Research Areas

• MUTAGENESIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

Summary: Study of the effects of environmental pollutants on living organisms, such as the presence of residues in food, air, soil, and water, addressing the basic principles of ecotoxicity and also indicating a path for environmental restoration and contamination prevention. Use of test systems and parameters for analyzing the mutagenicity of different chemical, biological, and physical environmental agents, as well as dietary components that may act as antioxidants and chemopreventives. Processes for monitoring water quality and treatment. Monitoring the diversity of fish species in impacted rivers or flood ponds of hydroelectric plants. The main focus will be on the relationships between production, the environment, and health, emphasizing some biotechnological possibilities in this field of scientific knowledge.

• Research: Ecogenotoxicological investigation for environmental monitoring and the formulation of strategies to mitigate the impacts of pollutants, and evaluation of the mutagenic, antimutagenic, and radioprotective activity of natural and synthetic products and bioactive molecules in vivo and in vitro models. || Participants: Veronica Elisa Pimenta Vicentini; Daisy Maria Fávero Salvadori; Igor Vivian de Almeida.

• Research: Use of biological products for the treatment and production of drinking water and for depollution. || Participants: Raquel Guttierres Gomes; Rosângela Bergamasco..

• Research: Cytogenetics and Mutagenesis in Fish, focusing on the following topics: karyotypic evolution, cytogenetics and molecular genetics, and cytotaxonomy for biodiversity estimation; genotoxicity (in vivo) and cytotoxicity studies in fish in environmental biomonitoring. || Participants: Ana Luiza de Brito Portela Castro; Luciana Andréia Borin de Carvalho; Carlos Alexandre Fernandes; Eliane Papa Ambrosio Albuquerque.

• BIODIVERSITY, BIOCATALYSIS, AND BIOTRANSFORMATION

Summary: Study of biodiversity using tools from genetics, genomics, molecular biology, cell biology, and bioinformatics, as a basis for applied studies aimed at biocatalysis and biotransformation, i.e., the use of plants or microorganisms that produce enzymes of biotechnological interest and the biotransformation of substances isolated from plants using microorganisms or isolated/immobilized enzymes.

Research: Genomic exploration of various plant species, including cacti, and cultivation of plant cells for biotechnological application. || Participants: Claudete Aparecida Mangolim; Maria de Fátima Pires da Silva Machado.

Research: Obtaining transgenic cultivars and genomic studies of plants. || Participants: Alexandre Lima Nepomuceno.

Research: Genetic and zootechnical studies of insects, mainly bees (native or non-native), and insects of agricultural interest. || Participants: Maria Claudia Colla Ruvolo Takasusuki; Vagner de Alencar Arnaut de Toledo.

Research: Studies of diversity and molecular characterization of natural populations. || Participants: Alessandra Valéria de Oliveira.

• BIOPROSPECTION AND BIOLOGICAL CONTROL

Summary: Prospecting for microorganisms or plants that produce bioactive compounds or secondary metabolites of biotechnological interest in the control of agricultural pests or organisms that cause disease in humans. Study and prospecting of microorganisms and animals (insects) that control agricultural pests. Study of the interaction between pests and natural controllers. Prospecting for microorganisms that degrade/bioremediate herbicides or other xenobiotics.

Research: Development of nanomaterials and nanoparticles and their application in the fields of Physics, Biological Sciences, and Biotechnology. || Faculty: Luiz Fernando Cótica.

Research: Identification, selection, and evaluation of biological insect controllers using morpho-histopathological and ultrastructural analyses. || Participants: Helio Conte.

Research: Selection of bacteria with bioremediation potential for agricultural pesticides, and mechanisms of degradation and oxidative stress. || Participants: Marcos Pileggi.

Research: Bioprospecting and chemical characterization of natural products of interest in agriculture, health, and the environment. || Participants: Eduardo Cesar Meurer.

Research: Bioprospecting of bioactive compounds from endophytic microorganisms and evaluation of their biotechnological potential in agriculture and health. || Participants: João Lúcio de Azevedo; Julio Cesar Polonio.

Research: Bioprospecting of microorganisms, with an emphasis on basidiomycetes, as producers of enzymes and their bioactive compounds with biotechnological potential in agriculture, health, and the environment. || Participants: Rosane Marina Peralta.