Prospecting genes related to toxic metal resistance in metagenomic libraries obtained from water and sediment of the Tietê River

• Grant number: 17/14240-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2017
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Welington Luiz de Araújo
• Grantee: Larissa Rodrigues Vicente
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In the last decades, there has been an increase in the world concern regarding environmental problems, mainly due to the increase of industrial activity and the great population growth. With these events, the problems associated with environmental contamination have reached large dimensions and can be observed through changes in air, water and soil quality. Industrial activities, although necessary for the development of society, cause serious environmental problems due to the inadequate disposal of their effluents, being the treatment of them one of the most important subjects in relation to pollution control. The microorganisms can aid in the treatment of effluents and in the recovery of polluted environments. For this, the knowledge of microbial mechanisms associated with resistance to pollutants can be an important factor for the development of efficient lineages in the treatment and recovery of contaminated areas. In this respect, independent culture and metagenomic analyzes can contribute significantly, not only to the identification of genes and strains capable of performing decontamination, but also to mechanisms involved in resistance/tolerance to environmental contaminants. Thus, the present work aims to evaluate a metagenomic library containing fragments of approximately 40kb in fosmids, in the search for genes involved in resistance to toxic metals. This library was generated with metagenomic DNA obtained from the water and sediment of the Tietê River and contains approximately 25,000 clones. For this, the clones will be evaluated in culture medium containing cadmium, lead and nickel and the resistant clones will be sequenced and the obtained genome will be annotated to identify the genes involved in this resistance. This strategy will allow the identification and further cloning some genes related to this resistance, allowing the understanding of the mechanisms associated with the survival of these bacteria in impacted environments such as the Tietê River. (AU)