Experiments in the rocky coast study the effects of the introduced species Grateloupia turuturu on native communities. The second corresponds to a gap identified by the reviewers in the most recent Associated Laboratory evaluation.
RESEARCH TEAM
Researchers w/ PhD
Researchers w/ PhD. (not eligible)
Researchers w/o PhD
MANAGEMENT & FUNDING
Management struture of the LA (2000 ca.)
Management struture (diagram)
Funding
GENERAL INDICATORS
- Composition and training
- Researchers hired under LA contract
- Technical personal hired under LA contract
- Additional comments Technical personal
Although in recent years we have been allowed to hire 10 technicians (the contract with FCT only provides for the hiring of 8 technicians) the current number is clearly insufficient for the objectives of CIMAR-LA. Considering the current number of members, the total estimated number of technicians required to support CIMAR activities and services is 20, not only for laboratories but also for the use of scientific equipment of vessels.
RESEARCH LINES (THEMATIC AREAS) RL1
Research area Marine Sciences
General objectives (1000 ca.)
Major achievements (2000 ca.)
Collaborative publications in peer-reviewed journals (approx. 2000) (Include only if more than one LA Research Group is involved up to a maximum of 10. Provide title and full citation in original language). In 2007 members of CCMAR (fisheries, biodiversity and conservation group) and CIIMAR participated in an environmental impact assessment of dredging along the Portuguese mainland coast funded entirely by industry (Amb & Veritas/Marinertes).
Future plans (2000 ca.)
An example of an ongoing collaboration is that of INRH and CIMAR in the Ocean Tracking Network (http://oceantrackingnetwork.org/). Chemical speciation of xenobiotics and natural species in order to obtain answers to the following questions: (1) how the chemical composition of the medium affects the responses of the organism in contact with it; and (2) how organisms affect the chemical composition of the surrounding medium.
Major achievements (2000 ca.) TECHNOLOGICAL
These sections allow you to provide a description of the research line as well as its productivity, collaborative results and future plans. Genetic and shell morphological variability of the invasive bivalve Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774) in two Portuguese estuaries.
Future plans (2000 ca.) RESEARCH TARGETS
Composição de espécies e variação mensal da fauna de moluscos no sublitoral de água doce da foz do rio Minho. Na esteira do sistema hiperbárico patenteado para o estudo a longo prazo e conservação de organismos aquáticos em profundidades médias e profundas.
Future plans (2000 ca.) CONSOLIDATION & IMPACT
Principal investigator Maria Teresa Dinis
Major achievements (2000 ca.) INSTITUTIONAL
The strategy to strengthen the partnership between various research groups of the Aquaculture research line to achieve competitiveness in research consortia remains beneficial. In general terms, its mission is to promote and consolidate the rationale and strategic development of the CIMAR LA expertise and research activities in the field of Fish Nutrition.
RESEARCH GROUPS 1. Research group
Group name / denomination
Researchers in the group (Include only PhD. integrated in the LA)
The main goal of the group is to study the role of hormones and their metabolites on the physiology and development of the endocrine system, using fish as the main model along with other key invertebrate and vertebrate models. Apply an integrative and systems approach, from the genome to individuals and populations, to study the evolution of endocrine hormones/systems and their impact on phenotype. Transcriptome analysis of sea bream (Sparus auratus) Pituitary: type I markers for molecular genetics.
Studies on truncated forms of the (1-34) N-terminal peptide of parathyroid hormone-related protein define regions important for activity.
Patents/propotypes (2000 ca.)
Organization of conferences (2000 ca.)
Industry contract research (2000 ca.)
Government/Organization Contract Research (c. 2000) (Insert here the work performed by the group that led to a publication or report. Of particular interest are those involved in government consultancy). Internationalization (c. 2000) (Joint publication, Research, Graduate Training Networks or other forms of participation of the Research Group at the international level) The CME has a strong international position, as indicated by 1) approximately 132 international co-authors from 66 institutions and 23 countries, 2) the number of European projects and excellence networks they coordinate or participate in (see funding). Member of the Steering Committee and Coordinator of the Fish and Shellfish Node of NoE Marine Genomics Europe (MGE).
Active member of sea bass (D. labrax) and sea bream (S. aurata) genome sequencing consortium led by Richard Reinhardt at the Mac Plank Institute-Molecular Genetics (sea bass completed 2x genome coverage; sea bream BAC ends sequenced).
Objectives (3000 ca.)
Identification of ligands for olfactory receptors, the signaling pathways and mapping of olfactory neurons to olfactory bulb centers are some of the expected results. Existing collaboration will continue and new collaborations will be sought to build new expertise and provide new approaches and capabilities to achieve the identified objectives. Differential detection of conspecific-derived odorants by the two olfactory epithelium of the Senegal sole (Solea senegalensis).
Transcriptome analysis of the goldfish Carassius auratus olfactory epithelial transcriptome reveals the presence of numerous non-olfactory GPCR and putative receptors for progestogen pheromones.
Group name / denomination Aquaculture research group (Aquagroup)
Location of group (Host institution)
Always state at the end of the citation, the journal's impact factor (IF=) and number of citations (nº C=). Aquagroup has conducted three contract research trials with some of the most influential players in the aqua feed industry. Working Group under the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for the Aquaculture Sector in Portugal.
This explains why all the research group's publications are concentrated in the year 2008.
Group name / denomination Biogeographical Ecology and Evolution
Principal investigator Maria Ester Tavares Alvares Serrao
Differential population structure of two closely related fish species, the mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and the chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) in the Mediterranean Sea. Distribution, genus and clonality in the marine environment: population genetic structure of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. Gene flow across the pillars of Hercules: North Africa's role in the post-glacial recolonization of Europe (HERCULES).
Genetic differentiation and the secondary contact zone in the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa in the Mediterranean-Atlantic transition zone.
Funding, source, dates (1000 ca.)
Workshop “Managing the Guadiana estuary – the Ecohydrology and Phytotechnology approaches” University of the Algarve, Faro 1-3 Sept. Effects of hydraulic dredging on the physiological responses of the target species Chamelea gallina (Mollusca, Bivalvia): laboratory experiments and field studies. They compared the photosynthetic performance of the invasive Sargassum muticum and the native seagrasses in southern Portugal.
Assessment of the ecological quality of Portuguese coastal ecosystems according to the European Water Framework Directive (WFD)”.
Group name / denomination Environmental Technologies
Principal investigator Maria Clara Semedo da Silva Costa
Also, it was aimed to identify the SRB consortium present in the selected inoculum, using molecular biology tools. These studies were important in identifying the key parameters of the bioremediation process and in optimizing the design of the columns. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Iron Control in Hydrometallurgy (36th Annual Hydrometallurgical Meeting).
Zygmunt Sadoski, from Wroclaw University in Poland was conducted with the aim of solvent extraction studies using malonamide derivatives.
This was due to the needs of the new species for aquaculture (the short life cycle and fast growth rates of the species imply lower production periods and associated costs) and the fact that there is potential for further exploitation, especially with regard to the production of undersized individuals (which would reduce the impact of illegal catches of this species from the natural environment). As this protocol was mastered, attention became more focused on the nutritional needs of the species. The impact of bivalve mud fishing on flatfish species in the south coast of Portugal (Algarve).
Effects of culture density on growth and breeding management of the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis (Linnaeus, 1758).
Group name / denomination Biophysics
Principal investigator
Other researchers in the group (Include here collaborators with PhD. only)
Regarding the first line of research specified in the Objectives article, the Davydov/Scott model was extended to calculate the complete three-dimensional structure of proteins and applied to the calculation of the amide I band of a thermalized alpha-helix. Influence of nonlinearity and dipole strength on the amide I band of protein alpha-helices. Davydov-Scott monomer dynamics in a thermal bath: Comparison of full quantum and semiclassical approaches.
Aims, extensions of the Davydov/Scott model to Hamiltonians that do not conserve amide I quanta will be continued.
Group nName / denomination Group of Synthesis and Organic Reactivity
Principal investigator Maria Lurdes Santos Cristiano
The work included the synthesis, structural analysis and investigation of the reactivity of derivatives of heterocyclic bioactive compounds. The successful organization of the 11th European Symposium on Organic Reactivity was a major achievement in 2007, bringing the group further international recognition in the field of physico-organic chemistry. If available, you should state the impact factor of the journal (IF=) and the number of citations (n° C=) at the end of the citation. Please provide title and full credit in original language).
It would also be important for the development of the group to have a postdoctoral researcher in the field of reactivity.
Group name / denomination BioVanadium Research Group
Other researchers in the group (non PhD.)
Despite the emerging interest in the pharmacological effects of some vanadium compounds, for example as insulin mimetics, in the treatment of diabetes, the toxicology of vanadium represents an area of increasing interest. However, the disappearance of one of the resonance of the vanadate species upon binding to protein is dictated by the total population of freely exchanging oxovanadates and would result in whether this or another vanadate species were bound to the protein. ATP is used in a process where the phosphoryl group is transferred to the Ca2+-ATPase with subsequent breakdown of the phosphorylated enzyme.
Other lines of research in the Group of BioVanadium include the study of reactive and nitrosative oxygen species in the structure and function of contractile proteins and the study of the molecular mechanisms involved in insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes.
MOLECULAR DETERMINANTS OF TISSUE MINERALIZATION
Apply robust genomic/proteomic capabilities within the appropriate group to uncover key genes/proteins involved in abnormal skeletal development and mineralization.
PERKINSUS-BIVALVE INTERACTIONS
Develop in vitro fish and amphibian systems to analyze mineralization-related pathways, gene expression and regulation, and test the mineralogenic effects of drugs. Identify orthologs of mammalian bone Gla-proteins and other bone- and cartilage-related proteins in fish, study their expression and spatiotemporal regulation to yield insights into their function and evolution.
POPULATION GENETICS
Purification and cloning of bone-related Gla proteins (OC, MGP) in a variety of fish (including an ancestral OC in sturgeon). Characterization of OC/MGP evolutionary relationship and identification of domains/amino acids essential for protein function. Cloning of mineralization-related gene promoters (eg MGP, OC, OP, SDR, BMP2, FHL2 and colX) from fish/amphibians, analysis of promoter activity and identification of transcription factor binding sites.
Establishment of a comparative proteomic platform for fish protein identification - Identification of proteins associated with bone deformations in fish using 2D techniques II.
POPULATION GENETICS Development & optimization of
Matrix Gla protein gene expression and protein accumulation are colocalized with cartilage distribution during development in the teleost fish Sparus aurata. Members of the WOPER Organizing Committee - Workshop to analyze the impact of perkinsosis on the European shellfish industry, 10-12 September, Vigo, Spain. EU/FP7/SSA/FOOD/044442 WOPER - Report of a workshop to analyze the impact of perkinsosis in the European shellfish industry.
Joint publication, research, graduate training networks or other forms of research group collaboration at international level).
MOLECULAR DETERMINANTS OF MINERALIZATION/CALCIUM MOBILIZATION (ML Cancela, V Laizé, P Gavaia, D Simes, N Conceição, PM Rodrigues)
IMAGENE photo exhibition within the MGE network (www.marine-genomics-europe.org), oceanographic cruises (www.ifremer.fr/momareto/).
UNVEILING PERKINSUS SPP (PE) METABOLIC PATHWAYS SUITABLE AS THERAPEUTIC TARGETS TO LIMIT INFECTION AND FOR BIOTECHNOLOGICAL
ACCESSING WILD POPULATION’S VARIABILITY, SEX, PARENTAL GAMETE CONTRIBUTION, GENETIC DIVERSITY (S Mira, ML Cancela)
ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON FISH SKELETOGENESIS (EDGE LAB)
- Group name / denomination Fisheries, Biodiversity and Conservation
- Principal investigator Karim Erzini
- Objectives (3000 ca.) Marine Protected Areas (MPA)
- Group name / denomination Hydrobiology
Biology, ecology and fisheries of the banded murex, Hepaplex (Trunculariopsis) trunculus, in the lagoon of Ria Formosa. A member of the group participated in the MEDITS (International Trawl Survey in the Mediterranean) cruises in 2006 and 2007 as a cartilage expert. The group has 7 ongoing projects, with funding until 2010 in the case of the BIOMARES project.
In the case of the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), the group will only receive equipment.
