Culturômica de ambientes associados a petróleo: expansão, manutenção e valoração do Acervo de Pesquisa em Petróleo e Energia (APPE)

• Processo: 24/08374-1
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Data de Início da vigência: 01 de outubro de 2025
• Data de Término da vigência: 30 de setembro de 2027
• Área de conhecimento: Ciências Biológicas - Microbiologia - Microbiologia Aplicada
• Pesquisador responsável: Valeria Maia Merzel
• Beneficiário: Alla Bryanskaya
• Instituição Sede: Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas Químicas, Biológicas e Agrícolas (CPQBA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Paulínia , SP, Brasil
• Assunto(s): Metagenômica
• Palavra(s)-Chave do Pesquisador: Biodegradation | Culturomics | Long-term preservation | metagenomics | Microbial Culture Collection | Oil and Gas Industry | Coleções de Culturas e Bioprospecção

Resumo

The aim of this proposal is to carry out an in-depth study of microorganisms from the Research Microbial Collection of Petroleum and Energy Industry (APPE), focusing on long-term preservation of selected bacteria and exploration of the biotechnological potential of interest to the Oil and Gas Industry. In addition, through the use of an innovative integrated approach that includes metagenomics and culturomics, an attempt will be made to isolate yet uncultured microorganisms from the oil and gas industry, thus expanding the knowledge about the taxonomic and metabolic diversity associated with petroleum environments and increasing the representativeness of such microorganisms in culture collections and databases. Protocols for long-term cryopreservation and lyophilization of microorganisms from the collection will be developed and tested to ensure that the viability, physiological and genetic properties of the strains are preserved. The potential of bacterial strains from the APPE collection will be investigated for the production of biosurfactants and biodegradation of highly recalcitrant hydrocarbon compounds, such as asphaltenes. Microcosms will be assembled using the most promising strains and their ability to degrade recalcitrant hydrocarbons over a wide range of temperatures and salt concentrations will be studied. For the study, fastidious microorganisms will be selected, as well as strains for which their ability to degrade oil, produce biosurfactants, and thrive under polyextremophilic conditions, including high hydrocarbon content, are known from the literature. A combination of classical microbiological techniques and the most modern high throughput methods and omics techniques will be used to address the goals of the study. The methods and tools used and developed will be disseminated among the scientific and technical staff of the laboratory and can be applied universally when working with collections of biotechnologically promising microorganisms. This will stimulate and ensure their more efficient application in the oil and gas sector. This study will expand information on the properties of microorganisms of the APPE collection, unravel new phylogenetic and metabolic microbial diversity associated with the oil industry and allow the development of effective protocols for their preservation and targeted isolation, including the maintenance of their target biotechnological properties.