Trabajo de investigación de Verónica Barragán, PhD 

y un grupo de científicos, para la American Society for Microbiology

ABSTRACT 

Exposure to soil or water contaminated with the urine of Leptospira-infected animals is the most common way in which humans contract leptospirosis. Entire populations can be at high risk of leptospirosis while working in inundated fields, when engaging in aquatic sports, or after periods of heavy rainfall. The risk of infection after contact with these environmental sources depends on the ability of Leptospira bacteria to survive, persist, and infect new hosts. Multiple variables such as soil and water pH, temperature, and even environmental microbial communities are likely to shape the environmental conditions needed by the pathogen to persist. Here we review what is known about the environmental phase of the infectious Leptospira transmission cycle and identify knowledge gaps that will serve as a guide for future research.

Paúl Cárdenas, docente-investigador del Instituto de Microbiología, aplicó para CEDIA y le fue adjudicado el Grant por 50.000 USD.  Con estos fondos llevarán a cabo un par de proyectos relacionados con el estudio de la microbiota.

Publicación de Sonia Zapata y Gabriel Trueba, 

del Instituto de Microbiología, 

en conjunto con otros investigadores  

https://www.parasite-journal.org/articles/parasite/abs/2017/01/parasite160094/parasite160094.html

The genus Culicoides includes vectors of important animal diseases such as bluetongue and Schmallenberg virus (BTV and SBV). This genus includes 1300 species classified in 32 subgenera and 38 unclassified species. However, the phylogenetic relationships between different subgenera of Culicoides have never been studied. Phylogenetic analyses of 42 species belonging to 12 subgenera and 8 ungrouped species of genus Culicoides from Ecuador, France, Gabon, Madagascar and Tunisia were carried out using two molecular markers (28S rDNA D1 and D2 domains and COI mtDNA). Sequences were subjected to non-probabilistic (maximum parsimony) and probabilistic (Bayesian inference (BI)) approaches. The subgenera Monoculicoides, Culicoides, Haematomyidium, Hoffmania, Remmia and Avaritia (including the main vectors of bluetongue disease) were monophyletic, whereas the subgenus Oecacta was paraphyletic. Our study validates the subgenus Remmia (= Schultzei group) as a valid subgenus, outside of the subgenus Oecacta. In Europe, Culicoides obsoletus, Culicoides scoticus and Culicoides chiopterus should be part of the Obsoletus complex whereas Culicoides dewulfi should be excluded from this complex. Our study suggests that the current Culicoides classification needs to be revisited with modern tools.

En junio del 2017,  The School of Public Health University of Michigan otorgó al Instituto de Microbiología un grant de NIH (considerable) para investigar Dengue y Zika en la costa ecuatoriana. Bajo la gestión de Gabriel Trueba.