Seminar Series – 25 Nov

SymbNET Online Seminar Series

Monthly seminars on host-microbe symbiosis, genomics, and metabolomics, with two talks from SymbNET researchers.

The seminars are open and free to all, but registration is required.

Please register once for the entire seminar series.

 

REGISTER

 

15:00 WET / 16:00 CET  

Speaker: Julijana Ivanisevic (UNIL)

Affiliation: Metabolomics Unit – University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Title: Metabolomics: Assessing the small molecule component of metabolism

Abstract: Metabolomics, including lipidomics, is emerging as a quantitative biology approach for the assessment of energy metabolism and information flow through metabolic signaling. Thereby, omic-scale metabolite analysis can provide novel insights into metabolism and its regulation, in different physiological conditions, from diverse model system to human populations. When combined with orthogonal molecular biology approaches, the findings can lead to novel mechanistic insights to enhance the functional understanding of a studied biological system. In this presentation, I will provide an overview on the role of metabolomics in this postgenomic era of biochemistry and its application to investigate metabolite role and (bio)activity, from model systems to human population studies. I will present the challenges inherent to this analytical science, and approaches and modes of analysis that are used to resolve, characterize and measure the infinite chemical diversity contained in the metabolome (along with lipidome) of complex biological matrices.

 

15:30 WET / 16:30 CET

Speaker: Sarela Garcia-Santamarina (ITQB NOVA)

Affiliation: Human Microbiota – Xenobiotics Interactions, ITQB NOVA, Portugal

Title: Microbe – Xenobiotics interactions: from single species to communities

Abstract: In this Symbnet seminar, I will first talk about how responses to commonly used medications compare between bacteria grown in isolation and bacteria grown in a complex community. We found that new interactions emerge in the community setting in a quarter of the tested conditions, including cross-protection of drug-sensitive strains and cross-sensitization of drug-resistant strains. Cross-protection mechanisms were more frequent, indicating that communities are more resilient to stress than individual bacteria. However, community resilience is compromised when drug concentrations increase. We evidence that drug metabolism and drug bioaccumulation contribute to a large fraction of the community behaviors. Finally, by following up on a specific case of communal protection, we established how cross-protection mechanisms are transferred from monoculture to community. In the second part of my talk, I will introduce my vision of the new laboratory that I am establishing at ITQB, in which I intend to study the effects of transition metals on the human gut microbiota, at various levels: gene, strain, community and interaction with the host.

 

One-one conversation slots to meet speakers are available after the seminar. Priority will be given to students and postdocs from SymbNET members Institutions, who are also encouraged to ask for advice on research and/or career options. Interested ones should contact: [email protected].

 

SymbNET Seminars