The wonderful world of Protista contains organisms such as amoebae. We usually think of them as microscopic, aquatic and generally unknown organisms. However, there are some amoebae such as Physarum polycephalum that during their life cycle present a macroscopic stage. And not only macroscopic, but multinucleate. It is also characterised by its capacity of continue growth and colonising all the space that is put in front of itself. 

Some have compared it to THE BLOB of the cinema!

This amoeba has been of interest to scientists for years, not only because of its striking colour, which ranges from yellow to orange, but also because of its capacity for habituation and even "learning". Yes, it is a single-celled organism, with learning capacities. 

However and although it has been studied for many years, its genome and genetic changes adapted to the new situations are still largely unknown.

Therefore, the aim of this project, conducted at the University of Graz (Austria), was to develop a protocol to extract nucleic acids from Physarum polycephalum: a unicellular and multinucleate organism. This has been useful to perform de novo sequencing and transcriptomic studies.

Publications in preparation

The biological composition of the air has been analysed for years, especially since existing pollen grains started to be counted, in order to warn the population of possible allergy peaks. However, there are differences depending on the ascent? Are there more different particles near the ground, from where they are aerosolised, or do they accumulate in the upper layers of the atmosphere? 

a) To answer these questions, we conducted a study where we analysed at different heights, from the ground up to 1 km high, which particles made up the atmosphere with the help of a light aircraft. The bioaerosol composition at each height was analysed by High-throughput Sequencing and the posible interactions between bioparticles was also deducted (see link in the right part)

b) Nowadays, when you go to relax in a spa, go into a swimming-pool, or even visit a patient in hospital, you are exposed to the presence of pathogens such as Legionella pneumophila bacteria. The presence and growth of such bacteria, in particular, is controlled by protocols stipulated by law. However, these protocols detect it when the bacterial mass is so large that it means there is an outbreak that needs to be eliminated. This often leads to the temporary closure of the places where it has been found. But if would were it possible to foresee that an outbreak was going to occur in advance? It would be wonderful, for the spa, swimming-pools, hospitals..., because they would not have to close, and for the customers/patients, because they would not run any risk of becoming infected.

Although it seems impossible, we at ETSII have developed a protocol that allows us to detect Legionella pneumophila bacteria in the air in less than 24h!! More information can be found in the link to the paper, posted in the right part and also in the video below. The last one explained in details how the protocol, already the patent: "LegionAir-Detect" works.