Dr. Fernanda Claverías from USM is in charge of characterizing this new bacterial group that is extracted directly from Las Torpederas beach in Valparaíso. Its biodiversity has not been recorded anywhere else in the world.
Fernanda Claverías, Civil Environmental Engineer of the Federico Santa María Technical University, PhD in Sciences with a mention in Microbiology and researcher at the “Dr. Daniel Alkalay Lowitt”, is investigating a bacterial group on the beach The Torpedo Boats of Valparaíso which could lead to the creation of new antibiotics for use in humans.The curiosity of the group of bacteria “Actinomycetota” began several years ago and his work has allowed him to discover a new species of bacteria which he called “Spiractinospora alimapuensis”. The expert points out that “the majority of antibiotics of bacterial origin that we use today for human health come from the Actinomycetota that produce this type of compounds.”
Although it cannot be assured that this marine bacteria does not exist elsewhere, there are no records of it having been isolated anywhere else in the world. The researcher’s work, therefore, has been to decipher what the environmental adaptations are for this type of bacteria to spread specifically in Valparaíso, given that it is “a alkalophilic and halotolerant bacteria. That means that they like alkaline and non-acidic pH conditions better. It can grow without salt, but grows best in conditions with higher salinity. And that also gives us a clue that it is probably very adapted to the marine environment because the sea is slightly alkaline.”
Deciphering the genome
The researcher explains that the projections are to know the genetics of this bacteria and perform the cultures to see if there is any antibiotic component. “We do the genome analysis to see if they produce compounds that may be bioactive or antibiotics in this case”.
In this way, it is predicted whether or not there is a new compound that has this antibiotic potential. “In the case of my research, in this bacteria I have not found any known antibiotic, however, what I have been able to see through bioinformatics are potential compounds that would have very interesting modifications on which I am focusing to see if, indeed, there is antimicrobial, or even antitumor, activity”explains Claverías.
Once this work is completed, its feasibility and application in humans can be seen given the high demand for new antibiotics due to the growing resistance that has been generatedor due to the behavior of certain bacteria, otherwise, its use could be focused on the agricultural sector.
