Studies of microbial diversity in the Zoological Park of the State of São Paulo

Abstract

This project has as general objectives the collection, analysis, and investigation of molecular data from three microbiomes found in the Zoological Park of São Paulo state. These microbiomes are: Atlantic Rain Forest vegetation compost, water from a lake, and stool sample from Alouatta monkeys. The choice of microbiomes seeks to cover to some extent the environmental diversity found in the park and the Zoo mission of animal species protection. We will use an array of methodologies, with the main ones being metagenomic DNA sequencing, microbial isolate identification by mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics. We will generate several databases, two websites, an isolate collection, international scientific publications, and educational materials for park visitors and K-12 students. The project team includes researchers from USP (Butantan and Zona Leste campuses), from UNIFESP (Vila Clementino and Diadema campuses), and Fundação Parque Zoológico de São Paulo. The project is responsive to the call for applications from FAPESP’s BIOTA-microorganismos program, emphasizing the biodiversity characterization of microbes and specific biomes; the establishment of microbial strain collections; development of strategies to identify strains with industrial and biotechnological potential; and mining of microbial gene products for enzymes of technological interest. (AU)