Syntrophic microorganisms perform unique and crucial tasks in microbial processes used for sustainable energy and nutrient recovery from various organic waste streams. These syntrophic microorganisms cooperate to convert central intermediate compounds (acids) in the degradation to methane and these microbes are due to their restricted activity often a bottleneck that restricts productivity and process stability.
The main motivational factor for the research conducted in SYNAG is to contribute to the combat against climate change and to find paths for sustainable productions that will help us to pass on a healthier world to the next generation. Specifically, SYNAG has a clear purpose to improve the technologies needed for sustainable renewable energy, green products and sustainable fertiliser production. For this purpose, environmental conditions evaluated in the experiments conducted in SYNAG to high degree mimic the habitat residing in the biogas process, with the overall goal to find paths to improve the microbial degradation and the methane formation within the biogas process.
The aim of this project is to overcome the restrictions related to syntrophic activity, by bringing microorganisms into close proximity in multicellular aggregates (flocs). Syntrophic aggregation (SYNAG) has fundamental importance for syntrophic activity, but there is still much to learn in this area. To overcome the current knowledge gap, we study the regulatory processes that underlie aggregate formation and the acid degradation rate and evaluate how these two aspects are affected by surrounding environmental factors. The long-term overarching goal of SYNAG is to form a general model for aggregate development in syntrophic communities and to create a basis for novel process-design that will support key microorganisms and improve the productivity in biomethane processes.
