26/05/2026
Proud Announcement from the NGS-4-ECOPROD Consortium! 🎉
We are delighted to announce the acceptance of our third scientific publication related to WP1 – Task 1.2: Extremozymes within the Horizon Europe Twinning Project NGS-4-ECOPROD (Grant Agreement No. 101079425)! 🚀🧬
📄 Accepted in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS, Q1, IF: 4.9):
📝 Title:
Hybrid Whole-Genome Sequencing of Penicillium crustosum CTM10622 Uncovers a Highly Thermostable Alkaline Serine Lipase with Biotechnological Relevance
👩🔬👨🔬 Authors:
Sondes Mechri, Afef Najjari, Séverine Croze, Fakher Frikha, Nadia Zarai, Hadda-Imene Ouzari, Alexandre Noiriel, Ebru Toksoy Öner, Abdelkarim Abousalham, Marilize Le Roes-Hill, Slim Tounsi, Joel Lachuer*, and Bassem Jaouadi*
🌟 This article belongs to the Section: Macromolecules of IJMS.
This study demonstrates the power of hybrid whole-genome sequencing combining Illumina and Oxford Nanopore technologies for the exploration of extremophilic fungi isolated from Tunisian extreme environments. The work enabled the identification and characterization of a novel highly thermostable alkaline serine lipase with strong potential for industrial biotechnology, green biocatalysis, biodiesel production, and detergent applications.
🌍 This publication represents another important milestone for the NGS-4-ECOPROD consortium following our previous publications on:
✅ Whole-genome sequencing of Streptomyces cyaneofuscatus for protease discovery (International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, Q1, IF: 8.5)
🔗 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.146696
✅ Integrated metagenomics and metataxonomics of Tunisian hypersaline ecosystems (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Q1, IF: 4.9)
🌟 This article belongs to the Special Issue:
“25th Anniversary of IJMS: Updates and Advances in Molecular Microbiology”
🔗 https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/11/4714
Together, these studies reinforce the importance of combining genomics, metagenomics, and functional biotechnology approaches to discover novel extremozymes and ecofriendly biomolecules from extreme Tunisian ecosystems.
💡 Funding & Project Acknowledgment:
This work was conducted within the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Program under the HORIZON-Coordination and Support Action (CSA), HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-03-01, through the Twinning Project NGS-4-ECOPROD entitled:
“FROM NEXT GENERATION SEQUENCING MICROORGANISMS TOWARDS ECOFRIENDLY BIOTECH BASED PRODUCTS”.
🤝 The project is coordinated by Prof. Slim Tounsi at the Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS, Tunisia), in collaboration with Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (France) and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Germany).
🙏 We sincerely thank all collaborators, students, researchers, reviewers, and partner institutions for their valuable contributions, scientific support, and excellent teamwork throughout this achievement.
🚀 We remain committed to advancing sustainable biotechnology, extremozymes research, and cutting-edge omics sciences through international collaboration and innovation.
Ngs-4-Ecoprod twinning Horizon Europe
Centre de Biotechnologie de Sfax -مركز البيوتكنولوجيا بصفاقس - -