Lines of Research

Development of functional biomaterials

This line of research was primariy supported by an ambitious ERC-Co grant that aimed at dissecting the potential of plant lipid polymers capable to spontaneously rearrange as an antimicrobial barrier to develop novel antifungal therapies. We are exploring a diversity of polyester structural variants to unravel how chemistry & structure influence biological properties, emphasizing fungi-plant interactions in a diversity of contexts. Our vision is to develop biomimetic systems for producing functional polyester-based materials.

By resorting to customized ionic liquid-based systems we can purify these polymers from plant materials in a near-native state, including suberin nanoparticles that are capable to kill bacteria and yeast cells. We are exploring advance spectroscopic methods (e.g. NMR) to dissect their structural chemistry. Studies to uncover their antimicrobial mechanism of action are ongoing. This includes, their ability to impact the developmental cycle of fungi (including ability to impact sexual development and to inhibit germination of asexual spores) is under scrutiny.

Prof. C Silva Pereira won in 2023 the project - AgriLoop (€400K). The international AgriLoop consortium (37 partners) aims to develop safe-and-sustainable-by-design bioconversion processes integrated in a cascading biorefinery approach, to convert a range of agri-residues (from e.g. tomato, soy, straw, potato, brewery, oil, winery and livestock sectors) into plant and microbial proteins, polyesters and other bio-based chemicals to be used for food, feed, health and materials applications, especially by the farming sector.

Green-G: Connecting all plants on Earth for telecommunications and information management was awarded by the Serendipity Collective ($60K). The idea is to replace the current telecommunications system with a plant-based one, taking advantage of plants' ability to communicate. The driving force for the application came from the Office of Naval Research Global (ONRG), one of the Serendipity Collective sponsors. The latter wining project (€300K) aims to study another mechanism taking place deep in the soil: the growth and development of mycelial cords, specialized root-like structures that fungi use to search for new substrates and survive in nutrient-poor environments. Researchers seek to decode the chemical machinery behind this morphological modification that makes fungi capable of destroying houses and crops.

Team members linked to this line of research: Artur Bento, Carlos Moreira, Isabel Martins, Nádia Ribeiro, Rita Escórcio

Environmental Mycology

We investigate the catabolic capacities of fungi for degrading a diversity of durable compounds (especially aromatics carrying or not halogenated atoms), analysing individual strains and communities. We seek for example to understand (i) how exposure to environmental pollutants may contribute to increasing the pathogenic potential of environmental fungi; (2) the genetic basis of Aspergilla for degrading aromatic compounds; (3) the potential of fungi for supporting unconventional approaches for the remediation of soils polluted with emerging pollutants (e.g. electro-remediation); and (4) identify unusual strains capable with potential for biorefinery approaches (e.g. processing of resin acids and furan-based compounds).

Prof. C Silva Pereira won in 2021 two projects (PT2020) that will help answer these questions:

BioPinus: Biotransformation of resin from pine for the production of biofixers based on bioactive compounds and natural pigments with textile application.
Ref. 13/SI/2020 - 072630. Total Funding: 262k€; Main beneficiary: BLC3 Evolution, Lda; ITQB (partner institution). Date of conclusion: 30.06.2023 (ENDED)

FATE: Study of adaptive evolution events associated with the rise of pathogenic potential in Aspergillii colonising polluted soils.
Ref. PTDC/CTA-AMB/6587/2020. Total funding: 250k€. Date of conclusion: 31.08.2024

In the search of unusual bioactive secondary metabolites, we got interested in the role of bacterial endobacteria harboured in fungal hosts. Our initial studies, which focussed an environmental fungal strain, inspired us to search for endosymbiotic bacteria in the human pathogenic fungus A. fumigatus. Our aim is to understand how the assembly of the fungal holobiont influences the resulting phenotype.

Team members linked to this line of research: Ângela Pinheiro, Daryna Piontkivska, Rita Carmo, João Jorge, Pedro Crespo, Tiago Martins.

Invited: Celso Martins and Paula Guedes

Ionic Liquids in Life Sciences

We have elucidated how structure rules the toxicity of ionic liquids in filamentous fungi. Even at sub-inhibitory concentrations, these complex organic salts alter the metabolic footprint, induce the biosynthesis of osmolytes and unusual metabolites, and activate stress response pathways in fungi. We seek explore ionic liquids for altering the expression of specific genes, proteins and pathways involved in morphogenesis, signalling and secondary metabolism in model fungi. This strategy is aiding us to identify untapped natural resources of fungal origin presenting biological activity, and also to decode unknown steps in important signalling pathways:

1. sphingolipids biosynthesis;

2. germination and growth enhancement;

3. production of peptide-based metabolites.

Identifying such compounds that allow fungi to coordinate specific developmental stages creates the opportunity to develop strategies to counteract detrimental fungal growth.

Team members linked to this line of research: Patrícia Gonçalves, Rita Carmo.
Invited: Diego Hartmann and Patrícia Sequeira

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis of conidia treated with 100 mM of alkyltributylphosphonium chlorides, [P4 4 4 n]Cl (n = 1, 8 or 12), during two hours of incubation. Micrographs (A–D) present conidia at 5000× magnification, and (A′–D′) show individualised conidium at 15[thin space (1/6-em)]000×. (A, A′) Saline solution control; (B, B′) n = 1; (C, C′) n = 8; D, D′: n = 12. Scale bars (D, D′): 1 μm.