Project description
Unlocking the potential of sponges and seaweeds
In the vast depths of our oceans, the potential of marine bioactive molecules is hindered by a lack of controlled infrastructure, impeding their extraction and synthesis. With corals, sponges, and algae holding the key to high-value biomolecules, the marine environment faces challenges from both global change and unsustainable harvesting. Traditional microbial engineering falls short in meeting expectations for producing these bioactives. With this in mind, the EU-funded COMBO project aims to leverage synthetic biology, omics technologies, and innovative co-culture systems to engineer marine metabolic pathways. This will offer a sustainable solution to unlock the full potential of marine sponges and seaweeds for the benefit of pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.
Objective
Despite their well-recognized potential, marine bioactive molecules are still difficult to source due to a lack of controlled culturing and processing infrastructures, and their chemical synthesis is hampered by their chemical complexity. The marine environment is largely affected by global change and wild harvesting of marine bioresources does not represent a sustainable supply of these biomolecules. The main sources of the high-value biomolecules are corals, sponges, algae, involving industrial end-users in the medical and pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic sectors. Therefore, new approaches are urgently needed in marine biotechnology as microbial engineering has not fully met the expectations for producing the marine bioactives identified in invertebrates and seaweeds. Recent advances in thesynthetic biology of terrestrial natural products are offering unique opportunities to supply bioactives of terrestrial origin. Omics technologies have also transformed the way the complexity of the marine holobiont can be viewed and today the integration of omics data such as genomics and metabolomics can increase our understanding of the functioning and processes of living organisms including their metabolic pathways. COMBO will allow the transfer of knowledge from terrestrial to marine biotechnology through the engineering of marine metabolic pathways using Omics approaches. The rationale behind COMBO lies in the power of synthetic consortia of host cells and microbial cells based on the concept of holobiont and auxotrophy. To this end, we will exploit the recent advances in co-cultures systems. Indeed, the development of synthetic consortia has been shown to support specific ecological dynamics, promote microbial species growth, and syntheses of valuable chemicals. COMBO will therefore expand the potential offered by underused marine sponges and seaweeds known to produce bioactives such as terpenoids and alkaloids for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical markets.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology phycology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.6 - Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL6-2023-CIRCBIO-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
H91 Galway
Ireland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.