ECOBIOTEC aims to contribute to the advance of marine and environmental science from a multidisciplinary point of view. We couple fundamental ecology and ecosystems function research with bioprospecting and biotechnology tools for ecosystems recovery. Our group encompasses a broad range of studies from fish assemblages to microbial communities and associated biogeochemical cycles. Studies on fundamental microbial ecology and biogeochemistry of key elements in highly diverse environments (from estuarine to Polar ecosystems), and research on biological degradation/transformation of contaminants generate essential knowledge to develop biotechnological tools for innovative bioremediation approaches. We are also interested in the diverse services and societal benefits that marine and estuarine ecosystems provide, namely in unravelling the potential of oceans as a natural resource of microorganisms capable of providing bioactive molecules with multiple benefits to the society and in exploring native microorganisms or plant-microorganisms associations for environmental cleaning/recovery through nature-based solutions. ECOBIOTEC integrates the CIIMAR research line on Marine Biotechnology, although it gives also an important contribution to the line on Global Changes and Ecosystems Services.

BIOREMEDIATION AND MICROBES FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Principal Investigator:
Ana Paula Mucha
TEAM
Publications Highlights
Alexandrino, D.A.M., Mucha, A.P., Almeida, C.M.R, Carvalho, M.F. (2020). Microbial degradation of two highly persistent fluorinated fungicides - epoxiconazole and fludioxonil, 2020, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 394: 122545.
Francisco, P., Catarina, M., Rodrigo, C. (2020). The Link Between the Ecology of the Prokaryotic Rare Biosphere and Its Biotechnological Potential". Frontiers in Microbiology, 11.
Ribeiro, H., Martins, A., Gonçalves, M., Guedes, M., Tomasino, M. P., Dias, N., Mucha A.P., Carvalho M.F., Almeida C.M.R., Ramos S., Almeida J.M., Silva E., Magalhães C. (2019). Development of an autonomous biosampler to capture in situ aquatic microbiomes. PloS one, 14(5): e0216882.
Rodrigues, S.M., Almeida, C.M.R., Silva, D., Cunha, J., Antunes, C., Freitas, V., Ramos, S. (2019). Microplastics contamination in an urban estuary: abundance and distribution of microplastics and fish larvae in the Douro estuary. Science of the Total Environment, 659: 1071-1081.
Gorito, A.M., Ribeiro, A.R., Gomes, C.R., Almeida, C.M.R., Silva, A.M.T. (2018). Constructed wetland microcosms for removal of organic micropollutants from freshwater aquaculture effluents. Science of the Total Environment, 644, 1171-1180.
Projects
- BLUEandGREEN: Boosting scientific excellence and innovation capacity in biorefineries based on marine resources
- INNOVMAR: Innovation and Sustainability in the Management and Exploitation of Marine Resources
- CORAL: Sustainable Ocean Exploitation: Tools and Sensors
- MarInfo: Integrated Platform for Marine Data Acquisition and Analysis
- RASORGMAT: Developing water treatment technology for land-based closed containment systems (LBCC-RAS) to increase efficiency by reducing the negative effects of organic matter
- MarinEye: A prototype for multitrophic oceanic monitoring
- MYTAG: Integrating natural and artificial tags to reconstruct fish migrations and ontogenetic niche shifts
- Biological producers of Natural Fluorinated Compounds as a novel source of relevant degrading microorganisms and biosynthetic mechanisms
- BIOMETORE: Biodiversity in seamounts: the Madeira-Tore and Great Meteor
- OCEANLAB: Oceanlab - Protegendo os Oceanos: vem ao laboratório fazer connosco!
- CIIMAR at school
- SpilLess: First line response to oil spills based on native microorganisms cooperation
- MALIA: Marine litter awareness through learning by doing together
- NANOSED: Adsorption of metallic nanoparticles to estuarine sediments: what implication for denitrification?
- BIOREM: Bioremediation of hydrocarbon pollutants by autochthonous microorganisms in aquatic environment
- NITROLIMIT: Life at the Edge: Define the Boundaries of the Nitrogen Cycle in the Extreme Antarctic Environments
- ACTINODEEPSEA: Bioprospecting actinobacteria from Portuguese deep-sea waters for the production of novel secondary metabolites with pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications
- ROSM: Robotic Oil Spill Mitigation
- NetTag: Tagging fishing gears and enhancing on board best-practices to promote waste free fisheries
- TOXICROP: Cyanotoxins in Irrigation Waters: Surveillance, Risk Assessment, and Innovative Remediation proposals
- FEEDMI: Improvements in disease resistance, stress and environmental sustainability in aquaculture systems through nutritional tools and modulation of microbial communities
- ALGAVALOR: MicroALGAE: integrated production and valuation of biomass and its various applications
- AntiBacFilm: Novel marine biomolecule with antibiofilm activity
- GENiuSAMPLER: Autonomous biosampler to capture in situ aquatic microbiomes
- ATLANTIDA: Platform for the monitoring of the North Atlantic ocean and tools for the sustainable exploitation of the marine resources
- CONNECT2OCEANS: Connecting Atlantic and Arctic Oceans to Decipher Climate Change Impact on Plankton Microbiome Functions
- Ocean3R: Reduce pressures, restore and regenerate the NW-Portuguese ocean and waters
- MIDFun: Metal impacts on deep-sea microbial communities and function
- NATURE: Nature-based solutions to reduce antibiotics, pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in aquatic ecosystems
- PERMAMERC: Mercury Biogeochemistry, Fate and Impact in Permafrost Thaw Ecosystems
- BLUEFORESTING: Climate Resilient Marine Forests for a Sustainable Future
- BIOSYSMO: Bioremediation systems exploiting synergies for improved removal of mixed pollutants
- MAR2PROTECT: Preventing groundwater contamination related to global and climate change through a holistic approach on managed aquifer recharge
- PBA: Pacto da Bioeconomia Azul