Job description

I started my position at the Marine Bioprospecting group of the CANS-UiT last October to study Arctic viruses and how to use them against bacterial infections.

There are two main research lines to be followed, one focused on phages and the other on giant viruses. Both start with viral isolation and characterization, to be followed by host-pathogen interaction studies and investigation of how to use them against bacteria.

From the phage side the final goal is phage therapy, aiming at the study of phage-bacteria interactions in mucosal conditions for the development of prophylactic phage therapy approaches. From the giant virus side we are interested in understanding the Arctic virome, ideally using local protist hosts to find novel viral groups. Exploring their large and mysterious genomes for finding new biological products is the desired outcome.

 ORCID 0000-0003-2317-5092 ; Research ID I-8910-2012

RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

Sundberg LR, Rantanen N, Almeida GMF. Mucosal Environment Induces Phage Susceptibility in Streptococcus mutans. PHAGE. Sep 2022.128-135. http://doi.org/10.1089/phage.2022.0021 . https://doi.org/10.1089/phage.2022.0021

Almeida GM, Hoikkala V, Ravantti J, Rantanen N, Sundberg LR. Mucin induces CRISPR-Cas defense in an opportunistic pathogen. Nat Commun. 2022 Jun 25;13(1):3653. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31330-3

Runtuvuori-Salmela A, Kunttu HMT, Laanto E, Almeida GMF, Mäkelä K, Middelboe M, Sundberg LR. Prevalence of genetically similar Flavobacterium columnare phages across aquaculture environments reveals a strong potential for pathogen control. Environ Microbiol. 2022 May;24(5):2404-2420. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.15901

Almeida GMF, Sundberg LR. The forgotten tale of Brazilian phage therapy. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020 May;20(5):e90-e101. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30060-8

Almeida GMF, Laanto E, Ashrafi R, Sundberg LR. Bacteriophage Adherence to Mucus Mediates Preventive Protection against Pathogenic Bacteria. mBio. 2019 Nov 19;10(6):e01984-19. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01984-19

Borges I, Rodrigues RAL, Dornas FP, Almeida G, Aquino I, Bonjardim CA, Kroon EG, La Scola B, Abrahão JS. Trapping the Enemy: Vermamoeba vermiformis Circumvents Faustovirus Mariensis Dissemination by Enclosing Viral Progeny inside Cysts. J Virol. 2019 Jun 28;93(14):e00312-19. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00312-19