Search of microbial natural products using metagenomics

• Grant number: 12/16139-5
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): October 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal researcher: Mônica Tallarico Pupo
• Grantee: Ulysses Amancio de Frias
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 14/22877-4 - Metagenomic as a tool to access chemical diversity from ecotone zones between Atlantic Forest and Cerrado, BE.EP.DD

Abstract

There has been a significant increase in the search of the new bioactive compounds to control the most several diseases in the last decades. In this context, untapped microorganisms have been considered as promising sources of natural products. The main goal of this project is to use the metagenomics as a tool to obtain bioactive microbial natural products from cultivable and non-cultivable soil microorganisms. This approach has not been intensively applied in the search of bioactive natural products in Brazil. The utilization of metagenomics for microbial prospecting is a promising tool in natural products chemistry, since it allows the access to a huge underexplored biodiversity. In this project, the eDNA (environmental DNA) will be isolate from cultivable and non-cultivable soil microorganisms from Atlantic forest colleted in Parque Estadual de Vassununga, in Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, SP. The chemical/biological potential of these microorganisms will be studied using molecular biology techniques, through library construction from eDNA and phenotypic, antimicrobial and homology-based screenings. For homology screening we will use primers for conserved regions of type I and II polyketide synthase genes (PKS I and II). The extracts and isolated compounds will be evaluated in in vitro antimicrobial assays. (AU)