Short description

The EMBA laboratory in Messina studies microbial biodiversity by analysing communities that inhabit extreme environments and ecosystems that are significantly impacted by humans. Research activities are organised into three main areas:

Microbial Ecology: The laboratory uses a multi-omics approach to investigate the structure, function and interactions of microbial communities. This improves our understanding of the ecological mechanisms that govern life under extreme conditions.

Microbial biotechnology: Activities include bioprospecting for microorganisms in extreme environments and developing innovative technologies for environmental monitoring, particularly biosensors. Identifying and characterising extremophilic bacterial strains enables the production of enzymes of biotechnological interest with potential applications in industry, medicine and bioremediation.

Astrobiology: Laboratory studies of terrestrial extreme environments are used as analogs to explore the conditions and potential traces of extraterrestrial life. Advanced molecular methods are developed to detect signs of biological activity in environments that are considered to be similar to those found on other celestial bodies.

Study techniques

The EMBA laboratory has developed a cutting-edge analytical platform dedicated to extreme microbial taxonomy (the study and classification of extremophilic microorganisms). This platform integrates five key technological domains: genomics, imaging (microscopy), molecular analysis, cultivation and bioinformatics.

The laboratory is equipped with advanced instrumentation for microbiological and molecular genetic techniques, including the manipulation of strictly anaerobic and/or extremophilic microorganisms. The laboratory specialises in isolating new microorganisms of ecological and biotechnological interest. The EMBA laboratory has extensive experience in isolating novel extremophilic prokaryotes from a taxonomic and physiological standpoint, including extreme halophilic anaerobes, polysaccharidolytic archaea, hydrolytic and electroactive psychrophilic bacteria, methylotrophic methanogens and ultrasmall representatives of the previously uncultivable candidate phylum Nanohaloarchaea.

Matrices of interest

EMBA has consolidated expertise in molecular microbiology and in studying microbial communities thriving in numerous extreme marine environments, such as deep-sea hypersaline anoxic lakes, deep-sea seepage areas, deep-sea corals, mud volcanoes, shallow thermal vents and marine solar salterns, as well as polar environments including pack ice, subglacial lakes, dry valleys and ice caves