The RRG “Ecology and Microbial Technology” is promoting research in microbiology in the areas of health, agriculture and technology

In a 1 gram of soil we can find more than 1,000,000 microorganisms. It is surprising that in 2017 the scientific community has only been able to describe around 12,000 of them around the world and, of these, 63 of them are exclusive to Salamanca, having been identified thanks to the intense work carried out by microbiologist Martha Trujillo Toledo and her team in the Departmental Building of the University of Salamanca.

Most likely, it will never be possible to “identify all the species that make up the great microbial diversity that exists in the world,” Martha Trujillo pointed out to USAL Communication. Perhaps it is the exquisite rigor with which Trujillo performs her work that has led her to become the first woman ever chosen editor-in-chief of the most reputed international journal for the identification and taxonomy of microorganisms. The International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, a publication founded in 1951 and considered the leader by the highest institutional bodies in the field of microbiology, has never had a woman in the lead, that is, until this August, when Trujillo Toledo, professor of the Department of Microbiology and Genetics at the University of Salamanca, will take up the position.

Microbes Vs. Health: dismantling myths

Martha Trujillo describes microbiology as an exciting world because so much remains to be discovered, and surprising, because of the curious revelations that come out of these miniature natural realms that microscopes bring us closer to. It has been found that in each one of us there is an inherent microbial diversity, a “microbiome of each organism that is indisputably linked to the proper functioning of its system”, explains the scientist. For example, it has been verified that the body of a person hosts an average of 3 kg. of microorganisms and that the presence – or not – of certain ones, together with their interactions, can lead to the development of certain ailments such as “stomach ulcers”, she maintained.

 

 

More information: Comunicación Universidad de Salamanca

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