2014
Our research is focused on actinomycete diversity and activity in Greek habitats. Projects involve the isolation of new indigenous actinomycetes from different types of Greek soil, marine sediments, hot springs and polluted areas, and screening of the new isolates for producers of bioactive compounds of scientific or commercial interest. The above research has led to many collaborations with pharmaceutical companies.
Additionally, we are interested in studying the survival of indigenous and other strains in soil. Establishment of phenotypical, physiological, and molecular methods for monitoring the survival and activity of Streptomyces strains in sterile and non-sterile soil have been developed. The ecology of streptomycete plasmids and the methods for detection of transferable plasmids from freshly isolated strains followed by the characterization of plasmids and host genetic background are a major interest in our laboratory.
Other research has focused on the deterioration of marble belonging to the Acropolis and other monument. Ιn situ deterioration of stone in monuments is a complex process caused by physical, chemical and biological factors. The relative importance of each factor varies according to topoclimatic environmental conditions, the stone type, its preservation state and its location on the monument. Our aim was to analyze the structure of the bacterial community related to the biodeterioration of the monuments. During seasonal samplings from many sites that bore chromatic and structural alterations, several chemolithotrophic bacteria were identified by 16S rDNA gene sequencing, isolated and characterized through enrichment cultures of selective media.
We have also investigated the microbial treatment of waste and collaborations have been established with several industrial partners and institutions. Projects include the recovery of chromium from tannery wastes through microbial fermentation, the enrichment of olive oil waste with fungal-yeast protein and subsequent amino acid production and improving the contents of carob beans, using economical and environmentally friendly technologies. We have also examined the bacterial and cyanobacterial phylotype diversity in drinking water reservoirs, recreational waters and in sand.
Other research has including investigating native actinobacteria for the production of compounds with antiaging activity. 1000 strains of our collection were screened for secondary metabolites capable of inhibiting elastase (which breaks down skin collagen and can cause wrinkles) and tyrosinase (which produces melanin and can cause liver spots).
In addition, members of the research group have developed expertise in detecting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food, also certified by the European Committee for Standardization CEN/TC 275 “Food analysis-Horizontal Methods” (CEN/ TC 275/WG 11 “Genetically modified foodstuffs”), which allows future research approaches at the level of food microbiology.
