GIUV2014-187
The research activity of the Spanish Type Culture Collection group includes basic aspects, aimed at generating knowledge, and applied aspects with social projection and technology transfer. The first aspect mainly covers microbial taxonomy, and the second focuses on improving the microbiological and functional food quality and safety. Within the first approach, current research involves the polyphasic characterisation of microbial strains (principally bacteria) for taxonomic purposes and results in the formal description and conservation of new bacterial taxa and the generation of useful databases for their identification. Its activity involves the use of a multitude of tools for characterising the phenotype of microbial strains: structural, physiological, biochemical and nutritional characters, as well as the determination of chemotaxonomic data, such as the composition in fatty acids, polar lipids, quinones, majority proteins by MALDI-TOF, GC-content, etc. Phylogenetic studies based on conserved genes are also carried out, using both the 16S rRNA gene and several essential genes (recA, rpoD, gyrB, mreB, ftsZ, ...) using the Multilocus Sequence Analysis (MLSA) approach. Genomic...The research activity of the Spanish Type Culture Collection group includes basic aspects, aimed at generating knowledge, and applied aspects with social projection and technology transfer. The first aspect mainly covers microbial taxonomy, and the second focuses on improving the microbiological and functional food quality and safety. Within the first approach, current research involves the polyphasic characterisation of microbial strains (principally bacteria) for taxonomic purposes and results in the formal description and conservation of new bacterial taxa and the generation of useful databases for their identification. Its activity involves the use of a multitude of tools for characterising the phenotype of microbial strains: structural, physiological, biochemical and nutritional characters, as well as the determination of chemotaxonomic data, such as the composition in fatty acids, polar lipids, quinones, majority proteins by MALDI-TOF, GC-content, etc. Phylogenetic studies based on conserved genes are also carried out, using both the 16S rRNA gene and several essential genes (recA, rpoD, gyrB, mreB, ftsZ, ...) using the Multilocus Sequence Analysis (MLSA) approach. Genomic affinities are determined either by DNA-DNA hybridisation and/or determination of the ANI (Average Nucleotide Identity) index from genomic sequences. In addition, it includes the implementation of comparative genomics methodologies in the taxonomic field, some of them in common with the interests of the second field or research area of the group. The bacterial taxa that have received most contributions from our research group in recent years include various genera and species of Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and marine Bacteroidetes, but we have also studied food-origin lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus spp.), actinomycetes and other taxa. Applied research in the field of microbiological food safety and quality focuses on the development of rapid and quantitative methods, based on real-time PCR, for quantitative detection of pathogens in food, and their application in routine analysis. Specifically, the group has experience in quantitative detection (qPCR) of the pathogens Escherichia coli O157:H7, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus and enteric viruses, norovirus and hepatitis A virus (HAV) in different food matrices, and especially in fourth range vegetables. Likewise, procedures have been developed that, by combining the incorporation of reagents with affinity for nucleic acids with PCR (v-qPCR), allow the quantitative detection, exclusively of viable or infectious pathogens. These methodologies are being evaluated for their application in determining the effectiveness of different food sanitisation and/or preservation processes. On the other hand, the group addresses biodiversity studies of lactic acid bacteria in fermented foods through culture-based approaches, following molecular isolation and identification (PCR genotyping) and, by culture-independent methods, using next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques. These studies are aimed at the search for strains with biotechnological application capabilities. In the field of functional foods, the characterisation of lactic acid bacteria in terms of compounds of interest production to improve the technological and nutritional quality of foods such as the production of exopolysaccharides, vitamins, amino acids or enzymes and their biotechnological application is addressed.
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- Generacion de conocimiento en torno a la diversidad microbiana de ambientes acuaticos.
- Clasificacion taxonomica de bacterias marinas heterotrofas.
- Caracterizacion genomica de cepas de origen acuatico, incluyendo sus posibles aplicaciones biotecnologicas.
- Taxonomy of marine bacteria.Classification, identification and nomenclature of marine bacteria: polyphasic (phenotypic, genomic and phylogenetic) characterisation, especially of alpha/gamma proteobacteria and bacteroidetes by MLSA, DNA-DNA hybridisation, ANI indexes, chemotaxonomy (FAME/MALDI-TOF) and classical phenotyping.
- Genomics applied to prokaryotic taxonomy.Studies on the application of comparative genomics to prokaryotic taxonomy. It includes both the collection of data (new sequences, extension and/or closing) of type strains and additional strains of interest to the group, as well as their subsequent analysis with computer tools and public sequences.
| Name | Nature of participation | Entity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| M JESUS PUJALTE DOMARCO | Director | Universitat de València | |
| Research team | |||
| DAVID RUIZ ARAHAL | Member | Universitat de València | |
- Microbiology and Ecology
- Bacterias marinas; taxonomía bacteriana; filogenia bacteriana; MLSA; DDH; ANI; AAI; Vibrionaceae; Rhodobacteraceae; Gammaproteobacteria; Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidota gammaproteobacteria; alfaproteobacteria
- Genómica comparada; especie procariota; ANI; inferencia fenotípica; secuenciación masiva; genómica funcional; ensamblado; anotación, bioinformática
