Ongoing research activities in the laboratory of Microbiology and Biomedical Bacteriology address themes of general, medical and marine microbiology, using both conventional and molecular techniques. The main research topics are related to the detection and typing of antibiotic-resistant bacteria isolated from different sources and to the study of genetic elements involved in the spread of antibiotic resistance or in microbial pathogenicity.
Research highlights
1. Evaluation of the antimicrobial and antifungal activity of drugs, innovative materials and natural compounds
2. Antibiotic resistance mechanisms in pathogenic bacteria of clinical origin and characterization of mobile genetic elements involved in the spread of antimicrobial resistance
3.Bacterial adhesion and invasion assays on human cell lines to test microbial pathogenicity
4. Isolation, identification and typing of bacterial pathogens from different sources
5. Molecular basis of virulence and antibiotic or heavy metals resistance in faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) from marine sediment and expression analysis of related genes
6. Development of molecular methods for the detection and enumeration of microbial species isolated from environmental and clinical samples
7. Study of microbial biofilms and their associated unculturable bacterial cells (VBNC)
8. Study of the oral microbiota as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes