Santiago de Compostela, 18 November 2021. The Spanish National Research Council has launched nine new research projects in Galicia funded by the State Research Agency through the 2020 calls for R&D&I projects within the state programmes “Knowledge Generation and Scientific and Technological Strengthening of the R&D&I System” and “R&D&I Oriented to the Challenges of Society”. In total, CSIC in Galicia has obtained more than one million euros to develop these projects, which are now beginning and will end in 2024.
The IIM will start four new projects (Vigo)
The Food Biochemistry group leads the project “Development of new analytical strategies to combat mislabelling in fishery products: production method and geographical origin”, whose principal investigator is Carmen González Sotelo. Funded with more than 200,000 euros, its objective is to develop methods that allow effective control of geographical origin and production method using three case studies: Mediterranean mussel and common octopus —methods for determining geographical origin— and turbot —production method (wild or farmed). To do so, they will use innovative analytical techniques, such as identifying differential microbiota related to the geographical location of mussel farming sites, RAD-SEQ (a rapid genotyping tool) to discover SNPs that make it possible to differentiate Atlantic octopus from Mediterranean octopus, and microbiota associated with different turbot tissues as potential markers of production method.
The Marine Molecular Pathobiology group leads the project “Immunity in common octopus: recognition of non-self and pathogen-induced response”, whose principal investigator is Camino Gestal Mateo. Funded with 145,000 euros, its objective is to increase knowledge of the immune system of the common octopus by characterising its immune response at cellular and humoral level against non-self. The study of the main cell populations responsible for this response using single-cell transcriptomics and the identification of the main proteins involved through shotgun proteomics will provide a global view of innate competence in these organisms. This research is expected to open new possibilities for designing prevention programmes in farmed animals, or animals kept for scientific purposes, and to provide new contributions to the evolution of immunity in protostomes.
The Immunology and Genomics group leads the project “Antiviral response in fish against RNA viruses”, whose principal investigator is Beatriz Novoa García. It is funded with more than 190,000 euros. The aim is to increase knowledge of the antiviral response of fish to the main families of viruses affecting marine aquaculture in Mediterranean countries. Specifically, the project will seek to determine common and exclusive responses to different RNA viruses that represent conserved antiviral processes which could enhance better protection against viruses. It will also study the influence of internal factors, such as excessive inflammation or the microbiome, to learn how antiviral responses in farmed fish can be modulated and improved, both innate and adaptive responses, in order to increase the effectiveness of vaccines against these RNA viruses.
The Biosystems and Bioprocess Engineering group, together with the Polytechnic University of Valencia, leads the project “Dynamic multiscale regulation in metabolic engineering: multimodel inference and dynamic optimality”, whose principal investigator is Julio Rodríguez Banga. It is funded with 90,000 euros. The aim is to develop and apply methods and tools (software) to design, build and test synthetic genetic circuits for the optimal bioproduction of metabolites of interest. In particular, genetically encoded metabolic control systems will be designed to allow cells to autonomously adapt their responses while guaranteeing titre, rate and yield requirements.
The MBG, IIAG and Incipit will also start projects under the state programmes
The MBG project (Pontevedra)
The Plant Development Genetics group leads the project “Genomics of flowering time in common bean: improving adaptation and yield potential in a climate-change context”. Funded with more than 180,000 euros, it will study how environment and genetics interact to affect flowering-time variation and how this can be exploited for the genetic improvement of common bean. To test this hypothesis, precise genetic materials and broad-diversity germplasm panels that vary in flowering time will be used and subjected to genomic analysis and characterisation of key flowering-time genes. The project brings together an interdisciplinary consortium with research groups and companies from Spain, the United States and Australia.
The IIAG project (Santiago de Compostela)
The IIAG, through the Forest Biotechnology and Improvement group, leads one of the three subprojects that make up the VARIFOR project: “Application of multivarietal forestry to the development of Fagaceae and Pinaceae genotypes adapted to climate change”. The general objective is, in the current climate-change context, to reverse forest loss by enhancing their conservation, protection and regeneration. To this end, research will focus on producing chestnut trees, holm oaks, cork oaks and pines that show greater resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses. The research, coordinated by the University of Valencia, also involves, in addition to CSIC, the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development (NEIKER).
The IIAG subproject, “Biotechnology applied to the production of holm-oak and chestnut genotypes tolerant to P. cinnamomi”, funded with nearly 115,000 euros, is led by Dr Elena Corredoira. The research, in which the universities of Turin and Extremadura and the National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research of Lisbon also collaborate, has as its main objective the production of genotypes of both species that are more tolerant to P. cinnamomi using biotechnological tools such as somatic embryogenesis, cryopreservation, multivarietal forestry and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing.
The three Incipit projects (Santiago de Compostela)
César González Pérez is the principal investigator of the project “Heritage 3.0: Argumentative and Conceptual Modelling to Improve Participation and Management Policies in Cultural Heritage”. Funded with more than 65,000 euros, it will address five case studies and a diverse sample of value discourses on heritage elements in order to carry out a conceptual and argumentative analysis that will produce models of what people say and what they say it about. Expected results include a reusable methodology for argumentative and conceptual analysis of heritage discourses, a collection of detailed reports on how argumentation loops have worked for each case study, and a unified repository of arguments containing the knowledge expressed by the associated agents, which will serve as a seed for future extensions with additional knowledge from other areas and situations. The main expected result is a set of recommendations on heritage-management policies for greater citizen participation.
Cristina Sánchez Carretero and Íñigo Sánchez Fuarros co-direct the project “HabitPAT. Caring for heritage: inhabiting and managing intangible heritage from the local level in times of crisis”. Funded with more than 60,000 euros, it has two main objectives. First, to analyse the uses of intangible cultural heritage in the formation and maintenance of associations and other forms of local collective organisation; and second, to analyse the responsibilities, obligations, expectations and returns that these uses are producing at local level. To achieve this, the research focuses on five case studies in Galicia, Portugal and Peru.
César González García directs the project “Orientatio Ad Sidera V: An approach from Heritage Sciences”, which forms part of the coordinated subproject of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands “Orientatio Ad Sidera V: astronomy, science and heritage, a multidisciplinary approach”. It focuses on the astronomy of ancient cultures of the Middle East; astronomical traditions on the Way of St James; the archaeoastronomical study of the classical world; landscapes and skyscapes of megalithism; astronomy and world heritage; and archaeoastronomy from space. These objectives seek to take advantage of Incipit’s experience and active collaboration with the IAC to strengthen synergies between both institutes in order to deepen the study and understanding of the uses of the sky by past societies. It is funded with 25,000 euros.