Description du projet
Microbes de l’Antarctique: une nouvelle arme contre la résistance aux antimicrobiens?
La résistance aux antimicrobiens (RAM) désigne la capacité des micro-organismes, et notamment des bactéries, à résister aux traitements antibiotiques. Elle constitue un lourd fardeau sanitaire, responsable de millions de décès chaque année. Étant donné la lenteur du développement de nouveaux antibiotiques, il est nécessaire de développer de nouvelles stratégies de lutte contre la RAM. Le projet NAfrAM, financé par l’UE, propose d’étendre la quête du développement des antibiotiques aux microbes de l’Antarctique, qui ont génétiquement divergé de l’ensemble des autres microbes. L’hypothèse de travail est la suivante: les microbes de l’Antarctique expriment de nouveaux métabolites qui peuvent être exploités en tant que nouveaux antibiotiques. Les chercheurs entendent identifier et caractériser les groupements de gènes biosynthétiques dans les souches de microbes de l’Antarctique et s’en servir pour produire des composés présentant une activité antimicrobienne.
Objectif
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.
Champ scientifique
- 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
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régime de financement
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinateur
72074 Tuebingen
Allemagne