Functional screening of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria of clinical importance

• Grant number: 20/01656-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2020
• End date: April 08, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: María Eugenia Guazzaroni
• Grantee: Ana Beatriz Faulborn Denardi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/04309-1 - Novel approaches to improve functional screening of biocatalysts in metagenomic libraries, AP.JP

Abstract

Resistance to antibiotics is a natural phenomenon present in several microorganisms, however, the unlimited administration of antimicrobials, in addition to the drastic reduction in the discovery and development of new drugs, end up resulting in an intensification of this phenomenon, which currently goes on to achieve an imminent crisis of antibiotic resistance, in which simple medical procedures could be fatal due to the inability to treat bacterial infections. Thus, new research in this area is extremely necessary for the control of resistance progress, aiming at greater knowledge about resistance genes and their mechanisms. For this, the functional (meta)genomics of microorganisms presents itself as a useful tool in this scenario, since it can be used in the search for determinants of resistance to antimicrobials, guaranteeing a non-dependent assay of genes and genomes already deposited in public repositories, allowing discoveries of genes not previously identified. Therefore, the present project aims to perform screenings of genomic libraries in search for new genes with potential for resistance that will be built from bacteria isolated from a patient admitted to the Hospital das Clínicas in Ribeirão Preto, providing relevant information about antibiotic resistance genes circulating in the interior of São Paulo. (AU)