PhD Student: Stefano Colombo
Tutor: Prof. Diego Mora – Defens
Dean: Prof. Francesco Bonomi
Research area: Agri-Environment
PhD title achieved on: 4th April 2017
Research topic
Role of viruses in the spreading of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in food related environment
Project Synopsis
My PhD project aims to evaluate the presence and the role of viruses in food related environment with particular attention on the mobilization of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). During the last three years, I carried on different cases of study that involve a comprehensive characterization of viral and microbial communities and the identification of ARGs in virome and microbiomes of food related environments. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was the main approach used to study both microbes and viruses, while 16S rRNA profiling analysis completed the characterization of the microbial community. Development of mesocosms in order to improve our knowledge on how viruses can modulate the transfer of genetic material in complex environments is another field of interest.
Project keywords
virome, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), horizontal gene transfer (HGT), microbiome.
Contacts
stefano.colombo@unimi.it; Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS) – Via Mangiagalli 25 – 3° piano, 20133 Milano
Sponsor
Fellowship sponsor: Università degli Studi di Milano
Publications
Colombo, S. Arioli, S. Guglielmetti, F. Lunelli, D. Mora. “Virome-associated antibiotic-resistance genes in an experimental aquaculture facility”, FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 2016. doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiw003
Arioli, G. Della Scala, MC. Remagni, M. Stuknyte, S. Colombo, S. Guglielmetti, I. De Noni, E. Ragg, D. Mora. “Streptococcus thermophilus urease activity boosts Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus homolactic fermentation”. Int J Food Microbiol. 2016. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2016.01.006
Partecipation at International and National conferences with an oral presentation
Colombo, S. Arioli, E. Neri, G. Della Scala, G. Gargari, D. Mora: “Disclosing the phage-mediated antibiotic resistances in the food chain (diPHARE-FOOD)” . 21th Workshop on the Developments in the Italian PhD Research on Food Science Technology and Biotechnology. Portici (NA). September 14-16, 2016.
Colombo, S. Arioli, E. Neri, G. Della Scala, G. Gargari, D. Mora: “Disclosing the phage-mediated antibiotic resistances in the food chain (diPHARE-FOOD)”. Cortona Procarioti. Cortona (AR). May 12-14, 2016
Colombo, S. Arioli, E. Neri, G. Della Scala, G. Gargari, D. Mora: “Il viroma dell’aria in ambienti di caseificazione (Dairy Air Virome – DAV)”. “Universo Latte: Giovani Ricercatori e Imprese a confronto”. Piacenza (PC). March 17-18, 2016
Arioli, M.C. Remagni, S. Colombo, E. Ragg, S. Guglielmetti, D. Mora: “Cooperation between species in the yogurt consortium is affected by the modulation of intracellular ph that is driven by Streptococcus Thermophilus urease activity”. 6th Congress of European Microbiologist – FEMS. Maastrich, The Netherlands. July 7 – 11, 2015.
Partecipation at International and National conferences with poster
Colombo, S. Arioli, S. Guglielmetti, G. Della Scala, E. Neri, F. Lunelli, D. Mora: “Virome-associated antibiotic resistance genes in freshwater aquaculture”. III International Conference on Microbial Diversity – The Challenge of Complexity. Perugia. October 27-29, 2015
Colombo, S. Arioli, S. Guglielmetti, G. Della Scala, E. Neri, F. Lunelli, D. Mora: “Virome-associated antibiotic resistance genes in freshwater aquaculture”. 6th Congress of European Microbiologist – FEMS. Maastrich, The Netherlands. July 7 – 11, 2015.
Others
03/2015 Winner of the prize for the best oral presentation at “Universo Latte: Giovani Ricercatori e Imprese a confronto” congress.
09/2011 – 10/2013 Master Degree in “Molecular Biotechnology and Bioinformatics” Curriculum: Industrial and Environmental Molecular Biotechnology – Study of the connection between extracellular structures involved in biofilm formation and sulphate metabolism in E. coli.
08/2011 – 07/2012 Visiting student at DTU – Technical University of Denmark (ERASMUS Project).
Updated: