Descripción del proyecto
Microorganismos antárticos: ¿una nueva arma contra la resistencia a los antimicrobianos?
La resistencia a los antimicrobianos (RAM) se refiere a la capacidad de los microorganismos, y especialmente de las bacterias, de resistir al tratamiento con antibióticos. Supone una importante carga para la salud y provoca millones de muertes cada año. Dada la lentitud en el desarrollo de nuevos antibióticos, se necesitan nuevas intervenciones contra la RAM. En el proyecto NAfrAM, financiado con fondos europeos, se proponen ampliar la búsqueda de nuevos antibióticos a los microorganismos antárticos, que se han diferenciado genéticamente de otros microorganismos en general. La hipótesis de trabajo es que los microorganismos antárticos expresan nuevos metabolitos que pueden aprovecharse como nuevos antibióticos. Los investigadores planean identificar y caracterizar grupos de genes biosintéticos en cepas de microorganismos antárticos y utilizarlos para producir compuestos con actividad antimicrobiana.
Objetivo
Microbial resistance to antimicrobial compounds has become one of the biggest threats to global health. The inability to treat infectious diseases poses a severe threat to human health, and the costs associated with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are immense. The severity of AMR is emphasized by implementing the fight against AMR into major goals of the United Nations, European Union, or World Health Organization. One of the major issues with AMR is the long-term decline in the development of novel antibiotics; thus, new antibiotics are urgently needed. Microbes living in the harsh condition of Antarctica represent a promising new source that is worth exploring for new antibiotics. Recent studies showed a significant genetic divergence of Antarctic microbes from other microbes worldwide and suggested the enormous potential of these microbes to produce novel bioactive metabolites. Therefore, the main goals of this project are devoted to the characterization of the overall biosynthetic potential hidden within different Antarctic microbial communities through identification of a broad spectrum of the biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC), determination of their diversity, phylogeny, and environmental distribution, followed by target genome mining for the discovery of BGC producing new antibiotics. The acquired knowledge will then be used for the heterologous expression of antibiotic BGC in a suitable host, followed by compounds isolation, bioactivity verification, and the elucidation of the structure. To pursue the raised objectives, interdisciplinary methods will be integrated, such as bioinformatics, molecular/synthetic biology, and analytical chemistry. Such an interdisciplinary project will provide the applicant with excellent training in both scientific and transferable skills. Together with the applicants' participation in the excellent national and international network of the supervisor, Prof. Ziemert, will significantly enhance the applicant's career perspectives.
Ámbito científico
- natural scienceschemical sciencesanalytical chemistry
- natural sciencesbiological sciencessynthetic biology
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesinfectious diseases
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsantibiotics
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug resistanceantibiotic resistance
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinador
72074 Tuebingen
Alemania