Santiago de Compostela, Thursday, November 30, 2023. the group Inmunoloxía and Genomic of the Institute of Marine Research (IIM) is the dar conta revistas académicas of impact of the seus progress in the framework of the liña of research on the aplicación of the genomic and biology molecular for incrementar the knowledge on the diversidade marine.
“the oceans are the gran reservorio of the biodiversity of the planeta, algo fundamental for the seu funcionamento, xa that fornece osíxein the and absorbe starts from of the dióxiof the of carboin the xeraof the by the activity of the human being emitiof the á atmosfera. With todo, the organisms marine coñeciof the probablemente sexan só a pequein the starts from desta biodiversity marine. Sabemos that hai multitude of organisms microscópicos, descoñeciof the aínda, of the that podemos dispoñer of the seu material genetic. Teñen, also, a extraordinaria diversidade funcional descoñeciof the and constitúen a reserva excepcional of produtos bioactivos”, explica Beatriz Novoa, quen destaca that “this biodiversity en ambientes costeiros is en perigo by the efecto of the activities of the human being and the climate change, the that implica that numerosas especies poderían desaparecer without ser identificadas”.
the estuof the of the diversidade funcional and taxonómica of the pequenos organisms marine realizouse, fundamentalmente, centrándose in the its morfoloxía. With todo, in the latest years, fóronse incorporanof the new technologies baseaof the in the biology molecular, more precisas and sinxelas. Neste contexto, the group Inmunoloxía and Genomic is the develop a liña of research respecto diso that deu results destacaof the recentemente, of the that are the dar conta en revistas académicas of impact, tales the Frontiers in Veterinary Science or Science of The Total Environment.
Research desenvolviof the in the framework dun project European
in the framework of the project European (VIVALDI), the group dedicou various years á mostraxe of the columin the of water and of the sedimento nunha zoin the with thestal of the Ría of Vigo, the that allowed identify, the nivel molecular, tanto bacteria the organisms eucariotas and the cambios estacionais of abundancia, thus the especies invasoras that non se detectaron mediante sistemas tradicionais, potenciais patóxenos and especies of fitoplancto tóxicas.
“the maioría of the patóxenos identificaof the poderían ter a impact crucial in the sector aquaculture or afectar the especies relevantes of the ecosistema marine, the diatomeas”, avanzan.
the group also puxo the fowith noutro tema of interest for the rias galegas: the vixilancia of the presenza destas algas tóxicas. Iso realízase oficialmente with métoof the of bioensaio for mariscos.
“Aínof the that the technologies molecular aplícanse wide and rutineiramente en research, the its transfer the laboratorios encargaof the of the seguimento aínof the non is consolidada. Thus, enfocamos the noso interest neste group of organisms aplicanof the sequencing masiva of genes. Desta forma obtivemos information on the composición of microalgas tóxicas. the noso estuof the revelou the presenza of distintas microalgas nocivas en sedimentos and en fraccións planctónicas. Also puidemos identify especies the Pseudo-nitzschia, and mesmo especies non reportaof the previamente in the área (P. turgidula)”, explica Antonio Figueras “this enfoque molecular pode complementar aos methods baseaof the in the morfoloxía, that generally carecen of resolución the nivel of species debiof the the diferenzas morfolóxicas sutís or to the small size dalgúns organisms, and by ser methods that requiren moito tempo and deben ser realizaof the by staff altamente capacitaof the with experiencia taxonómica”.
“in the group estimamos that to the redor dun 60% of the material xenétiwith that podemos secuenciar nunha mostra of water of sea, altamente complexa consideranof the the diversidade of microorganisms that pode conter, é aínof the inclasificable using algoritmos of comparación of sequences” engade Magalí Rey-Campos.
the group also aplicou the knowledge of genomic and bioinformática for determinar the microbioma of the waters residuais that verten á Ría of Vigo, and puxo the fowith en especies filtradoras, the mexillón, that poden acumular microrganismos debiof the to the seu carácter filtrador.
Research for identify viruses in the ecosistema marine
Noutro work, the group empregou a aproximación metatranscriptómica, secuencianof the RNA that identifica the genes that realmente are activos in the organisms or in the medio ambiente the that allowed identify and quantify viruses, bacteria, protozoos and fungi en molluscs procedentes of distintos lugares of the mundo.
the detección of viruses é, without dúbida, the starts from more difícil of the seus estudos, xa that the diferenza of bacteria or protozoos, non teñen sequences xenéticas facilmente recoñecibles. Empreganof the the sequencing of RNA (Metatranscriptomica) the group “desenmascarou” the viroma of molluscs, en specifically, the viruses RNA, moito more difíciles of rastrexar that the of DNA,
“the identificación of viruses and comprensión of the interacción viral with organisms in the marine ecosystems is in the its infancia. in the group xa detectamos the presenza of the SARS-Cov2 in the pandemia of COVID non só en depuradoras distribuíof the by toof the Galicia senón also in the water of sea next aos efluentes and in the sedimentos and organisms marine. the metatranscriptómica could converterse nunha ferramenta useful for identify viruses mediante a enfoque amplo and the crecente número of xenomas and sequences virales depositaof the nunha base of duntil públicas”, destaca Antonio Figueras.
En total, neste work the researchers of IIM detectaron 50 viruses, of the cales 33 were consideraof the new viruses debiof the á its diverxencia with respecto the aqueles coñecidos. the more relevantes were the viruses RNA monocatenarios: picornavirus, nodavirus and rhabdovirus. Between the results destaca the elevaof the número of rhabdovirus achaof the in the cefalópodos.
“With this work confírmase the utilidade of the techniques of sequencing masiva the a gran ferramenta for monitorear and diagnosticar patóxenos and for prever and explain posibles mortalidades masivas that, the day of today, or pasan desapercibiof the or are inexplicables with thes techniques and metodoloxías empregadas. Continuaremos desenvolvenof the new technologies complexas of genomic and bioinformática that will allow coñecer the gran diversidade of microorganisms in the oceans, fundamentalmente in the ambientes costeiros galegos, that are of the poucos lugares in the munof the in the that produce the phenomenon of afloramento”, avanzan from the group.