The recently approved thematic grant “The Role of Chemistry in Holobiont Adaptation”, funded by FAPESP, aims to answer different questions related to secondary metabolism, holobionts and symbiotic microorganisms. Different sub-projects are summarized below.

Students interested to participate in these projects are invited to directly contact the investigators at the corresponding e-mail addresses. Students with different background and expertise levels are welcome to contact us, including to apply for Undergraduate Investigator (Iniciação Científica), MSc. (mestrado), PhD (doutorado), direct PhD (doutorado direto) and post-doctoral scholarships. Students interested to apply to FAPESP scholarships should have an outstanding academic and scientific record and should refer to the corresponding FAPESP instructions. Students are also invited to apply to institutional scholarships provided by graduate programs of the different institutions of the research team.

Sub-projects are largely multidisciplinary, requiring excellent motivation, hardwork, focus and dedication to solve challenging problems and address complex questions, ultimately leading to frontier scientific and potential technological developments.

FAPESP Undergraduate Investigator Scholarship

FAPESP MSc Investigator Scholarship

FAPESP PhD Investigator Scholarship

FAPESP direct PhD Investigator Scholarship

FAPESP Post-Doctoral Scholarship

Monthly values of FAPESP Scholarships

Research Program

Marine invertebrate ecological relationships

Unsolved questions related to predator-prey relationships involving marine invertebrates and their symbionts include marine sponges, ascidians, bryozoans and molluscs. Researchers involved in addressing such problems are Professor Roberto G. S. Berlinck (chemist), Professor Eduardo Hajdu (sponge biologist), Professor Rosana M. Rocha (ascidian biologist), Professor Vinicius Padula (marine molluscs biologist) and Professor Leandro Vieira (bryozoan biologist) in collaboration with “omics” specialists Professor Camila M. Crnkovic (mass spectrometry metabolomics specialist) Professors Antonio G. Ferreira and Tiago Venâncio (NMR metabolomics specialists), Professor Roger Linington (metabolomics specialist), Professor Stefan J. Green (genomics and metagenomics specialist). Research activities will include field collections and predator-prey relationship observations; taxonomic, genomic, metagenomic and metabolomic analyses; data analysis establishing relationships among prey-predator and symbionts, including evolutionary implications.

Marine invertebrate biodiversity and biodiscovery

This sub-project aims to continue the long-term survey on the biodiversity of specific marine invertebrate groups along the Brazilian costline. Invertebrate groups include marine sponges, ascidians, bryozoans and molluscs. Activities will include field collections; taxonomical analysis using morphological, physiological and genomic data; biogeographical and phylogenetic analyses. Activities will be performed by the teams of Professors Eduardo Hajdu, Rosana M. Rocha, Vinicius Padula and Leandro Vieira, listed above, as well as Professor Fernanda Cavalcanti (Calcarea sponge biologist).

Concomitant collections will be performed for the continuous biodiscovery program on marine invertebrate secondary metabolites lead by Professor Roberto G. S. Berlinck together with the marine biologists listed before, and in collaboration with Professor Raymond J. Andersen.

Bioassay specialists collaborating in the marine invertebrate biodiscovery program include Professor Rafael Guido (malaria specialist), Professor Raquel dos Santos (cancer specialist), Professor Danilo C. Miguel (Leishmaniasis specialist), Professor Fernanda Gadelha (Chagas disease specialist), Professor Andrea Dessen (Antibiotics specialist), Professor Marcelo Brocchi (Antibiotics specialist) and Professor André Tempone (antibiotics specialist).

Synthesis of natural and natural products-based compounds for pharmacological analysis

Compounds with confirmed bioactivity, including selectivity and potency, will be subjected to total synthesis, aiming to obtain larger amounts for pharmacological analyses. Natural-products based compounds, including derivatives and hybrids, are also the target of this sub-project. Organic synthesis specialists involved include Professor Ronaldo A. Pilli, Professor Igor Jurberg and Professor Marcio Paixão. Synthesis targets include alkaloids and peptides, as well as newly discovered compounds during the biodiscovery program. Bioassay specialists are listed above, in the biodiscovery sub-project. Students interested to apply at Undergraduate Investigator and MSc positions should be motivated to learn organic synthesis reactions and methods. For PhD and post-doctoral positions, students must have a good to excellent background in organic synthesis.

Microbial biodiscovery and biosynthesis

In parallel with the marine invertebrate biodiscovery, a microbial biodiscovery will also be developed, including marine and endophytic bacteria and fungi, as well as marine cyanobacteria. Compounds with unique and unprecedented scaffolds will also be the subject of biosynthesis investigations. Specialists involved in this sub-project include Professor Roberto G. S. Berlinck, Professor Simone P. Lira and Professor Camila M. Crnkovic, in collaboration with Professor Alessandra Eustaquio in biosynthesis investigations. Students interested to apply in participating in these projects should be interested to learn microbiology, biotechnology and state of art analyses using “omics” tools.

Terrestrial holobiont investigations related to plant diseases and metabolism

Specific problems related to plant diseases and secondary metabolism mediated by microbial pathogens or symbionts will be investigated by research teams of Professor Taicia Fill, Professor Severino M. Alencar and Professor Simone P. Lira, using state of art of “omics” tools. Problems to be addressed include products of considerable economic interest, which are affected by microbial pathogens or may have microbial symbionts interacting in the production of chemicals.

Automation in biodiscovery

Aiming to accelerate biodiscovery of biologically active metabolites, new tools are envisaged to be developed using automation, HTS and “omics”. The research team include automation and artificial intelligence specialists, Professors Solange Rezende, Ricardo Marcacini and Gustavo Batista, in collaboration with Professors Roberto Berlinck, Simone P. Lira, Camila M. Crnkovic and Taicia Fill.

Equipe de Pesquisadores do Projeto (Research Team)