Project description
Improving microbial bioplastic production by molecular and macro insights
Plastic pollution has become a pressing environmental issue, mainly due to its persistence and the harmful effects of microplastics on living organisms. Biobased and biodegradable alternatives like polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have emerged as a promising solution, but large-scale adoption is limited by high production costs. PHAs are naturally synthesised by bacteria for intracellular carbon and energy storage. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SalinePHA project proposes to increase PHA productivity at reduced cost using salt-tolerant microbial communities. Researchers will investigate how stress conditions affect cell growth and PHA metabolism using macro and molecular insights. Collectively, the study is expected to improve the economic viability of bioplastics, contributing to more sustainable waste management and reducing environmental plastic pollution.
Objective
Plastic waste is a significant global environmental challenge due to its environmental persistence and the threat that microplastic poses on living organism. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biopolymers produced by prokaryotes under availability of excess carbon but unfavorable growth conditions. Interestingly, certain types of stress conditions have been proven to increase PHA production in axenic cultures such as oxidative stress or osmotic upshock. PHA stands as one of the main alternatives to traditional plastics as they are biodegradable under a wide range of conditions, but high production cost hampers its wide adoption. Current technologies are based on the use of mixed microbial cultures (MMCs) in open bioreactors feed with industrial by-products to reduce the production cost. However, the PHA productivity using these approaches is low compared to axenic cultures growing on defined media. SalinePHA aims to enhance PHA productivity in bioreactors by using halophilic MMCs. Availability of metagenomic and transcriptomic techniques provides a great opportunity to study the genetic regulation of the PHA synthesis/depolymerization and potential shifts of the metabolism in complex microbial communities under different types of stress. To achieve this, i) halophilic PHA-accumulating MMCs will be obtained by growing environmental inocula under selective pressure and, characterized (performance parameters and shotgun metagenomic sequencing); ii) RNA-seq, RT-PCR, 2D-DIGE experiments will be performed on the best PHA-accumulating MMC under various stress conditions to understand the PHA metabolic regulation. A deeper understanding of the PHA accumulation dynamics will allow for the design of operational parameters by using stress conditions as elicitors to induce high PHA-accumulation in the bioreactor to obtain increased PHA productivity, reducing the cost of its production, allowing the valorization of organic saline waste streams and reducing the use of fresh water.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental biotechnology bioremediation bioreactors
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
- engineering and technology industrial biotechnology biomaterials bioplastics polyhydroxyalkanoates
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1099-085 Lisboa
Portugal
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.