B. cenocepacia is a contact-dependent bacterium known for its capacity of causing respiratory infections. Among a panel of adhesins used by B. cenocepacia to contact with host cells, trimeric autotransporter adhesins (TAAs) are of particular interest. In a recent paper published in Cellular Microbiology, a BSRG-iBB team (Andreia Pimenta, Nuno Bernardes, Dalila Mil-Homens and Arsénio M Fialho) together with Michelle Kilcoyne and Lokesh Joshi from the National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland, were able to uncover the roles of the TAA BCAM2418, as an adhesin and the type of host glycans that serve as recognition targets. This work reveals the importance of BCAM2418 as a mediator of early host-bacteria crosstalk.

Amin Javidanbardan won the Eppendorf Poster Award at the 6th BioProScale Symposium “Innovative scale-up and scale-down for bioprocess intensification.” The event took place virtually from 29.03. to 31.03.2021. Amin presented his poster with the title “Rapid and cost-effective fabrication of microchromatography integrated with microelectrode impedance sensor.” Amin, a Marie Curie Early-Stage Researcher of the ITN action “CODOBIO,” is enrolled in the Ph.D. program of Biotechnology and Biosciences and is being supervised by Ana Azevedo (iBB-BERG) and João Pedro Conde (INESC-MN), both from the Department of Bioengineering. Congratulations Amin!

Levulinic acid is a versatile platform molecule with potential to be used in replacement of oil-derived catalysts explored by the chemical industry for the synthesis of many add-value products. Unlike other carboxylic acids of interest whose microbial production has been addressed, levulinic acid is not described to be produced by living systems which restrains its microbial production. Exploring the power of synthetic biology in settling new-to-nature pathways (through the association between metabolites and/or enzymes that are not found in nature), hundreds of potential combinations were screened exploring different metabolic retrobiosynthesis tools followed by extensive manual curation and genome scale metabolic modeling. Five complete synthetic pathways (with identified intermediates and enzymes) were identified as promising candidates to enable microbial production of levulinic acid. The results of this study, resulting from a collaboration between the iBB team led by Nuno P Mira and the team of Kristala Prather from MIT, were recently published in ACS Synthetic Biology. Not only does the herein described approach offer a platform for future implementation of microbial production of levulinic acid, but it also provides an organized research strategy that can be used as a framework for the implementation of other new-to-nature biosynthetic pathways for the production of add-value chemicals, thus fostering the emerging field of synthetic industrial microbiotechnology. 

FCT has just approved a new Collaborative Laboratory to foster translation and drug discovery - BioScale. BioScale wants to fill the gap existing between biomedical research and pharmaceutical industry in the transformation of scientific results into new drug products. The vision of the CoLAB is to capitalize on existing innovative research at academia by developing new biological targets and platforms for generating new drug candidates ready to be invested by industries. iBB is one of the co-partners of BioScale, which further includes iMM (the proponent), Universidade de Coimbra, Biocant, Roche Farmacêutica Quimica, Magnify Afterburner Capital Partners, VerticalSentinel, TargTex, LiMM Therapeutics, CellmAbs and BSIM Therapeutics.

Vaccines are one of the most important tools in public health and play an important role in infectious diseases control. mRNA vaccines are reaching the stoplight as a new alternative to conventional vaccines due to their precision, safe profile and flexible manufacturing. In fact, the first Covid-19 vaccines to receive regulatory approval are based on mRNA technology. In a joint review just published in Vaccine, Sara Sousa Rosa, Miguel Prazeres, Ana Azevedo from BERG-iBB, together with Marco Marques from University College London, describe the current state-of-art of mRNA vaccines, focusing on the challenges and bottlenecks of manufacturing that need to be addressed to turn this new vaccination technology into an effective, fast and cost-effective response to emerging health crises.

Agro-industrial residues rich in pectin are generated in high amounts worldwide from the sugar industry or the industrial processing of fruits and vegetables. A recent paper by BSRG-iBB researchers, published in the Journal of Fungi (special issue “Yeast Biorefineries” (edited by Isabel Sá-Correia and Naseem Gaur), describes the optimization of the performance of Rhodotorula strains envisaging the use of the major carbon sources present in Sugar Beet Pulp (SBP) hydrolysates. SBP valorization through the production of lipids and carotenoids by the oleaginous red yeasts examined, supported by complete catabolism of the major carbon sources present, looks promising for industrial implementation. The work was conducted by the PhD student of the IST PhD Programme in Biotechnology and Biosciences Luís C. Martins (FCT_DP AEM programme fellowship) under the supervision of Isabel Sá-Correia. This work was developed in the context of the ERA-NET-Industrial Biotechnology-2 project, “YEASTPEC-Engineering of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for bioconversion of pectin-containing agro-industrial side-streams”.

Burkholderia cenocepacia is a human contact-dependent pathogenic bacterium known for its capacity of causing severe opportunistic respiratory infections. B. cenocepacia uses a complex machinery for primary adherence with host cells. In a recent paper published in Scientific Reports, a BSRG-iBB team (Andreia Pimenta, Nuno Bernardes, Dalila Mil-Homens and Arsénio M Fialho) together with Marta M Alves from CQE, IST, have developed a RNASeq-based approach that led to identify adhesion candidate genes that were not previously reported in the context of a B. cenocepacia infection. This study presents a innovative technique in which their use Giant Plasma Membrane Vesicles (GPMVs) from a bronchial epithelial cell line as a cell-like alternative to investigate the steps involved in the adhesion process of B. cenocepacia.

A new research project “CAPTURA- Use of functionalized particles for the enrichment and efficient detection of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical and environmental samples” has been recently awarded to IST by the Compete 2020 programme (Call 02/SAICT/2020 - SAICT, Projetos de IC&DT, Testar com Ciência). The project’s overarching goal is to detect SARS-CoV-2 in samples other than nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs, like urine, saliva and also in environmental samples, like residual waters. Efforts will be also mobilized to develop tests for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigens. The project is a consortium of three research units of IST - iBB, the Center for Nuclear Sciences and Technologies and the Laboratory of Analysis of IST - and is headed by Leonilde Moreira from BSRG-iBB.

Ana Isabel de Vila-Santa Braga Campos will be defending her PhD thesis in Biotechnology and Biosciences at Instituto Superior Técnico, Friday the 16th of April 2021, at 15:00 am (https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/81314376867). During the last years, and under the supervision of Nuno Mira and Frederico Ferreira from iBB, and Kristala Prather from MIT, Ana Isabel investigated how pathways for the synthesis of levulinic and itaconic acids can be engineered in yeasts. The title of her thesis is “Synthetic biology approaches to foster yeasts as hosts for the production of carboxylic acids and their derivatives: emphasis on levulinic and itaconic acids”.

Octocorals are marine invertebrates abundant in the Portuguese coast, which host complex microbiomes. Yet the functional relationship between host health and its symbiotic consortium has still to be determined. A new study from an international team led by iBB researchers Tina Keller-Costa and Rodrigo Costa employed comparative metagenomics to uncover the functional and phylogenetic features of the microbiomes of healthy tissue from three octocoral species from the Portuguese coast. The authors also explored how the octocoral microbiome shifts to a pathobiome state in one of the coral species. The study reveals that the octocoral microbiome is distinct from those of the environmental surroundings (that is, seawater and sediments), is host genus (but not species) specific, and undergoes complex structural changes in the transition to the dysbiotic state. Host-symbiont recognition, abiotic-stress response, micronutrient acquisition, and an antiviral defence arsenal comprising multiple restriction endonucleases, CRISPR/Cas systems, and phage lysogenization regulators are signatures of prokaryotic communities in octocorals. The authors argue that these features collectively contribute to the stabilization of host-microbe symbiosis in octocorals and constitute beneficial traits that can guide future studies on coral reef conservation and microbiome therapy. The article was published in the journal Microbiome.

The Special Issue “Yeast Biorefineries” edited by Isabel Sa-Correia and Naseem A. Gaur for the Journal of Fungi intends to gather the most recent and original research and review papers on the identification, development, and exploitation of robust, metabolically promising, and genetically engineered yeast strains for advanced biorefineries. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a major cell factory for which vast biological knowledge and genetic tools are available. However, the exploitation of non-Saccharomyces yeasts is recently gaining momentum, making this large and heterogeneous group desirable for the synthesis of a wide range of added-value products, in particular lipids/oleofuels, bioethanol, carotenoids, organic acids, and biopolymers. Papers on the identification, exploitation, and development of robust, metabolically promising, and genetically engineered conventional and non-conventional yeast strains for biorefineries are welcome. Contributions that explore functional and comparative genomics analyses for understanding the physiological genomics of yeasts and the development of bioprocesses, especially those dedicated to the valorization of bioresidues and production of added-value products are also welcome.

In the early days of the pandemic, iBB, the Center for Nuclear Sciences and Technologies (CTN2) and the Center for Structural Chemistry (CQE) joined efforts to create a laboratory for the molecular diagnostic of SARS-CoV-2 in samples collected in several nursing homes. After running more than 4500 samples, the lab focused on the implementation of a Covid-19 Testing Program at IST. Up to now close to 6000 tests have been made to members of the IST community. The IST/iBB-CTN Covid-19 lab is certified by (Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA).

Lateral flow assays (LFA) are the dominant segment in the Point-Of-Care testing market. Analytical strips made of nitrocellulose (NC) are the heart of a LFA. However, NC is not necessarily the best matrix due to the inability to control the orientation of proteins, inconsistencies in flow rates, lot-to-lot variability, flammable nature, sensitivity to humidity, and an inherent brittleness. In a paper published in Biosensors, Miguel Prazeres from BERG-iBB with colleagues from the Indian Institute of Technology show that cellulose paper possesses the adequate characteristics to replace NC in a LFA for the quantitative, fluorescence-based detection of cardiac troponin I. It is further shown that the layering of carbon nanofibers favor the generation of more intense immunofluorescence signals. The results open up the possibility for companies to develop specialized cellulose strips for LFA. The work is funded by project CBM-X.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive and irreversible brain disorder that hampers memory and thinking, affects the capacity to perform daily tasks, and leads to physical and cognitive incapacitation. The conventional treatment occurs by the oral route, but it presents relevant drawbacks such as low bioavailability, fast metabolism, limited brain exposure, and undesirable side effects. The intranasal route has been proposed as an alternative to deliver drugs and improve treatment of AD.  In a paper published in Drug Delivery and Translational Research, Pedro Fonte from BERG-iBB performed an overview on the strategies for drug intranasal delivery for AD treatment. In the paper, the advantages and disadvantages of the nasal route and the delivery systems developed so far are discussed. A special focus is given to the use of permeation enhancers, the types of intranasal drug delivery devices, as well as possible toxicity concerns.

Enzymes are acknowledged as effective catalysts, namely, on account of their selectivity, high turnover, and ability to operate under mild conditions. Despite these advantageous features, the industrial application of enzymes still lags behind their use on a laboratory scale. This pattern may be partly assigned to the intrinsic nature of enzymes: these biocatalysts have been optimized throughout the ages to be mostly active in aqueous media and to operate in environments where substrate and product concentrations are much lower than those required for industrial processes to be commercially feasible. In this Special Issue on “Biocatalysis, Enzyme, and Process Engineering”, guest edited by Pedro Fernandes and Carla de Carvalho (iBB-BERG) in Processes, several papers discuss the latest applications of enzymes.

Little is known about the structure and diversity of chitin-degrading microbial communities across marine niches. Researchers from BSRG-iBB, including PhD student Rúben Silva and former students Inês Raimundo (now a PhD student at KAUST) and Laurence Meunier (now a PhD student at University of Brussels), and led by Rodrigo Costa and Tina Keller-Costa have shed light on chitin processing within the microbiomes of marine sponges, octocorals, sediments, and seawater. The study, published in Microbiome, integrates cultivation-dependent and -independent approaches to unveil chitin degradation pathways across diverse marine bacteria. Functional metagenomics revealed that the marine sponge microbiome is rich in polysaccharide deacetylases, suggesting the ability of this consortium to convert chitin into its more biotechnologically versatile form - chitosan. The findings further suggest that chitin is processed via multiple mechanisms across marine micro-niches, favoring the hypothesis that inter-species microbial cross-feeding facilitates the co-existence of chitin users within the microbiomes of filter-feeding marine invertebrates. The study also reports on new chitinolytic enzymes from the genus Aquimarina that may find use in the blue biotechnology sector.