iBB

The taxonomy of Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) has recently evolved significantly. The novel species B. contaminans and B. lata were proposed for a divergent group of bacteria formerly classified as B.cepacia recA K. In a recent publication in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, Carla Coutinho and Isabel Sá-Correia from BSRG-iBB, together with researchers from Hospital de Santa Maria (HSM) in Lisbon, have re-examined the taxonomic position, at the species level, of several isolates previously classified as B. cepacia recA K from a Bcc collection and also extended the identification to other isolates retrieved from CF patients under surveillance at the major Portuguese CF Center at HSM. During 15 years of epidemiological surveillance of respiratory infections involving Bcc in this Portuguese CF Center, B. contaminans was found to be involved in chronic and transient infections or to have been eradicated. The clinical outcome of the infected patients under study provided new information on the clinical impact of the rarely found B. contaminans species in CF respiratory infections. Click on tile to learn more.

The 2015 edition of the special issue Environmental Biotechnology published by Current Opinion in Biotechnology features a review on the field of yeast toxicogenomics, focusing on the role of this organism both as a cell model and as a cell factory. Toxicogenomics has emerged in the past decade as a transdisciplinary area that merges genome-wide methodologies with traditional toxicology studies to provide an integrated assessment of the cellular response to different toxicants at multiple levels. The invitation to write this review was made on the basis of the longstanding contribution of the Biological Sciences Research Group-iBB and its PI Isabel Sá-Correia to this field.
The still highly relevant role of yeast as a model organism is highlighted in this review, supported by the pioneering exploitation of multiple Omics approaches (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics...) and synthetic biology, in fields ranging from the pharmaceutical industry to food preservation processes and identification of toxicological outcomes of exposure to environmental toxicants and agrochemicals. The review also describes the most recent advances in the production of next-generation biofuels based on renewable feedstocks such as lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Yeast is a cell factory of choice in biorefineries, where genomic and metabolic engineering are greatly contributing to develop more cost-efficient bioprocess conditions and more robust engineered strains. Click on the title to learn more.