Job description

I started my position at the Marine Bioprospecting group of the CANS-UiT in October 2022 to study Arctic viruses of microbes and how to use them against bacterial infections. Since 1.1.2025 I became the leader of the research group.

There are two main research lines to be followed, one focused on phages and the other on giant viruses, the two main groups of viruses of microbes. 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

Din neste medisin kan være et virus - https://www.uitmagasin.no/2023/02/02/din-neste-medisin-kan-vaere-et-virus/

RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida, Iker Arriaga, Bruna Luiza de Azevedo, Miika Leppänen, Jonatas S Abrahão, Julien Andreani, Davide Zabeo, Janne J Ravantti, Nicola GA Abrescia, Lotta-Riina Sundberg. Genomic and structural insights into Jyvaskylavirus, the first giant virus isolated from Finland. eLife 13:RP103492. 2025.  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.103492.3

Coelho LFL, de Souza Terceti M, Neto SPL, Amaral RP, Dos Santos ALC, Gozzi WP, de Carvalho BA, da Cunha GA, Durante MFR, Sanchietta L, Marangoni GS, Gabriel MLC, Malaquias LCC, Celis ELH, de Souza Apolinário G, Araujo Junior JP, de Oliveira CE, Queiroz VF, Magno de Freitas Almeida G. Mucosal-adapted bacteriophages as a preventive strategy for a lethal Pseudomonas aeruginosa challenge in mice. Commun Biol. 2025 Jan 6;8(1):13. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-07269-0. 

Aquino ILM, Reis ES, Moreira ROAM, Arias NEC, Barcelos MG, Queiroz VF, Arifa RDDN, Lucas LMB, Tatara JM, Souza DG, Costa A, Rosa L, Almeida GMF, Kroon EG, Abrahão JS. 0. Giant viruses inhibit superinfection by downregulating phagocytosis in Acanthamoeba. J Virol 0:e01045-24.
https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01045-24

Almeida GMF, Ravantti J, Grdzelishvili N, Kakabadze E, Bakuradze N, Javakhishvili E, Megremis S, Chanishvili N, Papadopoulos N, Sundberg L. 0. Relevance of the bacteriophage adherence to mucus model for Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages. Microbiol Spectr 0:e03520-23.
https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.03520-23

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