An important step forward in understanding the healing properties of thermal mud has been made in the Euganean Basin with the creation of the first digital database and the first strain collection dedicated to cyanobacteria. These ancient microorganisms, which appeared on Earth over 3 billion years ago, inhabit thermal waters at temperatures between 35 and 55 degrees Celsius and produce molecules with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, forming the basis of the benefits of the region’s mud and thermal waters.
The two tools, developed by the Pietro D’Abano Thermal Studies Center in collaboration with the Department of Biology at the University of Padua, represent two distinct but complementary projects: a digital database and a physical strain collection, the so-called “living library” of microorganisms, hosted in the laboratories of the Plant Genome Editing and Phenotyping (PGE) facility. Both tools are nearing completion and, as Fabrizio Caldara, scientific director of the Center, points out, “they represent not one, but two significant steps forward in research on thermalism and in the enhancement of local microbiodiversity, which underpins the therapeutic properties of the mud and thermal waters.”
The digital database, which will be accessible online, will make available scientific information on cyanobacteria endemic to the Euganean Basin—exclusive microorganisms characterized thanks to more than a decade of research. This digital archive is a valuable resource not only for researchers, but also for students, practitioners, and citizens interested in discovering the invisible yet extraordinary dimension of thermal mud.
The strain collection preserves in culture bacterial strains isolated from thermal mud—currently twelve species—ensuring their vitality and genetic stability over time. This unique biological heritage offers the international scientific community the opportunity to investigate not only the biological basis of the therapeutic properties of mud, but also to explore new frontiers in natural pharmacology, biotechnology, and astrobiology.
Nicoletta La Rocca, professor at the Department of Biology, highlights the extraordinary value of cyanobacteria: “They were the first to produce oxygen on Earth, making the evolution of life as we know it possible. Thermal species, in order to survive extreme conditions similar to those of primordial Earth, produce protective molecules that are at the root of the beneficial effects of Euganean mud and waters.”
Cyanobacteria preserve a biological memory stretching back billions of years. Their presence in thermal mud is a living testimony to the evolution of life on Earth and opens the way to innovative studies ranging from thermalism to research on the origins of life and photosynthesis. The combination of the digital database and the physical strain collection therefore represents an important scientific, educational, and outreach resource, enhancing microbial biodiversity and the thermal heritage of the Euganean Basin.
