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Uncovering the link between bacterial growth and secondary metabolite dynamics in soil biocrusts

Project description

Linking growth dynamics to secondary metabolite production in soil bacteria

Bacterial secondary metabolites (SMs) are valuable antimicrobials. However, discovery is slow due to rapid resistance and limited understanding of production timing across different bacteria. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the GROWMETA project will reveal how SM production dynamics in natural and laboratory settings are related to growth rates and transcriptomic changes in soil bacteria. It will conduct a time-series rewetting experiment on a Negev Desert biocrust, which serves as a model for reduced soil diversity. The project will use quantitative stable isotope probing, metagenomics, and metatranscriptomics at various time points to determine specific growth rates and expression profiles for metagenome-assembled genomes. The results are expected to improve discovery pipelines in the field.

Objective

Bacterial secondary metabolites are highly valuable to humanity as antimicrobials. However, the antimicrobial discovery rate has been lagging behind rapid resistance development. Our lack of knowledge about when and why different taxa produce secondary metabolites is a major source of difficulty in the discovery process. Studies on Actinomycetes in batch culture have shown that secondary metabolites tend to be produced in stationary phase, but evidence suggests that production dynamics are different in other phyla as well as in situ. The goal of this project is to understand how in situ and in vitro SM production dynamics relate to growth rate and transcriptomic changes in soil bacteria. To achieve this, I will conduct a time-series rewetting experiment on a Negev desert biocrust as a model system of soil with reduced diversity. I will apply quantitative stable isotope probing metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to each timepoint to obtain a specific growth rate and expression profile for each metagenome-assembled genome. I will supplement the in situ data with in vitro expression studies in isolates. Together, this will allow me to assess how growth rate & phase, expression of other pathways, and the soil environment impact secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene cluster expression. The results of this project will give unprecedented insights into the dynamics of secondary metabolite production, challenge long-held assumptions, and ultimately lead to improved discovery pipelines.

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITAT WIEN
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 230 184,72
Address
UNIVERSITATSRING 1
1010 WIEN
Austria

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Region
Ostösterreich Wien Wien
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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