BIOSCIENCES

Thematic Area 5 - BIOSCIENCES

The Biosciences thematic area deals with the study of the biosphere in polar areas at different levels of biological complexity, from molecules to ecosystems and up to biomes. In particular, the attention is focused on the description and quantification of the biodiversity of the organisms that inhabit polar environments, to evaluate their structural and functional complexity. In this regard, scenarios of population shifts, changes in biodiversity and biogeochemical processes deriving from climate change and human impact are evaluated. The main interest is focused on the interactions between biological and ecological aspects, together with abiotic processes and effects on the carbon cycle and energy flows in the polar regions. Further fields of investigation concern the research of biomolecules of microbial origin, the ability of polar microorganisms to degrade organic contaminants and astrobiological aspects linked to life in extreme environments.
The central themes of the research carried out within the Biosciences Thematic Area are (1) structural and functional organization of polar ecosystems and dynamics of populations and communities; (2) response of individuals, populations and communities to external influences of climatic and anthropogenic origin (including loss and fragmentation of habitat, withdrawal, extraction, pollution, etc.); (3) biotechnological implications deriving from adaptation to low temperatures and/or other physical-chemical factors.
Research objectives include:
• the study of structural and functional diversity and the ecophysiology of polar organisms, to shed light on the limits of adaptation, also in relation to climate change and human impacts;
• the study of biogeochemistry and ecology in marine and terrestrial habitats at the Poles, including the environmental factors controlling biological interactions;
• the estimation of the biotechnological potential of organisms adapted to life at low temperatures and/or other physical-chemical factors;
• the exploration of behavior and evolution of polar ecosystems, through spatial-temporal analyses of ecological processes;
• the management and conservation of polar marine resources;
• comparison between trends observed in polar areas and middle latitudes. The Thematic Area Biosciences is organized into the 4 sections, i.e. Biodiversity and adaptation, Biogeochemistry, Biotechnology and Astrobiology.

Main ERC Panels:
• LS8 - Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution
• LS9 - Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
• PE10 - Earth System Science

Referents: Angelina Lo Giudice, Mario La Mesa, Cairns Warren Raymond Lee

Contact: info-biosciences AT isp.cnr.it

Sub-themes

Biodiversity and adaptations

Polar biological communities are generally subjected to the influence of various factors concomitant with low temperatures, such as dehydration, ice cover, low nutrient availability, exposure to harmful solar radiation (e.g. UV-B radiation), highly variable light periods and, in specific cases, high salinity and osmotic stress. Biodiversity guarantees the functioning of all ecosystems, so studying the properties and temporal evolution of polar ecosystems is a tool of fundamental importance for improving our knowledge on their current state and for making future predictions in relation to climatic change. The analysis and monitoring of the biodiversity of biological communities and their ecological dynamics constitute the focal point of this research topic. Of particular interest is the study of morphological-functional adaptation mechanisms adopted by polar organisms for survival in extreme conditions. Temporal processes and spatial patterns of greening are also considered through remote sensing technologies, especially as a response to the deepening of the active layer of the Arctic permafrost.
The growing human footprint in the polar regions, already made vulnerable by ongoing climate change, can have negative effects through pollution, habitat destruction, introduction and proliferation of invasive/alien species and overexploitation of resources. The study of the levels of contamination and of the potential for bioaccumulation and biomagnification in the food web makes it possible to provide integrated information on the ecosystem by identifying the hotspots in which species may be more vulnerable and sensitive to climate variability. Of interest is also the study of the colonization processes of plastic polymers, with structural and functional analysis of microbial biofilms (plastisphere) and their response to anthropic/natural forces.

Main ERC Panels:
• LS8_1 - Ecosystem and community ecology, macroecology
• LS8_2 - Biodiversity
• LS8_5 - Biological aspects of environmental change, including climate change
• LS8_12 - Microbial ecology and evolution
• LS8_13 - Marine biology and ecology
• PE10-1 - Atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric composition, air pollution
• PE10_17 - Hydrology, hydrogeology, engineering and environmental geology, water and soil pollution

Projects
•BIOCLEVER - Biophysical coupling structuring the larval and juvenile fish community of the Ross Sea continental shelf: a multidisciplinary approach
• CHARCOT - An oceanographic snapshot in the CHanging ARctiC passing thrOugh The North Pole
• CIRCE - SearChIng for EmeRging Contaminants in Sub-Arctic rivErs
• ECOClimate - Nutrient cycling, Ecosystem functioning and Climate change in Arctic lake ecosystems
• EXPLORA - EXplore PLastic pOllution in teRrestrial Antarctica
• FreshHorn - Exploring FRESHwater lakes of the HORNsund area (SW, Spitsbergen) for prokaryotic diversity and antibiotic resistance
• ICEtoFLUX - HydrologIcal changes in ArctiC Environments and water-driven biogeochemical FLUXes
• ImpAct - Input Pathways of persistent organic pollutants to AntarCTica
• MicroPolArS - Microbial response to human Pollutants in polAr lakeS
• MICROTRACER - Small MICROplastics bioindicaToRs in the changing ArctiC EnviRonment
• MORPHEUS - HuMan fOotprint elucidation in the subarctic region of the Pasvik River by PHarmacEutical and microbial multidrUg resiStance monitoring
• PUFFIN - Prokaryotic commUnities at the southern edge of the Arctic: a Focus on antibiotic resistance in lakes oF the Melrakkaslétta Peninsula (IcelaNd)
• SNOW-BALL - Mercury concentration and tolerant microorganisms in Arctic SNOW: new Bioremediation chALLenges
• TEMPLE LIFE - The TEMPLE of LIFE in the west Antarctic seas: from microbes to iconic animals

Biogeochemistry

The research activities concern the study of marine and terrestrial biological processes that modulate and influence the chemical characteristics of polar environments and the related cycles of matter and energy, and changes in their relationships driven by climate. Particular attention is paid to the evaluation of the role of microorganisms in the global carbon cycle and in the biogeochemical cycles of nutrients (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus) of marine and limnological environments (lakes and rivers), through the study of both productive and degradative processes. Among these, the activities involved in the production, decomposition and mineralization of organic polymers, through estimation of microbial activity rates (enzymatic and respiratory). Analyses are also carried out on bacterial strains isolated from environmental matrices or associated with organisms, to characterize their biochemical profiles and potential in decomposition and mineralization processes of organic matter. The data obtained constitute an indispensable tool for understanding the response of microbial communities to environmental variations and potential impacts on the functioning of the polar ecosystem. The biogeochemical processes mediated by the microbial component are also being studied in the cryosphere to understand the ecological significance of microbes in snow and the permafrost, and their ability to maintain an active metabolism under extreme living conditions.

Main ERC Panels:
• LS8_10 - Ecology and evolution of species interactions
• LS8_12 - Microbial ecology and evolution
• PE10_9 - Biogeochemistry, biogeochemical cycles, environmental chemistry

Projects
• CASSANDRA - AdvanCing knowledge on the present Arctic Ocean by chemical-phySical, biogeochemical and biological obServAtioNs to preDict the futuRe chAnges
• CHARCOT - An oceanographic snapshot in the CHanging ARctiC passing thrOugh The North Pole
• CIRCE - SearChIng for EmeRging Contaminants in Sub-Arctic rivErs
• ECOClimate - Nutrient cycling, Ecosystem functioning and Climate change in Arctic lake ecosystems
• FreshHorn - Exploring FRESHwater lakes of the HORNsund area (SW, Spitsbergen) for prokaryotic diversity and antibiotic resistance
• RESTORE - Robotic-based invESTigation and mOnitoring Ross sEa
• SIGNATURE - PhySIcal and bioGeochemical traciNg of wATer masses at source areas and export gates in the Ross Sea and impact on the SoUtheRn OcEan
• SNOW-BALL - Mercury concentration and tolerant microorganisms in Arctic SNOW: new Bioremediation chALLenges
• TEMPLE LIFE - The TEMPLE of LIFE in the west Antarctic seas: from microbes to iconic animals

Biotechnologies

Increased understanding of biological processes and recent advances in biotechnology enable the natural world to be used to drive advances in various industries, such as the development of drugs and food additives. In general, the term bioprospecting is used to indicate the exploration of living things and biological materials to search for biomolecules that may be useful for humankind. In this context, poorly known and poorly described genetic resources have a high potential for the discovery of new and valuable natural products. Therefore, polar organisms, given their peculiar metabolic capacities and physiological adaptations to extreme environmental conditions, are well suited to this purpose.
Furthermore, the development of new biotechnologies capable of carrying out bioremediation and bio-mitigation works on environmental matrices impacted by different types of pollutants (organic and inorganic) directly in-situ is not overlooked. This is done by stimulating the indigenous microbial communities, (aerobic, microaerophilic or anaerobic), including fungi and algae, to develop new bioremediation strategies (e.g. bioaugmentation, biostimulation, phytoremediation).
Psychrophilic bacteria, as a biological element, are used for the development of new biosensors for real-time monitoring, operating at low temperatures. Biosensors based on bacterial cells offer the advantage of having a high specificity towards the substrate and an immediate response mechanism, becoming a valid early-warning system to the presence (bioavailability) of a pollutant and its effect on living systems.

Main ERC Panels:
• LS9_4 - Microbial biotechnology and bioengineering
• PE10_17 - Hydrology, hydrogeology, engineering and environmental geology, water and soil pollution

Projects
• CRYOCARB - Bacterial LPSs and EPSs structural features in response to temperature fluctuations in the Antarctic Sea
• FUTURENZYME - Technologies of the future for low-cost enzymes for environment-friendly products
• SAMOTHRACE - SiciliAn Micro and NanO TecHnology Research and InnovAtion Center

Astrobiology

Extreme environments can be exploited as terrestrial analogues for the search for answers related to the origin, evolution, and distribution of life forms in the universe. Their geological and environmental parameters do not fully replicate, but certainly mimic those found for example on Mars and Venus, and the moons of Jupiter (for example Europa) and Saturn (Titan and Enceladus). In this context, to establish whether the physical/chemical conditions of a given celestial body can support life as we know it on Earth, some polar habitats are the object of investigations into galactic habitability. In fact, recent scientific evidence has shown that Antarctic hyper-saline lakes, sub-glacial lakes and even sub-glacial volcanoes have very strong similarities with possible life hot spots in extra-terrestrial contexts such as the Martian poles and the thick blankets of ice and the underlying oceans of Europa and Enceladus. These environments are suitable for testing methodologies, protocols, and technologies, for the search for possible traces of life in future space missions., For establishing the physical and chemical processes or the survival mechanisms and adaptation strategies of organisms to these extreme conditions. The information obtained through these studies are essential to improving our understanding of the metabolic capacities of polyextremophile organisms, in view of their possible use for biotechnological bioprospecting, and to broaden our knowledge on the environmental limits to which life is/was able to adapt, both in the present and in the geological past. Current frontier themes are the production of food and/or energy by microorganisms. These studies in the coming decades will be the basis for the next challenges in conquering new worlds.

Main ERC Panels:
• PE9_4 - Astrobiology

Projects
• DON JUAN - Confining the window-for-life: recovery and analysis of bio-signatures in CaCl2-saturated Don Juan Pond
• IPECA - Interactions between Permafrost and Ecosystems in Continental Antarctica
• MIMIC - Multidisciplinary Investigations on mount Melbourne volcano and its fumarolic Ice Caves

Ministero dell'Universita e Ricerca
Programma Ricerche Artico
Programma Nazionale di Ricerca in Antartide

Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale
L'Italia e l’Artico
L’Italia e l’Antartide

   CNR-ISP
   National Research Council
   Institute of Polar Sciences
   c/o Scientific Campus - Ca' Foscari University Venice - Via Torino, 155 - 30172 VENEZIA MESTRE (VE)
   Phone: +39 041 2348547 - E-mail: protocollo.isp AT pec.cnr.it
   Fax: +39 041 2348 549 - Codice Fiscale: 80054330586 - P.I.:02118311006

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