Mechanisms of stress adaptation in sediment microbiome of the Deception Volcanic Island in the Maritime Antarctic

• Grant number: 17/03172-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: June 01, 2017
• End date: April 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Valeria Maia Merzel
• Grantee: Victor Borin Centurion Biruel
• Host Institution: Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas Químicas, Biológicas e Agrícolas (CPQBA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Paulínia , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/22891-0 - Genome recovery from metagenomics data and functional analysis of soil microbiome from Whalers Bay: Antarctic samples, BE.EP.DD

Abstract

Deception Island has peculiar characteristics, since this island is an active volcano whose crater was flooded by seawater. Due to the limited extent in space and time of research stations that existed on Deception Island, it is quite preserved, with minimal anthropic impact. Among the different selective pressures of the Antarctic environment are: low temperature, desiccation, hypersalinity, high UVA and UVB radiation, and low concentration of nutrients. Thus, mechanisms of tolerance to different "extreme" environmental factors are necessary for survival in the Antarctic continent. These strategies include stress proteins and chaperones specialized in this type of environment, such as cold stress response proteins, Heat Shock Proteins (HSP), and antioxidants produced in response to Oxidative stress, in addition to the Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs). In this sense, the objective of this project is the comparative analysis of the soil microbiome of Deception Island - Antarctica, under different temperatures, focusing on genes of stress response. For this, an integrated metagenomic and metatranscriptom approach will be employed, based on large-scale sequencing of environmental samples and phosmidial clones, and subsequent bioinformatics analyzes for assembly, prediction and annotation in specific databases. The expected results include obtaining unpublished information about the phylogenetic and functional diversity present in the samples under study in a way that contributes to the understanding of microbial interactions and molecular mechanisms that support life in the extreme conditions of Antarctic environments. (AU)

Scientific publications

(5)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CENTURION, V. B.; SILVA, J. B.; DUARTE, A. W. F.; ROSA, L. H.; OLIVEIRA, V. M.. Comparing resistome profiles from anthropogenically impacted and non-impacted areas of two South Shetland Islands-Maritime Antarctica. Environmental Pollution, v. 304, p. 9-pg., 2022-07-01. (16/05640-6, 17/03172-8)

CENTURION, V. B.; DELFORNO, T. P.; LACERDA-JUNIOR, G. V.; DUARTE, A. W. F.; SILVA, U.; BELLINI, G. B.; ROSA, L. H.; OLIVEIRA, V. M.. Unveiling resistome profiles in the sediments of an Antarctic volcanic island. Environmental Pollution, v. 255, n. 2, DEC 2019. (16/05640-6, 17/03172-8)

CENTURION, V. B.; LACERDA-JUNIOR, V, G.; DUARTE, A. W. F.; SILVA, T. R.; SILVA, L. J.; ROSA, L. H.; OLIVEIRA, V. M.. Dynamics of microbial stress responses driven by abiotic changes along a temporal gradient in Deception Island, Maritime Antarctica. Science of The Total Environment, v. 758, MAR 1 2021. (16/05640-6, 17/03172-8)

CENTURION, V. B.; CAMPANARO, S.; BASILE, A.; TREU, L.; OLIVEIRA, V. M.. Microbiome structure in biofilms from a volcanic island in Maritime Antarctica investigated by genome-centric metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. MICROBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH, v. 265, p. 11-pg., 2022-12-01. (19/22891-0, 16/05640-6, 17/03172-8)

CENTURION, V. B.; DELFORNO, T. P.; LACERDA-JUNIOR, G. V.; DUARTE, A. W. F.; SILVA, U.; BELLINI, G. B.; ROSA, L. H.; OLIVEIRA, V. M.. Unveiling resistome profiles in the sediments of an Antarctic volcanic island. Environmental Pollution, v. 255, p. 12-pg., 2019-12-01. (16/05640-6, 17/03172-8)