimo, V., Di Domenico, M., Mastrototaro, F., Lana, P., Gissi, C., Calamita, G. (2021) Finding aquaporins in annelids: An evolutionary analysis and a case study Cells Scopus - Elsevier. ISSN 20734409 (doi: 10.3390/cells10123562)

(2020) An integrative taxonomic framework for the study of the genus Ciona (Ascidiacea) and description of a new species, Ciona intermedia Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society Marika Salonna. ISSN 1096-3642 (doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa042)

Mastrototaro, F., Montesanto, F., Salonna, M., Grieco, F., Trainito, E., Chimienti, G., Gissi, C. (2019) Hitch-hikers of the sea: Concurrent morphological and molecular identification of Symplegma brakenhielmi (Tunicata: Ascidiacea) in the western Mediterranean Sea Mediterranean Marine Science Scopus - Elsevier. ISSN 17916763 1108393X (doi: 10.12681/mms.19390)

Rocha, R.M., Salonna, M., Griggio, F., Ekins, M., Lambert, G., Mastrototaro, F., Fidler, A., Gissi, C. (2019) The power of combined molecular and morphological analyses for the genus Botrylloides: identification of a potentially global invasive ascidian and description of a new species Systematics and Biodiversity Scopus - Elsevier. ISSN 14780933 14772000 (doi: 10.1080/14772000.2019.1649738)