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The Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the National University of Asunción (Facen-UNA) was awarded with G 500,000,000 by the Prociencia Program of the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) to develop research that seeks to reduce the generation of methane gas in livestock.
The project is called “Metagenomic analysis of Paraguayan cattle and phenotypic high-throughput screening for the identification of inhibitors of methanogenic microorganisms” and is in charge of Dr. Walter Sandoval Espínola, researcher repatriated through the Program for Repatriation and Radiation of Foreign Researchers in Paraguay from Conacyt.
Sandoval is a biologist from Facen-UNA, was a Fulbright scholar, Master and PhD in Microbiology from North Carolina State University and has a post-doctorate in chemical biology from Harvard University.
The project will identify the molecules that inhibit the generation of methane gas within the bovine rumen. In addition, it seeks to understand the fundamental aspects of these organisms, in their niches, or in pure cultures, through the use of containers or systems that maintain a biologically active environment (bioreactors) and genetic sequencing technologies. The knowledge acquired will also be applied to increase agricultural production and reduce the generation of greenhouse gases.
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As part of the investigation, all the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) will be extracted from the analyzed samples and will be sent to collaborators in the United States. State-of-the-art technologies will be used there to identify all the genes present in the sample. This way, “who” and “what” make up the rumen samples can be predicted, Dr. Sandoval explained.
Likewise, thousands of compounds will be analyzed simultaneously to find those that specifically inhibit the growth of methane-generating microorganisms. With this, subsequent secondary tests will help to select the most specific and potent compounds.
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Methane is a colorless, flammable, non-toxic gas whose chemical formula is CH4. This gas is produced naturally by the decomposition of organic matter. Wetlands, livestock and energy are the main sources that emit methane into the atmosphere, where it acts as a greenhouse gas.
“Paraguay is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, according to which we must reduce the generation of greenhouse gases by up to 20% by 2030. Considering the size of livestock in the national industry, large-scale biotechnological approaches will be necessary to meet these international commitments, without detriment to production. Furthermore, from metagenomic sequencing, we will be generating data that can be used by future projects ”, explained the researcher.
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