Microbial Ecology – Lake Cadagno
Resistance to antibiotics in the environment
Bacteria resistant to antibiotics, both pathogenic and environmental, are present in the environment and contribute to increasing the "resistance", ie the set of all genes that determine resistance to antibiotics. We study, through the use of "model" microorganisms and molecular techniques, the spread of genes that confer resistance to antibiotics in freshwater environments located in anthropized areas, that is influenced by human activities of different types (eg. discharges from urban, hospital and industrial wastewater treatment plants).
Ecology and biodiversity of aquatic fungi
Microscopic saprotrophic fungi of the group aquatic hyphomycetes carry out important processes in the ecosystems of forested streams. They drive the degradation of detritus, especially dry leaves, which are the main basal resource of the food webs in these streams. This field of research studies these processes, the importance of biodiversity, and their sensitivity to environmental change, including pollution and climate change. Projects in this research area use a combination of cultivation of aquatic hyphomycetes, their microscopic, molecular (DNA sequencing) and proteomic characterization (MALDI TOF MS), and quantification of biomarkers for estimates of biomass and enzyme expression.
Conservation and restoration
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Laboratorio microbiologia applicata
Via Mirasole 22a
CH-6501 Bellinzona
T +41 (0)58 666 62 55
lma@supsi.ch
www.supsi.ch/lma