The Research Institute on Genetic and Molecular Biology Engineering (INGEBI) started in 1984 at the Biochemical Research Institute, Campomar Foundation. The goals of the institute were, and still are, basic and applied research in several fields of cellular and molecular biology, and bringing research and development closer to the productive system. The Institute staff is made up of twenty CONICET research graduates and Buenos Aires University Professors who have ample experience in their fields of expertise and in teaching both in the country and abroad. Over a hundred grantees have received their PhD degrees from INGEBI, most of which are currently postdoctorates, University teachers or researchers in Argentina and abroad.

Within the Institute, the Microbial Ecology Laboratory, directed by Leonardo Erijman, has been a national pioneer in the development of molecular methods to analyze complex microbial communities. Our involvement in the BIOSPAS project will be an opportunity for us to contribute our experience and to expand our interest within a multidisciplinary frame in order to research the role of bacterial biodiversity on stability and productivity of agricultural soils.

Erijman, L. (2009) Optimización del caudal de recirculacion en sistemas de barros activados: aplicación del metodo de calidad de barros. Ingeniería Sanitaria y Ambiental, en prensa.

Basile LA, Erijman L (2008) Quantitative assessment of phenol hydroxylase diversity in bioreactors using a functional gene analysis. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 78: 863-872

Luppi LI, Hardmeier I, Babay PA, Itria RF, Erijman L (2007) Anaerobic nonylphenol ethoxylate degradation coupled to nitrate reduction in a modified biodegradability batch test. Chemosphere 68: 2136-2143

Lozada M, Basile L, Erijman L (2007) Impact of non-ionic surfactant on the long-term development of lab-scale-activated sludge bacterial communities. Res Microbiol 158: 712-717

Figuerola EL, Erijman L (2007) Bacterial taxa abundance pattern in an industrial wastewater treatment system determined by the full rRNA cycle approach. Environ Microbiol 9: 1780-1789

Szeinbaum, N. , Erijman, L. (2007) Identificación molecular de Pseudonocardia sp. como bacteria responsible de bulking filamentoso en una planta de tratamiento de efluentes industriales. Ingeniería Sanitaria y Ambiental 95: 85-89.

Lozada M, Figuerola EL, Itria RF, Erijman L (2006) Replicability of dominant bacterial populations after long-term surfactant-enrichment in lab-scale activated sludge. Environ Microbiol 8: 625-638

Lozada M, Itria RF, Figuerola EL, Babay PA, Gettar RT, de Tullio LA, Erijman L (2004) Bacterial community shifts in nonylphenol polyethoxylates-enriched activated sludge. Water Res 38: 2077-2086