Bilde av de Freitas Almeida, Gabriel Magno
Bilde av de Freitas Almeida, Gabriel Magno
The Norwegian College of Fishery Science gabriel.d.almeida@uit.no +4777646537

Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida


Associate professor

Job description

I started my position at the Marine Bioprospecting group of the CANS-UiT in October 2022 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

 

Activities from the research group in the news:

UiTs aller første bakteriofager - https://uit.no/nyheter/artikkel?p_document_id=774210

The Arctic Giant from Tromsø - https://en.uit.no/nyheter/forskerhjornet/827829/the_arctic_giant_from_tromso

 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

Queiroz VF, Tatara JM, Botelho BB, Rodrigues RAL, Almeida GMF, Abrahao JS. The consequences of viral infection on protists. Commun Biol 7, 306 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06001-2

Hongo JA, Castro GM, Menezes APA, Picorelli ACR, Silva TTM, Imada EL, Marchionni L, Del-Bem LE, Chaves AV, Almeida GMF, Campelo F, Lobo FP. CALANGO: A phylogeny-aware comparative genomics tool for discovering quantitative genotype-phenotype associations across species. Patterns Pub Date: 2023-04-14 , DOI:10.1016/j.patter.2023.100728


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


  • Jorge Augusto Hongo, Giovanni Marques de Castro, Alison Pelri Albuquerque Menezes, Agnello César Rios Picorelli, Thieres Tayroni Martins da Silva, Eddie Luidy Imada et al.:
    CALANGO: A phylogeny-aware comparative genomics tool for discovering quantitative genotype-phenotype associations across species
    Patterns 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Anniina Runtuvuori-Salmela, Heidi M. T. Kunttu, Elina Laanto, Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida, Kati Mäkelä, Mathias Middelboe et al.:
    Prevalence of genetically similar Flavobacterium columnare phages across aquaculture environments reveals a strong potential for pathogen control
    Environmental Microbiology 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Lotta-Riina Sundberg, Noora Rantanen, Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Mucosal Environment Induces Phage Susceptibility in Streptococcus mutans
    PHAGE: Therapy, Applications, and Research 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida, Ville Hoikkala, Janne Ravantti, Noora Rantanen, Lotta-Riina Sundberg :
    Mucin induces CRISPR-Cas defense in an opportunistic pathogen
    Nature Communications 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Waleed Abbas, Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida, Klara Stensvåg :
    Exploring the Presence of Norwegian Giant Viruses in the Arctic: Isolation attempts using water samples and determination of viral characteristics
    UiT Norges arktiske universitet 2023
  • Sabuj Hosen, Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida, Klara Stensvåg, Ataur Rahman :
    Isolation and Characterization of Bacteriophages from the Arctic
    UiT Norges arktiske universitet 2023
  • Zaaron Ricky, Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida, Klara Stensvåg :
    Screening for viruses using unicellular eukaryotes as hosts
    UiT Norges arktiske universitet 2023
  • Juliana Miranda Tatara, Waleed Abbas, Zaaron Ricky, Stensvåg Klara, Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Searching for the first giant virus of protists in the Arctic
    2023
  • Sabuj Hosen, Ataur Rahman, Klara Stensvåg, Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Isolation and Characterization of Bacteriophages from the Arctic
    2023
  • Sabuj Hosen, Ataur Rahman, Klara Stensvåg, Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Isolation and Characterization of Bacteriophages from the Arctic Ocean
    2023
  • Lotta-Riina Sundberg, Victoria Queiroz, Juliana Miranda Tatara, Waleed Abbas, Zaaron Ricky, Klara Stensvåg et al.:
    The search for Nordic giant viruses
    2023
  • Isabel Victoria Rey, hege Devold, Arthur Sørensen, Katharina Stark, Eiril Limstrand, Klara Stensvåg et al.:
    Building a collection of aquaculture-related phages in the Arctic (Norway)
    2023
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Bacteriophage adherence to mucus and its relevance for phage-based prophylaxis
    2023
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Phages in the North – the first two years
    2023
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    The search for Nordic giant viruses (poster flash talk)
    2023
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Bacteriófagos e os cem anos de historia da fagoterapia
    2023
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Including viruses of microbes as a resource for marine bioprospection
    2023
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Isolation and characterization of the first Nordic giant virus found in Finland
    2023
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Phage-bacteria interactions in mucosal conditions
    2023
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Bacteriophage-bacteria interactions in mucosal conditions and its importance for clinics
    2023
  • Klara Stensvåg, Tor Haug, Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida, Ida Kristine Østnes Hansen :
    Antibacterial natural products from the ocean - a promising source for future antiinfectives
    2023 PROSJEKT
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Bioprospecting potential of Marine Viruses
    2022
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Bacteriófagos, os cem anos de historia da fagoterapia e aplicações em aquacultura
    2022
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Phage-bacteria interactions in mucosal conditions
    2022
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Viruses of microbes: the next frontier for marine bioprospection?
    2022
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Phage-bacteria interactions in mucosal conditions
    2022
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Mucosal interactions as a bridge between past and future prophylactic phage therapy
    2022
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    The forgotten tale of Brazilian phage therapy
    2022
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Fatores externos influenciam a decisão de mecanismos de defesa antiviral em bactérias
    2022
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida :
    Bacteriófagos e os cem anos de historia da fagoterapia
    2022
  • Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida, Jan Fredrik Frantzen :
    UiTs aller første bakteriofager
    24. May 2022 PROSJEKT

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    Research interests

    Virologist with a PhD in virus-host interactions. Research lines focused on viruses of microbes. Interest in phages, phage therapy, prophylactic use of phages, giant viruses and virus-host interactions.


    Member of research group