iBB

Pathogenic Vibrio species are responsible for human and animal illness and one of the main causes of human infection is related to the ingestion of undercooked seafood. Due to their filter-feeding habit, marine invertebrates, such as clams, are known to be a natural reservoir of specific microbial communities. In a recently published study carried out by researchers of ESTM, Polytechnic of Leiria, and Carla C.C.R. de Carvalho (BERG-iBB), the profile of antimicrobial resistance and the presence of virulence genes in the bacterial isolates from clams were evaluated. The presence of the mobilisable colistin resistance gene mcr-1 in three Vibrio spp. isolates highlights a potential threat to public health.

Nuno Bourbon, PhD student from the BIOTECnico doctoral programme at iBB-BSRG, was awarded 1st place in the “GENERAL” category of the competition “Science Communication in Microbiology”, promoted by the Portuguese Society of Microbiology (SPM) to commemorate the International Microorganism Day 2019. The competition seeks to encourage and facilitate the communication of relevant microbiology topics to the general public in a concise and attractive fashion by asking contestants to summarise the topic in an image which, if selected, is to be published in an eBook accompanied by a short explanatory description. His entry, entitled “Microbiology of beer”, provides an overview of the main yeast and bacterium species used in brewing and how different volatile compounds arising from their metabolism can impact the flavour and aroma of this alcoholic beverage.