Project description
Analysing biodegradation limits of organic micropollutants in poor-nutrient environments
Organic micropollutants (OMPs), including pesticides and pharmaceuticals, are increasingly detected in freshwater sources. Despite their trace concentrations, OMPs pose potential risks to ecosystems and human health. While bacterial strains can break down OMPs in freshwater systems, low concentrations hinder the biodegradation process. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the Micropol_Oligo project will compare the ability of nutrient-poor (oligotrophic) and nutrient-rich (copiotrophic) bacteria to degrade OMPs at trace levels, aiming to understand the mechanisms that determine the minimum concentration at which biodegradation ceases. Using 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid catabolic strains as models, it will explore how mass transfer limitations affect low-concentration scenarios and identify the molecular processes driving physiological adaptation.
Objective
Organic micropollutants (OMPs) such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and synthetic hormones, are emerging contaminants in environmental freshwaters including drinking water resources. OMPs occur at extremely low concentrations (μg – ng/L range), but they may have adverse ecotoxicological and/or human health effects. The EU therefore strives to minimize OMP pollution in freshwaters and introduced stringent concentration limits in drinking water (100 ng/L or lower). Many bacterial strains have been reported that use OMPs for growth and hence mineralize them. Therefore, biodegradation is considering an important mechanism for OMP removal in freshwater systems. However, recent research has shown that the intrinsic trace concentrations of OMPs compose a major bottle neck of OMP biodegradation, since they poorly sustain the energetics of degraders’ cells and leading to physiological adaptions that eventually affect microbial degradation activity. OMP biodegradation has been exclusively studied using copiotrophic strains that thrive well at high pollutant concentrations while the oligotrophic degraders adapted to low substrate concentrations have been largely neglected. The Micropol_Oligo project aims to comparatively study the capacities of oligotrophic and copiotrophic bacteria to degrade OMPs at relevant trace concentrations and to explore the mechanisms underlying the lower concentration limits of OMP biodegradation. To this end, we will examine whether differences in lower concentration limits exist between copiotrophic and oligotrophic 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) catabolic bacterial strains, and investigate the roles of mass transfer limitation and the molecular mechanisms of physiological adaptations in biodegradation of trace MCPA. The outcome of the project is of major interest for understanding the biogeochemical cycling of OMPs in environmental waters and the improvement of biological water treatment systems for OMP removal.
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 engineering water treatment processes drinking water treatment processes
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences hydrology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
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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)
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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.
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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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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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3000 Leuven
Belgium
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